Dear Members,

These past few months have seen OPGA passionately engaged with and supportive of our school community and alumni, as we hosted and supported numerous events and projects.

On the 28th of April, we joyously celebrated the induction of the class of '74 into our prestigious Penturion Club. This year, we invited all alumni from Foundation through to the Class of '74 to join us for this special lunch. We will continue to do so annually as it was a wonderful catch up for many of our early years alumni! Bill McDonough took us on a nostalgic journey, reminiscing about his school days and his time as a band member of Australian Crawl. His Ken McGarvin renditions were perfect and had the entire room laughing along with the stories he shared. We were thrilled to help him promote his latest book, Sons of Beaches. Doug Thring added to the festivities by guiding us through a school-themed trivia game and leading us in a rousing rendition of the school song. Thankyou Doug and Bill for your contributions and to everyone who came along!

On the 26th of May, we hosted a delightful afternoon at Kirks Hotel in Mornington for past staff members to gather, reminisce, and reinforce their camaraderie. It was truly inspiring to see past staff, some in their eighties and early nineties, still enthusiastic about participating in these events. I am confident that we can continue to build and strengthen our connections with former school staff in the years to come.

On the 13th of May, OPGA proudly sponsored a golf package for the annual school Golf Day. The event was a tremendous success, and we were delighted to continue our support for such a cherished community tradition.

May 7th marked our Archive Volunteering Day, where a handful of alumni gathered to help match names to photos. I was pleasantly surprised to reconnect with an old schoolmate, and I believe we made significant progress in identifying some of the individuals in the photos.

One of our most ambitious projects—the redevelopment and upgrade of the memorial gardens—is progressing beautifully. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Stuart Johnston for his encouragement and support as we move forward with the next stages of this endeavor. Our initial task involved public notices and communications through social platforms to inform the community of our intent to enhance the current gardens and memorial wall. We have already received inquiries and expressions of interest from parties eager to stay updated on our progress. More information on this within this newsletter.

OPGA are looking for additional committee members so if you're interested in joining us and contributing to the planning of our future social/community calendar, please email opga@pgs.vic.edu.au

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Warm Regards,

David Clarke

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