A reunion 50 years in the making

In stark contrast to the 1962-1963 Cadet Education Officers (aka The Reunion Junkies), the first official reunion of the 1963-1964 CEOs has been held.

Thirteen of the 38 who attended the Passing Out Ceremony at the Cinema Hall of the Balmoral Naval Depot on 30 October 1964, together with six spouses and two (very welcome) ring-ins met at the Yowani Country Club in Lyneham, Canberra.

Fortunately name tags were provided, because everybody had changed so much.

There were cocktails, which became a prelude for the evening meal, on the Friday night and lunch and dinner on the Saturday. After a bit of confusion, we met for lunch on Saturday at Jimmy’s Place in Dickson. An enjoyable meal at Yowani on Saturday night gave us the opportunities to discuss our doings over the last 50 years and reflect on the importance of those years at ASOPA.

In attendance were:  Mary Sullivan (née Chee), Maxine Mundell (née Grainger), Faye Owner (née Neilsen), Adrian Black, Bob and Liz Burlington, Bob and Helen Creelman, Peter and Vera Croker, Neil and Barbara Harvey, Leyland and Marilla Minter, Peter Plummer, Murray Russell, John and Joan Segal, Mick and Wendy Wilson. The ring-ins were Ian McLean (1962-1963) and Rex Thomas (1964-1965).

Apologies were received from Janet Baker (née Lucas), Sue Hall (née Noblet), Janine Paterson (née Outram), Betty Yip (née Tsa), Vera Ralfe (née Zander), Peter Brigg and Mike Owner.

A minute’s silence was observed in memory of our 10 deceased colleagues.

We were given an assignment to produce a description of life before, at and after ASOPA for presentation in writing or verbally at the Saturday night dinner. It was a most enjoyable couple of days. Those 50 years vanished as we remembered, reminisced and relived those two years spent at Middle Head and it is hoped that all those assignments can be put into some printed form.

Efforts continue to locate the rest of our group.

Rumour has it that we may not wait another 50 years before getting together again. And some of us are even working on our post-retirement plans.

Back Row:  Murray Russell, John Segal, Leyland Minter, Adrian Black, Wendy Wilson, Mick Wilson
Middle Row:  Peter Plummer, Mary Chee, Joan Segal, Marilla Minter, Bob Creelman, Peter Croker, Bob Burlington, Liz Burlington
Front Row:  Barbara Harvey, Neil Harvey, Maxine Grainger, Faye Neilsen, Helen Creelman, Vera Croker