Old Boys’ Association
Initially, the concept of the Association was an “umbrella” group bringing together the various interest groups within the School (eg Old Boys, Scinde Old Boys, Parents League, Teachers (both present and past), Board of Trustees Members (both present and past), and other friends of the School). While the Association is still a voice for all of these interest groups, the reality is the most significant interest group is the Old Boys’.
The Association’s main activities include:
- Columns: The Association’s Newsletter, “Columns” is now published bi-annually. Currently, under the editorship of Chris Geddis, “Columns” keeps all the Association members informed about activities at the School, current issues affecting the School, Old Boys’ activities and feature articles.
- Year Group Reunions: The Association has run the biennial year group reunion which aim to bring together classmates once every 10 years. These reunions are intended to be smaller scale reunions focussed on Old Boys’ starting years rather than the large scale reunions held every quarter of a century.
- Reunions: The Association played an integral role in supporting the organising Committee of the 125th Reunion in 1997 and the 150th Reunion held in 2022. Importantly, a bi-product of the year group reunions has been the regular updating of the Old Boys’ database, which will enable the organising committee of the 150th to readily contact the School’s vast Old Boy network.
- Phillip Rankin is the School’s archivist and on behalf of the Association has promoted the School’s archival collections, collecting many items of memorabilia so as to support the School’s traditional base.
In addition, Phillip and Judith Craigie are working through and collecting military records of all Old Boys’ who have serviced in the World Wars, and in particular, those of our Old Boys’ killed in action. Phillip also carries out a lot of research on behalf of families and historians seeking information about Old Boys’ of the school.
In addition to the above formal activities, the Association provides the useful sounding board for the Headmaster. The Association’s members provide the Headmaster with useful background information on Old Boys’ who still have a connection with the School and historical events within the School’s history so that the Headmaster is better informed about Old Boys’ and the School’s past events.
Contact the Old Boys’ Association: oldboys@nbhs.school.nz