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Principal Sponsor: Kosdown Printing

Venture RevisitedMordi Memories Cont'd.

Alumni Profile

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5 7

In this issue

Ventured

6

Newsletter of the Mordialloc College Alumni Association

P. O. Box 5121, Mordialloc 3195

www.mordialloccollegealumni.orgadmin@mordialloccollegealumni.org

Sponsor Register

Where Are They Now?

Principal’s NoteCan You Help Us?

Mordi Memories

President’s Message

Mordialloc Creek has been an integral part of the lives of both original and subsequent inhabitants of Port Phillip Bay and surrounding areas. With MCHS/Mordialloc College situated on its banks many students – past and present – have walked alongside it on their way to and from school. Alumni Bruce Lines recalls his mother speaking of students being taken to the creek for swimming lessons when she was a student at the school in the late 1920s/early 1930s. There were several popular swimming spots, one of which was named the Devil’s Hole or Devil’s Chair.

Ron Jacobs, a student during 1941-1943, remembers the air raid trenches dug on the school boundary beside the creek, and the daunting evacuation drills, especially when the trenches were filled with water.

In the nineteen fifties, students were taken to the strip of land between the railway line and Nepean Highway to practise for forthcoming school sports – hockey dribble, tunnel ball and cross ball – to name a few events.

Biology students collected specimens from its waters, sometimes to the dismay of teachers who insisted on thorough disinfection of arms and legs afterwards, as for many years, for a variety of reasons, the creek was quite polluted. One student who accidentally fell in, recounts that it took a week to wash the smell from her hair. On a hot day the walk to school was permeated by a strong odour and the odd hat that blew into the water was never quite the same. Incidents such as the one recollected in our memories section on page six, no doubt added to the many pressures placed on the creek waters.

A prominent feature of the area was the boat building business of the Pompei family, and works in progress were often visible from the pathway. Jack Pompei, together with many others, was an ardent advocate for the protection of the creek. There are several websites that make very interesting reading about the history of the creek and the Pompei family. Increasing urbanisation over the years has seen many changes to the area, and these days Mordialloc is a thriving community with the creek and its surrounds still a vital feature. Ongoing vigilance is needed to protect the health of the creek and its environs.

Why not take a nostalgic walk along the historical walking trail listed on the website www.localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au and re-live happy memories?

OUR MORDIALLOC CREEK

Ventured is the newsletter of the Mordialloc College Alumni Association (MCAA)Page 1

Issue 7 - October 2016

Ventured

Page 2

Kosdown Printing10 Rocklea Drive,

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Diaco’s Garden Nursery190 Old Dandenong Road,

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Old Western Hot Bread25 Warren Road, Mordialloc, 3195

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Arena Fitness325b Bay Rd.,

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RAM Locksmiths122. Foster Street,

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Le Roi Cafe1/44 Como Parade West,

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Mordialloc Sporting Club528 Main Street Mordialloc

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Michelangelo’s Ristorante (under Intermezzo Management)

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See the special discount voucher for Alumni Members on page 5.

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Mordialloc Discount Lolley Shop558 Main Street, Mordialloc 3195 ph 9587 9791

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By Bruce Lines (MC: 1952-56)Where Are They Now?

Ventured

Where Are They Now? is designed to let you know where life’s journey has taken some of your classmates after leaving Mordialloc College. We would be delighted if you can provide information about yourself or friends you made at school for publication in future editions of Ventured. Some ideas you might like to mention include: tertiary education, employment history, engagement, marriage, family, special achievements, hobbies, your favourite memories of school life and so on.

BRUCE McLEAN — 1956 to 1961I attended Mordialloc-Chelsea High School from 1956 to 1961. During the last two

years I spent two evenings a week learning voice production in Melbourne as I had my heart set on a career in radio. In January 1962, I was offered a position at 3MA Mildura and ended up living in Mildura for 48 years. My career took me from radio to the new medium of television in 1965 where I read news, became Sales Manager and ultimately Manager of Sunraysia Television Limited in 1974. I managed the introduction of colour television and the creation of a regional network with television stations in Bendigo and Gippsland.

Sunraysia Television Limited was sold to private investors in 1988 and I was offered the position of Administration Manager at Ten Network in Melbourne. The weekly commute to Mildura became tiresome and I decided after 18 months to find a new career and entered the field of aged care and retirement living. I was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Princes Court Homes Inc. in 1990, Mildura’s largest aged care provider and spent the following 19 years transforming the operation with new buildings, creation of specialised dementia facilities and higher levels of care. My final achievement before retirement was the development of Princes Court Village on the former Mildura Base Hospital site.

In retirement, my wife and I moved to Bendigo to enjoy the close proximity to family and our interests. I have two sons with successful careers in international retail management and architecture located in Melbourne.

My hobby interests have revolved around rail transport and Victorian Railways history, particularly the role of railways in the development of north-west Victoria. A parallel interest in model railways consumes any spare time.

ANDREW WEBSTER — 1961 to 1965Siblings Russell (deceased) and Vivienne (Head Prefect 1964) also attended MCHS.

Studying on a full-time and part-time basis, tertiary education at RMIT saw Andrew complete a Graduate Diploma of Civil Engineering in 1972, followed by a Graduate Diploma in Transport Management.

Andrew’s first job was as a Cadet Engineer with the City of Malvern. In 1970 he joined BHP in the Central Engineering Department, designing up-grades to the Newcastle and Port Kembla steel manufacturing plants. In 1974 he joined Victorian Railways as a structural engineer, primarily designing bridges and buildings. The early 80s saw a move to the Construction Department as a Construction Engineer. In the early 90s he took up a new position in Vic Track’s Property Group responsible for facilitating property developments on land and airspace abutting railway stations. His final

position for Vic Track was as Manager of Commercial Development Railway Services, before retiring in 2011.Cricket, football and athletics were Andrew’s sporting interests at MCHS, making the First 18 when in Year

9. After school, sporting involvement continued to be cricket but his main focus was on football and at age fifteen played First 18 with Cheltenham and also played with St. Kilda reserves. His first game in 1967 was the day St. Kilda unfurled their 1966 Premiership flag.

Current interests include watching cricket and football, wine, food and cooking. He is a member of the Melbourne Racing Club and the Albert Park Angling Club.

Andrew has fond memories of his time at MCHS and believes it struck the right balance between academics and sport. He recalls nicknames given by students to some staff – among them Swede, Skull, Chrome Dome, Rocky, Frog and Killer. He is in regular contact with twenty or so of his cohorts, who meet every four months for lunch. They hope to have the next lunch at Doyles Mordialloc in December.

Andrew and his wife Barbie now reside in Brighton, and are proud parents of Melanie (Graduate Diploma of Psychology) and John (Doctor of Philosophy in Auditing) who is lecturing at Monash University.

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Issue 7 - October 2016

Principal’s Note

Ventured

We have a large Photographic Archive from every decade of the College’s life which the Principal has kindly passed to us for classification and preservation. We are not able to date or identify many of these and seek your help for information and perhaps some recollections attached to these photos.

Please contact : MCAA Historian Dorothy Meadows OAM on telephone 9772 3952 or by email at dorothymeadows.oam@gmail.com.

Here is an image we have selected this time from our 2000+ archives. If you recognise the students, the event or can give us an idea of dates, we would appreciate it. If you also have a story or event associated with the image, that would be very welcome too.

Can You Help Us?

College TourOn Friday 18th November, Michelle Roberts – Principal of Mordialloc College – is offering a

College Tour for ex-students from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., followed by an excellent morning tea. This is an opportunity to see the new Performing Arts Centre which is expected to be

finished by then. If you are interested in attending, we need an indication of numbers. Please email dorothy.meadows.oam@gmail.com or leave a message on 9772 3952.

Department ExemplarMordialloc College was recently recommended to the

Department of Education as a case study for the work we are doing on ‘Building practice excellence’ and our work on our triad coaching model to support the implementation of the Curiosity and Powerful Learning initiative. They are developing a series of case studies of ‘What’s working in Victorian schools’ , designed to share best practice to build system capacity. The case studies are narratives of successful programs or approaches that are improving outcomes for students linked to the relevant initiatives of the Framework for Improved Student Outcomes (FISO) Improvement Model. These will be seen on the FISO site and summaries of some of these case studies appear each week in the School Update email bulletin as ‘FISO in Focus’ articles. In order to further enhance these resources they are developing videos of school practice, including vox pops of principals, teachers, students and other members of the school community talking about how FISO is being implemented in schools. After writing up and submitting “our” case study a few weeks ago, we were visited by Karen Dowling, Acting Director – Improvement and Accountability Division – to video a range of people to talk about our implementation. This included me, Jennifer Roep, Bryony Lowe, Alice Leppin and some of our Year 7 students.Fit to Drive Program

The college continues to fund this special annual program for all of our Year 11 students to participate in, and is run by Victorian Traffic Safety Education. The program is facilitated by trained University students known as peer facilitators or Road Safety Ambassadors. Fit to Drive (f2d) is a community program for young people that concentrates on personal safety and responsibility giving them strategies to make them safer on the road. The program actively encourages and empowers young people as road users to look after themselves and their friends, and assists young people to assert themselves in high risk situations where for example a driver is speeding or impaired. The program also features a Police presentation of factual information focussing on speed, drugs, alcohol and fatigue. Some of the activities involved the emergency services, MFB/CFA in delivering a real life case study where the young people make decisions about how to avoid dangerous outcomes. Thanks to Year 11 coordinator Robyn Wilson for organising this program. It was most worthwhile for our students to be involved in and they have been encouraged to discuss the content of the sessions and what they got out of their involvement with their parents.

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Issue 7 - October 2016

Michelle Roberts, Principal

By Martin DaviesPresident’s Message

Ventured

Annual General Meeting

Coming up to our second AGM in mid-October, we are now close to two years of continuous operation. What have we we achieved? 

By any measure the results of our efforts have been outstanding. Indeed, I would suggest that we are one of the best organised, and most productive, local historical organisations. This is due, in no small measure, to the support we receive from our members (you), our sponsors, and the school. The dedication and commitment of the committee has also been exemplary.

More Good NewsIf you have not already heard, we were recently informed that we were successful in winning $7,400 in the recent

round of Kingston Community Grants. This is on top of the $2,000 awarded last year for the purchase of acid-free, archival sleeves for our photo preservation project. The new grant will help to continue this archival and digitisation work; and, in addition, allow us to commence preparatory work for a centenary book: Mordialloc College: The First 100 Years. The thought of celebrating the centenary in 2024 without a commemorative book does not bear thinking about! It must be done. We have only eight short years in which to do it.

In fact, work began on this book some time ago with the listing of staff, duxes, form captains, notable alumni and principals from all years of the school since 1924. This will comprise a comprehensive index in the book. Uploading a digital copy of all the Venture and Viking yearbooks, and hundreds of school-related documents and newspaper articles to our dedicated website, was the second step. Now, thanks to the grant, we can begin the third step. We have the funds to employ a researcher to read through, and compile “themes” from our extensive archival records. These themes will comprise an historic record of what

happened and when. The role of the researcher will be to put these records into a logical order, compile a scholarly list of published references and other sources, and to construct a rough narrative of historic events. From this, a book can be written.

Naturally, we know what some of these historic events are already: the establishment of the school in 1924; classes in the Masonic Hall prior to the construction of the new building in 1928; the polio epidemic; the privations of the war years and construction of the bomb shelters; the dramatic educational changes, and social turmoil brought about in the 1960s; the “hair strike” of 1970; the change of the school’s name (four times!); the introduction of informational technology and computers into the curriculum; and so on. But for a book we cannot merely rely on memory. A systematic and proper history of the school has to be told using the painstaking historical research methods, and careful attention to evidence, and accuracy of scholarship. There is certainly a story to tell.

Website and MembershipI am happy to report that our website has been successfully migrated from a commercial server to the school’s

server. This took many months. This saves us considerable funds, and allows us to place the digital archive of the school where it rightly belongs – at the school itself.

Our Facebook community overshot the milestone of 1000 members in August. We now stand at well over 1300 members and growing rapidly. FB are slowly transitioning to full membership and we think this trend will continue. By 2024, on current growth rates, the MCAA is likely to have thousands of members.

The Annual General Meeting of the Mordialloc College Alumni Association will be held on

Saturday, 8th Octoberat the Mordialloc Sporting ClubMain Street, MordiallocCommencing at 10.30 am.

All committee roles will be declared vacant, and we invite all members to consider nominating for a position. Nominations may be forwarded via email to admin@mordialloccollegealumni.org or received at the meeting.

10% DiscountOn presentation of this Voucher and

Membership CardOffer is valid until 30th November 2016

& applies Sunday to Thursday only.Not in conjunction with any other offers.

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Issue 7 - October 2016

Michelangelo's Restaurant located in Aspendale Gardens comes out of Intermezzo Restaurant at Southland Shopping Centre. After operating for 15 very successful and rewarding years at Southland, we took over Michelangelo's 2 years ago. We brought with us our very successful recipes and many of our wonder staff. Please check our website to find out more www.michelangelos.com.au.

VenturedMordi Memories

Tales from Long Ago — The GluepotFrom Wilf Harding Hilarious incident (one I’ve recalled and told many

times since).It goes something like this, with perhaps, like all

memorable stories, and at the late Graeme Roe’s expense, just a smidgin of embellishment attributable to the years passed since.

There we were one morning – Year 9 Woodwork class – Don Templeton was the teacher . . . and a good woodwork teacher too.

“Old Temp” hands Graeme (Mo) Roe a large, well-worn, cast-iron gluepot, overflowing with dried-up glue scrapings, bent nails and other junk, and says

casually to Graeme: “Here Roe – go chuck this in the creek!” Graeme trots off – probably grateful for the brief escape from Temp’s scrutiny of his work – and is gone

for about 15-20 minutes. He returns empty-handed. Temp gives Graeme a serve for being away so long, then, with a puzzled expression, asks: “Where’s the

gluepot Roe?” Graeme ponders this tricky question for a while – then the penny drops, as did his jaw, and he says

meekly: “I -er, I -er, I chucked it . . . chucked it . . . in the creek. . . like you said”. The class explodes into laughter.

Temp froths at the mouth, his face goes four shades of red darker than usual and he proceeds to tear strips off Roe for the next five minutes without repeating himself.

Temp roars: “Right! Let’s go find it! Everyone!” So, as I recall, we all got marched over to the edge of the Mordialloc Creek to retrieve the gluepot. Great excitement!

With commendable restraint, Temp says: “Now Roe! Show me! Where did you throw it?” Graeme – standing on the creek bank, with his arm whirling like helicopter blades – mutters

something like: “I stood here and . . . and I threw it . . . out there (pointing to a spot half way across the creek) . . . as far as I could!” 

More laughter from the lads, only stifled guffaws this time, as “Old Temp’s” mood was by now beyond further testing.

We never did retrieve the trusty old gluepot and I’m not sure whether or not Roe passed in Year 9 Woodwork . . . but I have had many a laugh about it since.

I wonder if Graeme remembered it so clearly?

1952 Class 3b Woodwork

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Issue 7 - October 2016

UTA GARNETT 1977My favourite memory is doing science with Mr. McDonald – doing the experiments and causing

chemical reactions. “Sparkies” is what Mr. McDonald called them. The best one was when we took a walk to the Mordialloc creek and threw sodium into it to watch it fizzle and react.

BILL COOPER 1943Swimming in the Devil’s Chair at lunch and recess time – with or without bathers.Teacher “Slugger” Soloman looking after the Swimming Certificate candidates swimming fully clothed

from the landing on the pier to the shore. As he watched from the pier, he advised anyone about to drown to let him know early, so he could retrieve his good pants that he had loaned to a candidate, .

He was a long time member of a previous ex-students' association, and many people will remember him as their local Optometrist/Optician at Mentone. Sadly, Bill Cooper died in October, 2015. He was a long time member of a previous ex-students’ association, and many people will remember him as their local Optometrist/Optician.

Venture Revisited articles are selected extracts of students' original work previously published by the College each year in Venture. This was an annual publication for which we have copies commencing in 1929.

VenturedVenture Revisited

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Issue 7 - October 2016

Item selected from Venture December 1964GOLF DAYMr. Phillips, Barry Hedrick, Terry Morton, Peter Morton, Rex Over, Greg

Symons and myself, constituted the school golf team to accept the challenge to play the M.C.H.S. ex-students at Woodlands Golf Club on Sunday, 30th August.

When one of our members dropped out, Mr. Phillips kindly stepped in to keep up our strength, and with his assistance we students (all seven of us) went to an almost heroic victory, that of 7 - 0.

Tony Lack, former Head Prefect, was very disappointed with the final results. It seems that he is not used to being on the losing side, golf-wise anyway. Another disappointed person on the opposition side was Mr. Rolly Parkinson who, on approaching the fourth green, accidentally hit one ball right over the green, the trees and the fence, where it became lodged in the bonnet of a passing police car. Whew!

As usual however, the day was a complete success and we hope that more of such days can be arranged in the future. I would like to thank Mr. Jim Dowling, President of the Ex-Students, for taking a personal interest in this event. KEN ANDERSON

JOHN ROUND 1962Alumni John Round is eldest of four of Elaine Round’s sons who all

attended M.C.H.S. spanning the years from 1961-1978. He has forwarded us a copy of the words he wrote to Mordialloc Ex-Students on learning of the death of his former Headmaster, Mr. Butler in 2008 – A personal tribute to his much admired Headmaster.

LETTER FROM JOHN ROUND -STUDENT 1962-1967Dear Sir,I was saddened to hear of the death by drowning of my headmaster at "Mordy High" for the five of the

six years of my stay from 1962 to 1967.Mr. Butler was a man for the times, he replaced the more austere Mr. Tippet in 1963 and he

immediately won the hearts and minds of all students.He was 48 when he arrived in 1963 and encouraged scholastic and sporting activities with enthusiasm.I personally remember his kindness when in Second Form I went AWOL during the exam period (for

those of you who can remember we had to sit next to a person from another class while they did their exams – it was extremely boring). He accepted my apology in a calm manner and for that I have always been grateful.

Some points regarding Mr. Butler’s life. He was an excellent sportsman playing Aussie Rules for Carlton in the early 30s and 40s. He also loved his tennis and was club champion at any school district to which he was assigned. He played well into his 60s winning the New Zealand over 65 singles title. He also loved golf, being a member of the Long Island Country Golf Club for 37 years.

I have fond memories of my time at "Mordy" made more pleasurable by a good headmaster in Mr. Butler. It is a pity that he had to end his life in such tragic circumstances. *

*NOTE: At the time he was over 80 and just couldn’t cope with the flow of the Patterson River.

Mordi Memories Continued from p.6

Venture Committee 1964

Mr Butler, Principal 1962

admin@mordialloccollegealumni.org

ALUMNI PROFILE

About VenturedVentured is the newsletter of the Mordialloc College

Alumni Association (MCAA). Ventured welcomes member contributions, including stories and articles about the school; people or events of the past related to the school; and insight into what has happened to people after leaving school. All information in Ventured is provided in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be accurate and current as at the date of publication. The Editor is not obliged to publish a submission and reserves the right to edit submissions. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily endorsed or approved by the MCAA or Mordialloc College.

All contributors are requested to read the submission guidelines on the website:

http://www.mordialloccollegealumni.org. Contributions should be sent by email to the Editor, Barbara Dowling:

admin@mordialloccollegealumni.org. Thanks to the many people who have contributed

to the production of Ventured, and to our wonderful sponsors. We are grateful for their support of public education. Ventured is produced using InDesign and based on a template designed by Jenny Pesina of the University of Melbourne. Ventured is printed by Kosdown Printers in Port Melbourne.

Would you like your details to appear as an alumni profile? It's easy! Just send us a bio – something that you would like to share. Following the guidelines for publication in Ventured available on the website, and send it to the Editor by email: admin@mordialloccollegealumni.org, or upload it via the website. Make sure you include the years you attended the College; and a clear head and shoulders photo as a jpeg file. Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want the photo back. The Editor reserves the right to edit your submission to size.

Ventured

LAURIE WEBB 1952-1956Having gained my Leaving Certificate in 1956, I started work at the age of 17 with ICIANZ. I gained Accountancy

qualifications, and was admitted as a member of the Australian Society of Accountants (later CPA Australia) in the mid -sixties.

In 1963 I joined Hemingway Robertson Institute (HRI) as an Accounting tutor for their correspondence school. I became Company Secretary due to the premature death of the incumbent, and was appointed a director of Dale Carnegie Institute, operated in Australia under licence from the U.S. In 1967 I took leave of absence and went on a four months trip to Asia. After the business was sold in 1969, I joined a management consultant for a year, during which I completed my Matriculation. In the same year I married Menchama, née Reddy, a Fijian Indian secondary school teacher. By the end of 1978 I had completed a BA in History and Economics and a Master of Administration at Monash University. I had secured a job as lecturer in Accounting at Chisholm Institute of Technology and in 1980 had my first sabbatical in San Francisco, followed by two others in the Los Angeles area in 1986 and 1990. Just before the merger of Chisholm into Monash University in 1990, I was appointed a senior lecturer in Accounting and was a visitor at the industrial relations annexe at Oxford University, undertaking a research project on reporting to employees. On my return I was seconded to the professional development section of the Australian Society of Accountants for twelve months. This was followed by a teaching appointment at California State University Polytechnic at Pomona in Los Angeles for six months.

STUDY PROGRAMSAfter receiving seed funds to start up an accounting study program, in January 1994 I visited Los Angeles, Hong

Kong, and Singapore. This program became memorable for the 6.7 earthquake we experienced in Pasadena at 4.30 am on 17 January. This experience was “pipped” with the 1995 program which included Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, when on 17 January at 5.46 am an earthquake struck at Kobe (40 kms away from our hotel). Two major earthquakes on the same day – one year apart – at approximately the same time of day, in two different countries certainly was something to think about. Tattslotto odds with the first prize of a safe group of students!

These study programs have continued every year since the early 90s, without any further earthquakes or disasters.

In 2006 I left Monash after thirty years as an academic and joined RMIT to become a study program provider and leader, delivering two programs a year. In 2013 I left and accepted an honorary appointment from the University of Melbourne. Accompanying me as program leader are academics from RMIT and UOM, who are responsible for the academic part of the program that sets significant demands on participating students. There is a significant mark allotted for participation and prizes are presented at farewell dinners in London for the European program and New York for the U.S. program.

I have two daughters – Kamila, now married and living in Warsaw, and Tamika, married and living in Murrumbeena. She has two daughters and Kamila has one daughter at school in Warsaw.

I have served as a Justice of the Peace for thirty years.

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Issue 7 - October 2016