PBHSOB ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
BRANCH VISITS 2022
Two of the Old Boys Branch Visits planned for 2022 took place on Tuesday 26 July and Wednesday 27 July 2022. The first stop by Association Chairman Jason Webber and PBHS Headmaster Greg Hassenkamp was a dinner at the Rondebosch Golf Club on 26 July which was arranged by Old Boy Mark Gleeson and attended by over 100 guests. More feedback on this visit will be included in the next issue. The next day, Wednesday 27 July saw them meeting with members of the Overberg Old Boys Branch in Hermanus, hosted by the convening committee of Ed Meyer, Louis van Breda and Graham Hearn.
Ed Meyer tells us about the visit:
“Old Boy Shane Sauvage, owner of the excellent La Pentola restaurant in Hermanus, hosted our lunch on Wednesday 27th July 2022.
With the backdrop of the deep blue sea of Walker Bay, we enjoyed a superb three course lunch, starting with a delicious ‘Avo Twist’. Four choices of the main course of Rump Steak, Honey Mustard Pork, Outback Chicken and fresh Hake, all served with Shane’s legendary sources, were presented on platters to the long table so we could help ourselves . Finally, the mouth-watering Hazelnut Crème Brulee capped the meal, which we enjoyed between the toasts and speeches which were capably introduced by Master of Ceremonies Louis van Breda.
Graham Hearn proposed the Toast to the School and said Grace. Convenor Ed Meyer gave the Toast to Absent Friends, seven of whom had passed on since the inception of the Overberg Branch in 2016. He paid tribute to David Leppan, an avid & generous Old Boy who had been the co-founder of the Old Boys Branch in Hermanus. He died just before the hard lockdown of Covid-19, so this is the first opportunity we have had to acknowledge David’s contribution to our Old Boys.
Chairman Jason Webber, visiting us for the first time from Pretoria, spoke of the importance of the Old Boys’ support to the welfare of the School.
Greg Hassenkamp in his role as Headmaster of PBHS said it was wonderful to be back in Hermanus, where he with his family had been very happy. He was pleased that his successor as the Principal of Hermanus High School was Mike Smuts, recently arrived from his position as Deputy Headmaster at Boys High in Pretoria. We were pleased to meet Mike who attended our lunch and Greg encouraged us to support him. Greg outlined that the challenges of being back at Pretoria Boys High were exciting & rewarding. He looks forward to the years ahead at Boys High.
20 YEAR ON REUNION : CLASS OF 2002
The Class of 2002 celebrated their 20 Year On Reunion in style on Saturday 30 July 2022 at a dinner held at the Central Dining Hall of Pretoria Boys High School.
The Head Boy of 2002, Devon Light, and 60 other Old Boys from that year first attended assembly on Friday 29 July at 13:00. As PBHS was hosting Maritzburg College over that weekend, the Old Boys were treated to a special concert presented by the choirs and jazz bands of both schools and Boys High’s own symphony orchestra. They were equally impressed by the boys’ enthusiastic gathering at the main entrance to the school after assembly where they “warmed up their voices” before the sports and cultural activities of the weekend.
On Saturday evening, the Class of 2002 arrived at the School’s dining hall at about 18:30 to celebrate twenty years on. Most of them had spent the better part of the day at PBHS supporting the Candies and the Red Socks in their first team rugby and hockey matches. They were joined for dinner by Headmaster Greg Hassenkamp, Second Master John Illsley and former Headmaster Bill Schroder and enjoyed the night catching up before heading off to the Old Boys Club in Lynnwood for a nightcap. We will hear more from the Class of 2002 soon when they share their experiences with us.
NEXT REUNION : THE CLASS OF 2012 WILL CELEBRATE 10 YEARS ON
The next reunion which will be celebrated at Pretoria Boys High School will be the 10 Year On which is being hosted by the School on Saturday, 13 August 2022. The convenor is 2012’s Head Boy Daniel Swiegers and tickets are currently on sale at R520.00 pp. Contact Daniel via the Association’s email info@pbhsob.com or book your ticket via AlumNet’s events portal https://pbhsoba.alumnet.co.za/Event/Ten2520Year2520On25202022.
OLD BOYS SUMMIT MOUNT FUJI IN PBHS T-SHIRT & PBHSOB TIE
Old Boys Lamine Jeppie (2018-2020) and Ulrich Fobian (2005) have just climbed Mount Fuji and decided to wear their Pretoria Boys High School gear at the summit.
According to Lamine, who attended Boys High in Forms 1-3 (2018 to 2020) and then left to live in Japan, the pride and spirit of Boys High still inspires them. “I still very much have my Boys High pride. Ulrich (old boy graduated in 2005) and I decided that we would wear our Boys High gear at the summit of Mount Fuji to really show that Boys High is the school on top of the world,” he said in an email after we sought permission to publish this photo. Lamine is attending an international school in Japan and currently entering his matric year.
BOOK CORNER
50 Years On … Pretoria Boys High Class of 1970: Our Stories
The Class of 1970, fifty years later, with over 100 participants, and in one to three page essays with pictures to suit, have published a colourful book about the lessons learned in each of their lives. All proceeds from the sale of the book are to go to the school, in perpetuity. Intended to encourage and inspire all those who read it, the collection of life-stories is a tremendous testament to endurance, fortitude, insight, and wisdom. As written in the Afterword, by their illustrious classmate, Chief High Court Justice Edwin Cameron, “And indeed, in all this we have much to be grateful for: since we have survived, through not merely interesting, but enthralling and perilous, sometimes hair-raising times. And the telling of our tales warrants those lives, gives them shape and some sureness and locates their foundation in the formative nurturance of our school-years. That is the strength, and the worth, of this collection.”
It is available in three formats, from Amazon: Paperback; Hard Cover; and Kindle
Risking It All by Michael Vlismas
Old Boy Michael Vlismas (Sunnyside 1992) has published a book on Elon Musk “Risking It All”. In a review of the book published on the website www.newstatesman.com, Will Dunn writes: “In writing a generous biography of Musk … Michael Vlismas contributes to the myth of the exceptional individual, a figure that is useful to the narratives that drive markets in good times. But in revisiting the family members, friends, investors and collaborators who made Musk, he also gives the reader a glimpse of the living person who was used to create that persona, and an opportunity to ask: was this really what they wanted?”
IN MEMORIAM
We have been advised by the families of the following Old Boys of their passing and on behalf of all Old Boys, convey our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to their families, friends, school mates and colleagues:
Andrew Duminy, Class of 1950
Chamond Hwang, Class of 2014
THE OLD BOYS CLUB
Living in or visiting Pretoria (Tshwane)? Remember to pop into the Old Boys Club for great deals and warm hospitality!
Please remember to send any snippet of interesting information to info@pbhsob.com for the attention of Sally