We have installed a new search engine on PNG ATTITUDE. You can find it underneath the ASOPA PEOPLE EXTRA supplements at left. The Lijit search engine enables you to find the information you want without the need to plough through the thousands of entries on the site and without moving off the site and reverting to Google. You can do everything you need to do on the site itself.
Well, I’ve taken a big step. I’ve changed the name of this blog. To explain why, let’s go back to the start. In the beginning, in February 2002, there was a simple one-page newsletter entitled Vintage. I put it together in a hurry at the same time as a small group of people took on the considerable task of tracking down each and every member of the ASOPA Class of 1962-63. The aim – to get a 40th anniversary reunion going in October 2002.
It’s a matter of history that, after four decades, most of those people were found, that a successful reunion was held in Port Macquarie, NSW, and that Vintage flourished through 26 issues. After the reunion, I decided to keep the newsletter going and it became The Mail, which continues to this day (this month we publish No 129).
Then, in February 2006, The Mail spawned the ASOPA PEOPLE blog, which gave as its raison d’etre that it was “created for the men and women associated with the Australian School of Pacific Administration… They were young and ready for a challenge and they contributed a great deal to the development of the indigenous peoples of the South Pacific and northern Australia.”
By 2006, ASOPA reunions were more common. That initial 2002 event, its spirit maintained by subsequent reunions, close bonding and the monthly presence of The Mail, had stirred a mood of reflection amongst a generation of Australians who had served in PNG mainly in the fifties, sixties and seventies. These people, upon reconsidering what had become a distant personal history - the story of their youth - began to re-evaluate this story and then to newly value it.
The circulation of The Mail reached 400, ASOPA PEOPLE began to get over 100 visitors a day and, indirectly, the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia benefited from an influx of new members.
But ASOPA was having trouble bearing the load. As I wrote thousands of words of personal histories, anecdotes, history, biographies of ‘ ASOPA Greats’ and other information about the School, it became clear that, if we didn’t move beyond ASOPA, the storehouse would be depleted and there would be nowhere to go but repetition. There was only so much new knowledge.
So for this reason, and because this reflection on our PNG past made me even more acutely aware of PNG’s present, I began to focus more on PNG itself. It was a classic case of Harry Peake’s notion of how kids learn through “ever increasing circles”. First the Class of 1962-63, then all the Classes, then the ASOPA institution, then its history and finally PNG, where most of us ended up and – if it was to survive – this project had to end up. I guess I noticed the problem and the opportunity first because I write the words.
So here we are – and now we’ve got to see what else we can make of it.
There are some people, me included, who contain a nugget of regret that the cosiness of the past could not be maintained in a pristine state. But you will find it still here, embedded in the blog's informality and its orientation. But you may have noticed that the names of the people who contribute to it are changing, and that's good, and you may also have noticed, they include an increasing number of Papua New Guineans.
We’ve added a new concentric circle. Thanks Harry.
I’m using this PNG Independence Day to make a small but significant change in how this blog identifies itself. While the name ASOPA PEOPLE is retained - both as a tribute to the legacy of this site and so the blog will not be confused as necessarily representing the views of PNG citizens (as a title like PNG PEOPLE might convey) – the descriptor has been broadened.
As you can see, we are now “Notes for anyone with affection for or fascination with Papua New Guinea, her people and times: past, present and future”. A little pompous, I grant, but it seems to say what I want it to say.
In fact, since they were initiated early in 2006, these Notes have been gradually evolving – to no plan but as a response to where readers and the editor have shifted as renewed interest in PNG affairs and history has developed in recent years among Australians who once lived and worked there.
Some may think that each change in this site has taken it further away from its original purpose of recording and commemorating the history of ASOPA, the Australian School of Pacific Administration (1947-72). But, in fact, like the late great Harry Peake’s ever increasing circles, each change has simply embraced and extended the previous purpose and information.
Perhaps, now, ASOPA PEOPLE is getting to where it was meant to be – a vehicle and a forum for ensuring the Australia-Papua New Guinea relationship remains alive and kicking on the Internet as a well as a means of informally recording a time in history that so many of us feel so grateful to have participated in.
“What’s with the ads, Jacko?” An emailed interrogation delivered with Territorian-style bluntness. A fair question, though – and one I need to address. Regular readers of these Notes will have observed the appearance of promotional pointers for Sun Lagoon Resort and Aurora Cruises under the ASOPA People Extra banner.
I’ve provided details of the Sun Lagoon connection in an earlier post [‘Noosa deal for ASOPA PEOPLE readers’] but the cruise line's ad (and I hope others to come) deserve explanation. It all began with my election as President of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia and my desire to see the Association move to a position where it could do more for the people of PNG. In the same context, I also observed the commitment and unstinting effort of a number of volunteers, especially but not limited to Andrea Williams, to produce and distribute the PNGAA’s quarterly journal, Una Voce.
My thinking ran along these lines: if we could use Una Voce and associated communication channels to generate revenue through advertising and sponsorship, we could use the proceeds both to improve the journal and to establish a philanthropic fund for projects in PNG. This would give the Association another string to its bow – and make its operations more meaningful in the context of Australia-PNG relations.
And what are these ‘associated communication channels’. Well, clearly one is the PNGAA website. But I also decided that ASOPA PEOPLE and its affiliated monthly e-newsletter The Mail should be included in the package. The latter two outlets are owned and managed by me but have never been used – and will not be used – to generate revenue for me or my company, the public relations gurus Jackson Wells Pty Ltd. The sites are privately funded by me, and there is no cost recovery.
ASOPA PEOPLE and The Mail were originally established to provide networking opportunities for people associated with ASOPA and have broadened their brief in more recent times to welcome readers who are more generally interested in Australia's relationships with PNG.
However, to use these channels to assist raise funds for worthy PNG projects was another matter. So I decided to bundle them into a PNGAA package to offer potential advertisers a unique means of providing information to people who have a strong association with PNG. For $5,000 a year (plus GST) advertisers can secure:
A full-page ad in each quarterly issue of Una Voce. The journal has a circulation of about 1,700 and a readership estimated at 5,000.
Information on and a link to the advertiser’s website from the PNGAA website. Readership unknown.
Information in and a link to the advertiser’s website from ASOPA PEOPLE. One hundred hits a day from an estimated 200-300 regular readers.
Information in each issue of The Mail , the monthly e-newsletter distributed free of charge to nearly 400 subscribers.
So that’s what’s with the ads … a developing platform to provide people-to-people assistance for selected PNG projects under the auspices of the PNGAA. Only one more thing remains to be said – if you’re aware of a potential company or organisation that might be interested in this package, I’d appreciate you pointing them in my direction.
This is an important piece of housekeeping on which I need your views. In 2002 I set up the asopa.com.au website as the first ASOPA internet presence. Then, in early 2006, this ASOPA PEOPLE blog was established, since which it has taken over all the functions of the website and all of the important content.
ASOPA PEOPLE receives about 100 ‘hits’ a day from readers and is the main vehicle for maintaining an ASOPA internet presence. Further, in terms of a quick reference point to the ASOPA story, an entry I have made in Wikipedia provides a good general introduction to the history of the School.
It is now time for a decision to be made on whether I continue the old website or not. Money has to be paid and paperwork completed. My inclination, unless persuaded otherwise, is to let go of the original asopa.com.au site. You can email your views to me here. Or, ideally, let all our readers share them by clicking on the Comments link below. I shall take silence as mute assent that the original site can be safely discontinued.
Ingrid and I are off to Europe for six weeks – eastern Europe and the Baltic our focus – and, as you might imagine, keeping in close touch with the people and events that drive this blog becomes a little more difficult.
This is where I rely on you – the reader - to contribute news, stories, reminiscences, opinion and other notes from your rich tapestry of PNG experience. You can reach me through the Email Me tag below my photo at left. I’ll be checking in each day to see how well you’ve done!
My next post will be, I hope, from Prague.
Our ASOPA PEOPLE survey received 44 responses, about 20 percent of the estimated regular readership of the site. Which is not bad in this type of survey. The results show that the number of people who visit the site each day or on a few days a week is roughly equal to the two other main groups of readers, who visit the site weekly or monthly.
The results in detail, responding to the question ‘How often do you visit the ASOPA PEOPLE website?’…..
Daily 18%
A few days a week 16%
Weekly 27%
Monthly 30%
Rarely 9%
Thanks to all of you who participated in the survey. It’s good to know that over 60% of our potential readership touches base here at least once a week.
We’ve kick started the ASOPA Archives with fourteen articles and papers about ASOPA, education in PNG and matters of general interest about PNG that otherwise might not find a home elsewhere
You can find this new department in ASOPA PEOPLE EXTRA at left. Each article is accompanied by a brief summary providing something of its flavour and is available to you in a downloadable PDF file.
As new pieces that match the interests of this website come to light, we’ll add them to the Archives.
It’s been a big week here at ASOPA PEOPLE, what with the continuing flow of new and intriguing historical information from The Blatchford Collection, a record number of hits on the site (1,400) and our first readership survey beginning to yield useful data. This week also marked our second birthday.
Loch Blatchford is summarising PNG education documents he’s archived as part of The Blatchford Collection. This past week, documents from 1949 and 1950 made their appearance and issues related to ASOPA figured very prominently. I draw your attention to the summaries so far included in ASOPA PEOPLE EXTRA and to the stories from 1949 and 1950 that we ran earlier this week.
By the way Loch is interested in any ancient documents or materials you might have relevant to PNG education, especially in the period up to and around Independence. Contact Loch here if you’ve got items of interest.
During the week we also added another fascinating document to the site – extracts from a magazine that marked the demise of ASOPA in 1972. You can read ’25 Years of ASOPA’ in The ASOPA Archives at left.
The survey is still open for business and I’d encourage you to take a few moments to record your response here.
New items were added to Missing People this week. You might like to visit the column here to see if you have information that can help locate some colleagues from our past.
Finally, the PNG Association of Australia is holding a lunch on Sunday 27 April at the Killara Golf Club in Sydney. I’m organising a couple of tables so, if you’d like to attend, contact me here. The cost is $42.50 a person.
We’re conducting a quick poll of our readers to see how frequently people visit the ASOPA PEOPLE site. The survey – which will literally take just seconds - is located under ASOPA PEOPLE EXTRA at left or you can click through to it here. You can also view the progressive results if you’re interested.
The Blatchford Collection of documents has stimulated a great response from readers of ASOPA PEOPLE over the last two days. Loch Blatchford's summaries of documents gathered in his research into public education in Papua New Guinea contain many revealing insights into the times. Each year from 1944 to 1948 is now summarised in 'ASOPA People Extra - Blatchford Collection'.
Here are a few vignettes to pique your interest:
1944 - In May, ANGAU is planning an undenominational and secular central school for 200 students near Port Moresby. It is anticipated that perhaps 50 percent of the students will become teachers. The site is available and so are the buildings, but there are no students. The call goes out to the missions for boys 15 to 17 years old who have completed Standard V and have a working knowledge of English.
1945 – In September WC Groves sends a telegram to JR Halligan, Secretary of the Department of External Territories, applying late for the position of PNG Director of Education. He also rings Halligan to explain the circumstances: until a couple of days ago he was uncertain if he would apply as his 17 year old daughter is dying in hospital. Groves is offered the job in March the following year and takes it up in June after hanging out for “more money and a couple of education officers to assist him”. Meanwhile JK Murray is appointed PNG Administrator. His salary is £2,000 pa plus £500 entertainment allowance and 20/- a day travel allowance in PNG. No tax is payable.
1946 – The syllabus of the ASOPA education officers short course is published: there are lectures in Comparative Colonial Education, Anthropology, Geography, Tropical Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Scientific Method, Elementary Medicine, Practical Administration, Law and Government, Machinery of Administration, Pidgin English and Papuan Languages. In June JK Murray forwards an article to John Kerr for a new ASOPA journal. Murray writes: “The almost universal acceptance of the idea that the interests of the natives are paramount … is found to be lip service.” And he says of the educational situation: “‘There has been no development of greater consequence in the history of the Territory (to meet this need) than the formation of ASOPA.”
1947 – In January JK Murray writes to Lucy Mair that there is pressure for ASOPA to be situated within the new National University (now ANU). Arriving in Brisbane he tells reporters “there is a labour shortage in PNG because the natives have gone home to repair their houses” which the Courier Mail headlines ‘Fuzzies Short of Houses’. By April WC Groves says he plans to recruit 20 CEOs a year and wants places obtained for them at State teachers colleges at start of 1948. Throughotu Australia there is a teacher shortage. Both Murray and Kerr want ASOPA to be equivalent to a university and award degrees and diplomas. Groves’ plan is that CEOs will spend 3 months at ASOPA, some time in the field in PNG and then one year at a teachers college. Kerr adds that two-year trained CEOs could return to ASOPA to complete a further 2 years for a degree.
1948 – Kerr expects CEOs to attend Short Course 10 in June. There are 12 applicants but by June all have withdrawn except one. Groves thinks the ₤500 surety and four-year bond are probably the reason. The bond was Groves’ idea but he now wants it scrapped. Alf Conlon writes to JK Murray and is very critical of Groves. By the end of the year PNG Education is calling for 50 CEOs.
Thanks to Loch Blatchford [shown here deeply embedded in his own filing system] we have been able to post the first tranche of summaries of the Blatchford Collection of documents and other material on the development of public education in PNG. You can find the new section in ASOPA People Extra at left. The Blatchford Collection section will be added to as Loch continues to summarise the contents of his extensive archive of materials.
The February Mail has been produced and disseminated over the internet to subscribers - and can be found in ASOPA PEOPLE EXTRA at left under the heading 'Newsletter - The Mail'. There's the usual chat, news and cajoling about something and, as always, we welcome feedback.
I’ve found that one of the frequent uses – and, as it turns out, benefits – of The Mail newsletter and this internet cousin ASOPA PEOPLE – have been their role in reuniting lost people, finding lost objects and, from time to time, shedding light on lost causes.
So now I’ve decided to establish a permanent MISSING PEOPLE column in ASOPA People Extra [see left] and you're more than welcome to use this facility either as a searcher or a finder or a voyeur of who can be lost and whether or not they can be found.
Why don’t you visit the column occasionally, just on spec.
The Mail newsletter for January 2008, number 119, is now on this website, and it includes a review of some of the highlights of 2007. You can find it in the section ASOPA People Extra at left in the category entitled, 'Newsletter - The Mail'.
An explanation is due for my dilatory approach to ASOPA PEOPLE of late. I've been disporting myself at Noosa in a vain attempt to meet the rich and famous and have not been receiving any information that may interest this blog. Which is your fault entirely.
Later this week, Ingrid and I are travelling to Tamworth for the (yeehaw!) Country Music Festival. There we'll meet up with Joe and Kathryn Crainean, who will provide the elementary courses in yodelling and spur clicking so necessary for a full appreciation of this event.
In the sixties and seventies - and, for all I know, still - country music was vastly popular in Papua New Guinea. Slim Dusty was a national hero. The Radio Bougainville top ten hit parade was chockers with country songs. Hank Williams' Your Cheatin' Heart stayed at number one for a whole year: "But sleep won't come the whole night through / Your cheatin' heart will tell on you".
Time for a reprise.
Bill and Diane Bohlen have done it again. The output of all their electronic recording of the ASOPA experience now features on YouTube.
We have added the link in ASOPA People Extra at left under the headline YOUTUBE - ASOPA.
Bill and Diane welcome your feedback.
Time for some housekeeping. But first some bragging. Yesterday was our best day ever at ASOPA PEOPLE in nearly two years of publication. The record 139 readers surpassed Sunday's 135 and the two previous best results - 136 on each of 16 March and 19 October this year.
Meanwhile, Ingrid and I are flying out to the Sunshine Coast in the morning for a week at our Noosa apartment at Sun Lagoon (left) and - without files and papers - I'll be dependent upon your feedback (send it here) to provide enough information to post regularly on the site from internet cafes. Time to be communicative ... informative ... creative. Over to you.
The November issue of The Mail newsletter, number 117 in the series, is now on this website. It has full coverage of last month’s Brisbane reunion and you can click through to it from the ASOPA People Extra section in the left-hand column.
We publish an extract from Dr Joe Pagelio’s speech on the expatriate legacy in PNG education and Dr Ken McKinnon, tongue slightly in cheek, tells why teachers should organise the Olympics. Former ASOPA lecturer Dr Dick Pearse tells why Middle Head’s light was shining for him. And Bill Welbourne offers his take on the big reunion while Henry Bodman writes on that great reunion dinner. We also cover Dick Arnold’s memorable welcome to reunionistas in Many heroes are seated before me.
There’s coverage of Ours Was The Year That Was: 1957 - Sue Ward Never a temptation to rest on our laurels; 1958 - Eric Johns Finding out what the challenge was all about; 1959 - Stuart Woodger In awe of what we’d signed up to do; 1960 Terry Chapman Living dangerously, last class on campus; and 1961 Ros Sharp et al The ASOPA classics.
There’s also Toktok Gris, plenty of news, coverage of PNG expatriate websites and, after The Mail’s last bumper issue, a bumper Feedback section.
ASOPA People Extra also now has the full archive of the 26 issues of the Vintage newsletter published prior to the 2002 Class of 1962-63 reunion.
Our more observant readers may have noticed recent changes to the design, style and content of our site. In addition to its flasher appearance, a number of more substantive improvements have been made.
In the left hand column we’ve introduced ASOPA People Extra, which includes a history and chronology of the School as well as stories and yarns from ASOPA and beyond that previously appeared only on the ASOPA website. Most importantly, we're also publishing the monthly newsletter The Mail on the site. All of this year's issues to date are now available.
Also in the left hand column is the syndicated Newsvine World News, produced in Seattle in the US. Newsvine publishes stories from established media organisations like AAP and ESPN as well as news from individual contributors from around the world.
In the right hand column we give pre-eminence to readers’ Recent Comments which, of course, you are welcome to make at any time by left clicking the ‘Comments’ link at the bottom right of each item. Where necessary, I edit these comments for relevance and legality but within very broad bounds you have free rein.
The right hand column also contains a section called Categories. Every post made on ASOPA PEOPLE is archived in these 16 sections, so by selecting a category you can go right back to the earliest material that appeared on the site.
Beneath Categories is the Blogbar search engine that you can use to search the ASOPA PEOPLE site or the entire Internet if you wish.
You may also have noticed that we’ve changed the description of the site to include “ex PNG chalkies everywhere” in an effort to be more inclusive about whom the site is for. Overall, the changes provide the site with more functionality and content. And, of course, each day we’ll continue to bring you news and information about ASOPA PEOPLE.
Photo: Jackson Wells Morris recently entertained a visiting group of Philippines public relations practitioners in our Sydney boardroom. Front: Keith Jackson, delegation chief Romy Virtusio, John Wells and Trevor Cook. Notice the Kauage copper beating on the wall at right. It was presented to me by the PNG National Broadcasting Commission in 1976 when I returned to Australia.
I’m putting the finishing touches on a special reunion issue of The Mail, which will be circulated at about this time next week. It features an investigation into the mysterious office that gave rise to ASOPA and profiles James McAuley and Charles Rowley. There’s an interview with Sue Ward, a member of the group of CEO’s who moved from Bathurst to ASOPA for the first two-year education course at Middle Head. Inspection reports archived at Kingsgrove in Sydney provide fertile information for an article on how we qualified for that prized NSW Teacher’s Certificate. The Mail also offers an abridged ASOPA dictionary. There’s much more - including news, the full Brisbane program and the latest reunion roll call. Make sure you’re on the email list by contacting me here.
The observant among you may have noticed a new tool on this ASOPA PEOPLE site. The Blogbar at left enables a search of this site (or indeed of other search engines including Google) if you type the term or name you’d like to locate and click OK. Try typing your own name. If nothing appears, it’s time you emailed me some news, or a story, or a reminiscence.
Some overdue housekeeping on The Mail’s database today – it's been growing like a reverse mortgage - and some interesting (if you’re easily amused) statistics. Most importantly, the newsletter now emails to 190 people and Cobb’n’Co’s to another seven, 160 of whom are former ASOPA cadet education officers.
Things took off this year when the organisers made a bold and far-sighted decision to involve as many former ASOPA chalkies as wanted to show up at the Brisbane reunion. The result has been a resurgence of interest in ASOPA, and particularly in the relationships that developed at Middle Head in the fifties and sixties.
The best Class representations on The Mail’s distribution list are 1962-63 (39), 1961-62 (31), 1964-65 (29) and 1960-61 (27). We’re not in touch with anyone from 1967-68, 1970-71 or 1971-72 but other Class numbers are also low.
By the time the reunion comes around, we’ll be up to Mail 116, but if you include the first effort before the first 1962-63 reunion – called Vintage, which ran to 26 issues – 142 newsletters have been published since early 2002.
ASOPA PEOPLE is also turning in some useful numbers. Most days range from 40-100 visits when I post regularly. The hits drop to 20-40 when I don’t. Yesterday, for example, we had about 80 visits, but I’d been posting like a man with six letterboxes.
If you know someone who might appreciate being added to The Mail’s distribution list, send me a note by clicking here. Also ask them if they’ve caught the blog recently.
I’m awarding myself a greenie because all this adding up's tiring.
The 115th issue of the ASOPA chalkies newsletter has winged its way to 150 inboxes around the world. It contains the usual Toktok Gris and lots of news stories - ‘One of our DC3s has been found’, ‘Find your inspection report’, ‘Somare edict grounds Dr Joe’, ‘The dominie of Beeps’ and more. There are some first rate features: a wonderful autobiographical piece by Denis Murrell and the first person story of how Professor Dorothy Shineberg came to ASOPA in 1947 and proceeded to found the discipline of Pacific History. There’s also Brisbane notebook and a surprise ending. Email me here to get on the mailing list today.
The national election season is truly upon us, the fund raisers proliferate and the faithful dig deep to support the colt of their choice in Australia’s greatest two-horse race – the federal election.
Last night, along with 300 other people (the organisers were stunned by the level of support) I attended a ‘trivia night’ for ABC weatherman turned ALP candidate Mike Bailey, who’s standing against the incumbent Joe Hockey. As you’ll see in the accompanying image, Mike’s taken ‘A fresh start for North Sydney’ as his campaign slogan – a mildly punning reference to his former career in the ‘we get it right half the time’ forecasting brigade.
For mine, I’d be going stronger: ‘Big Mike Bailey – stormin’ through’ or ‘Vote Mike - rain on Joe’s parade’ or even ‘Weatherman with attitude – giving Howard the big chill’. Look, I know this piece has nothing to do with ASOPA, but I thought you’d appreciate a candid glimpse into my social life. Our team finished seventh of 38 in the trivia quiz, by the way. Very disappointing.
I hate to discourage the flow of visitors to ASOPA PEOPLE by not posting regularly, since that's the trick when it comes to maintaining a lively and well patronised blogsite. But roughing it in the Noosa wilderness makes attending to life's other obligations a little difficult, as those among you who have ever been in this pampered jungle would appreciate only too well.
So for the next few days it might be up to you, dear reader, to keep the emails flowing to me and the comments flowing to the site, thereby providing new stuff for people to read and ponder over. Ciao!
Seems the pace of visitation on ASOPA PEOPLE is increasing as the Brisbane reunion draws closer. The blog had a 'day record' of 90 visitors yesterday and has averaged 50 people a day over the past week. Which isn't bad after a slack posting period due to your dear author being both tied down at work and moving house. Yep, I'm 62 and I've downsized. Not outsourced yet, though. No one has seen fit to rightsize me. A redundee I am not. Nor a target of an MIO (management initiated outplacement). I find it helps if you own the company. And the economy is going gangbusters.
It's good to see some new names on the comment board of this site. You should feel free to fire off comments at will. Just hit on the 'Comments' tag at the end of each piece. And go for it. I assure you every contribution is read and the interesting ones are turned into other blogs or appear in The Mail newletter each month.
By the way, The Mail for June has been circulated to the 120 people on my mailing list and the issues for February to June are now up on the ASOPA website. The July issue is also well underway and I hope to get it out before I head off for Noosa in a week's time. That's enough housekeeping. Time to get back to 'Sex in the City'. But not before, apropos of nothing, offering you this pic of the last school at which I taught. Gagl Primary T (Chimbu District) circa 1966. May I invite you to submit pix of your old schools? Together with a bit of a story? Just to get in the mood for that impending reunion in the Sunshine State. Email me here.
The most recent issue of The Mail - in a sparkling new format - has just been published and disseminated by email. The Mail has been produced since the first ASOPA Reunion of the Modern Era at Port Macquarie in 2002. Its purpose was, and remains, to ensure that the bonds of friendship and collegiality that were forged among Cadet Education Officers at ASOPA between the late 1950s and early 1970s - and which tended to lapse thereafter - having now been rebuilt, remain strong. Your contributions are always welcome and you can send them to me at this email address.
Top of the sheet in the most recent issue of The Mail, Bob Davis and Dave Kesby expatiate upon ASOPA 62/63 graduate BP White’s mile run against fellow student and now shock jock Alan Jones. Gaye Speldewinde has more about the PNG adventure of Maria (‘Sound of Music’) von Trapp. There’s more news, more detail on the giant Brisbane reunion later this year and people trying to track down former PNG schoolteachers John Hughes, Howard Mason and John Quinnell. The February issue will be on the ASOPA web page soon but, if you want to receive your own copy as soon as it’s published, contact me at this email address.
The 100th and 101st [June and July] issues of The Mail are now posted on the ASOPA website. Barry Vincent re-emerges in what are termed “very comfortable digs on a hill overlooking the water” at Hervey Bay. Joe Crainean reveals his feelings on the eve of his recent ‘knot tying ceremony’ and Henry Bodman provides a first person account of the event: “Joe worked the church as only Joe can before his slim and curvy bride walked down the aisle on her son's arm… I didn't join in the lovely hymns because I was doing what Moose used to do in front of a sad movie on TV in the 60's.”
There’s also news from Col Booth, Diane Bohlen and Justine Finter; Colin Huggins provides an update on next year’s ASOPA 1962-63 Reunion in Brisbane and Peter Lewis offers an admiring critique of preparations. And Neil Harvey (ASOPA 1963-64) re-establishes contact: “After 29 years of primary school teaching (five in PNG), I'm now in the Christian ministry, being the minister of the Presbyterian regional parish of Wangaratta.”
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