Gaudy Day 2018

Gaudy Day 2018

On the 7th of July St John’s College hosted their 106th Gaudy Day. This year’s program had been amended and condensed to ensure the full program would appeal to old boys and current boys. The previous day’s events, namely the Morison Abel Golf Day and Annual OJ Dinner, had set the scene for a great weekend for young and old to reminisce and catch up with mates.

The morning commenced with the highlight of the day, chapel service in the main chapel. The smell of incense and the sound of the choir singing brought back wonderful memories of those Wednesday morning chapel services. Friends, family and the matric boys joined the old boys as they enjoyed the morning service. It was a show case of what St Johns College stands for, being a World Class Christian School in Africa and further entrenched the meaning of what it is to be an Old Johannian.

After the chapel service had concluded, the sporting and cultural fixtures commenced. We had the annual Old Johannian rugby fixture against Old Eds, and even though the score line did not favour the Old Johannians on the day, this fixture has become an integral part of the relationship between St Johns College and King Edwards School. We would like to thank the Old Eds boys for participating in this fixture every year and look forward to strengthening this relationship.

Further to this, we had the annual soccer fixtures vs the Prep which has become another important fixture in the program as it is a great opportunity for the old boys to interact with the Prep boys and show them the true meaning of what becoming an old boy is all about.  Other fixtures during the course of the day against the College boys included squash, hockey, basketball, tennis and chess.

Dr Daniel Pretorius once again conducted the historical tour of the school, walking Old Johannians and their families through the school buildings and grounds whilst detailing the history of the school and showcasing the new developments in recent years. This has turned out to be a very popular activity on the program, especially for the reunion groups.

The day ended off with the annual rugby fixture between the Leavers and Stayers in the College. This was a fitting way to end the day as the College had an opportunity to showcase their skills to the old boys.

We would like to thank all the old boys who turned out in their numbers this year and also to those that participated in the events. We encourage everyone to attend next year’s celebrations as we would like to continue to grow this event.  The OJA would like to thank all the College and Prep staff, boys and parents who attended and contributed towards making this day possible.

Lastly, we would like to thank the following people for helping us organise the teams:

Soccer: Jon Patricios, Dave Patricios and Christopher Woolcott

Tennis: Ed Ward

Squash: Paul Barrow

Basketball: Ngoza Mazarura (SJC)

Chess: Sam Erwin

 

We would also like to say a special thank you to Sandra Lou for all her help in making this day possible.

We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s Gaudy Day celebrations and to making this event an even bigger success.

 

Gareth Heidt – Alston 2008

(OJA committee member)

Gallery