OUR STORIES

• AN OLD PARADIAN’S ODE TO THE FUTILITY OF WAR

  ​A welcome guest of the Old Paradians’ Association at its recent annual Vietnam Veterans Luncheon was Brian McGrath. A final year student of Parade’s Class of 1954, Brian is not a Vietnam veteran - and yet he has a profound respect for all those who served.
  
  When Brian set foot into the Frank Mount Social Room for the occasion, he came armed with a poem he'd penned more than 30 years ago. The poem, entitled Bangkok to Tokyo – via Da Nang 1987, A Reflection, powerfully pushes the futility of war, and was completed “in about half an hour”, on what was a laborious return flight to Melbourne from Greece.
  
  “The trip took 42 hours, I can remember that,” Brian, now 82, said. “I was supposed to be flying Qantas but the airline couldn’t find a seat for me, so it put me on a Japanese airline that got me to Tokyo for a connecting Qantas flight to Melbourne.
  
  “I remember that there was a stop in Bangkok at the end of the day, next stop Tokyo, and I managed to get a window seat for the flight. During that flight, I heard the voice of the captain over the intercom, and the words: ‘If you look down at those little huts down there, that’s Da Nang’.
  
  “On looking down I became quite upset, but I couldn’t quite work out why, so I did what I normally do in such circumstances – I got out a pen and pad and started writing.”

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• BRIAN’S OLD PARADIANS BLAZER FINDS A NEW HOME

  ​A glorious Old Paradians sports blazer, thought to have been hand woven around the time of the Second World War, has been donated to the Old Paradians’ Association.
  
  The purple, green and blue striped blazer, featuring the original Old Paradians crest with motto Signum Fidei (Sign of Faith) and the Roman numerals “XI” and “XVIII” (cricket and football) on the pocket, was once owned by Brian Corrigan, a final year Parade College student of 1932. The item was handed in by Brian’s son Peter.
  
  “Brian, my father, was born in 1917, and as far as I know only attended Parade College until Year 8,” Peter said.
  
  “On leaving school, he joined CUB for what would be a 43-year association, during which time he became 2IC and controlled all the hotels in Victoria. In his retirement he relocated from Beaumaris to Kew, during which time he bought the Orrong Hotel.”

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• CAPT. MOWAT DELIVERS KEYNOTE OPA LUNCHEON ADDRESS

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• STUDENTS FEEDING THE MASSES AT OPAFC

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• “SHE SPENT HER WHOLE LIFE SMILING”

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• VAL FLYNN TO BE POSTHUMOUSLY HONORED BY OPA

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UPCOMING EVENTS

• 2019-06-12 OPA Luncheon

  Held on every second Wednesday of the month since 1936, the OPA Monthly Luncheon is quite possibly the oldest luncheon of its type in the world. Join Old Paradians over a sumptuous meal and a glass of vino within the idyllic surrounds of Melbourne's RACV City Club in Bourke Street.

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• 2019-06-21 40-YEAR REUNION, CLASS OF '79

  The Hickey Foyer provides the appropriate backdrop for a 40-year reunion of those old boys who made up Parade College's final year Class of 1979.

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• 2019-07-10 OPA Luncheon

  Held on every second Wednesday of the month since 1936, the OPA Monthly Luncheon is quite possibly the oldest luncheon of its type in the world. Join Old Paradians over a sumptuous meal and a glass of vino within the idyllic surrounds of Melbourne's RACV City Club in Bourke Street.

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ABOUT

The Old Paradians' Association seeks to foster links with all past students, whose formative years were shaped by the Christian Brothers of Parade College.

Formally established in 1914, the Association’s inaugural 13-man committee included the President James Kennedy (who completed his Matriculation class at Parade in 1890), Reverend Brother JM Dwyer and the Rush brothers Robert and William, all of whom maintained a continuing interest in the Association for the rest of their lives.