The Annual gathering was once again successful and well attended. About 65 Old Patricians were able to make their way to Hawthorn, with another 40 or so who wanted to come but, through one stumbling block or another, found themselves tendering an apology.

A summary of the event was included in the February 2024 edition of the Patrician newsletter and can also be found here.

The informal atmosphere prevailed, with a short Welcome speech the only thing which interrupted the group discussions throughout the afternoon. A couple of particularly pleasing sights were the attendances of Peter Gunn and Tony Bahr. Both are experiencing some significant health problems, but that wasn't sufficient to prevent them from attending. Peter, while not as mobile as he would like, was never surrounded by less that three or four friends 'at table' for plenty of discussion during the afternoon. Tony (a resident of Pakenham) happened to be in Melbourne on the Saturday morning (for another 'chemo' session!) and so was able to catch up with many mates after a tough morning. 

Another OP who attends with both difficulty and enthusiasm, all at the one time, was Stefan Nechwatal. His health issues are eased somewhat by his local environment in Sailors' Falls near Daylesford where he has followed his creative interests and skills over many years making bespoke furniture items, fixing his many old vehicles and coordinating the interests of hundreds of like-minded motoring enthusiasts throughout Victoria through the newsletter that he edits and distributes regularly. Travel too far from home is often a bit tricky, but it would take more than a few health hiccups to prevent 'Bocka' from catching up with a few old mates at 'the G'. (You'll have to ask Billy Dowling about the origins of the nickname .... the story is too long for this article!!).

Some 'interstaters' were also able to roll up, including Frank Paez (Qld) and Alan Waugh (Tassie), both by plane, and Bryan Kelly (Wollongong) on the train. And there was another from much further away than 'interstate' – elsewhere on this website there is the story of the life pursuits of Julian Carr (58-66) and it's worth reading. Julian was at the 'G' for this year's gathering (and the one last year), having come from either Switzerland or Tanzania ... both are home for Julian.

The full list of attendees (hopefully accurate!) appears below:

The Apologies – those who contacted us but had other things on their calendar, were too far away, or struck other snags which prevented their attendance – were almost as numerous as the attendees! The list is below, and gives readers a reminder of others who are still keen to keep in touch, although couldn't make it this year:

Needless to say, there were also plenty of photos taken to record the occasion. They can be viewed in 'short form' from the display below, and individual pics can be examined in greater detail by clicking on any pic of interest. The last few pics relate to the First XVIII for 1966, including a few for those who couldn't make it on the day but sent a recent photo all the same. There is also a quirky pic of 13 of the team members, event though there were only 9 of them present on the day! (David Hale was an attendee but had to leave before we got around to organizing a footy team photo!). For brevity, only initials have been used to name each photo – readers may wish to use the above attendees list to get a hint of who's who, if initials are insufficient to bridge the time gap!