Members of The Old Boys Association (OBA) of St Andrew’s School, Bloemfontein, gathered at Port Alfred’s MYPond Hotel on Saturday last week for their annual reunion breakfast get-together.
Some Old Andreans who are retired to various coastal areas of Ndlambe – including Derek Schulz and Brent Lacey (Class of 1991) from as far afield as St Francis – took time away to relive nostalgia and to “touch base” again.
Roy Gordon – a previous headmaster of the school – organised the gathering. He began proceedings on a sombre note asking for a minute’s silence, following the passing of “two great Old Andreans” Collin Hickling and Roger Crawford.
Gordon said though the long weekend had probably impacted on attendance the association was thankful to those who had honoured the invite.
“Thank you Wouter (Hensens) for what Stenden is doing for us all these years. Thanks for the effort to always be with us – we appreciate it very much. Thank you to you too Stenden’s Andre Steyn (retired career coach) for what you do for us.”
The school’s current headmaster, Roland Rudd, could not attend and former deputy headmaster John Bridger (2001-2015) was present to do the main address.
Said Gordon cheekily while introducing Bridger: “I was not happy when John said he was coming to our gathering … when I was leaving St Andrew’s one day to go to a weekend conference, parents walked in to the school and I said to them, ‘listen I’m sorry I’m going to a conference. ‘Then one of them asked, ‘so who looks after the school when you’re not here?’. John Bridger remarked: ‘well the same people who look after it while he IS here’.”
“And those were the cheeky comments we could expect from each other often,“ Gordon said to laughter.
OBA’s current chair, Richard Chemaly, who graduated from St Andrew’s in 2007 was among the Old Boys present.
A highlight was an onorary life membership award handed over by Chemaly to forrmer chaplain of St Andrew’s (2011-2021), Rev Deon Lombard.
Chemaly, who succeeded Bridger as OBA chair, said the question he suppose had to be asked is what the gathering was all about every year.
“We constantly reinforce the school’s legacy and values by coming together, to show why we went to St Andrews … we share the stories and, most importantly, we share the love and commitments we made so many years ago.
“We’ve been placed in precarious position as youngsters want new ideas and want to change things and, understandably so. But when we look at the OBA right now it is not right to change things to the detriment of those who are already here. We have come to conclusion we will not change (OBA format) but build on what we have created,” said Chemaly.
Bridger who, despite retiring some years ago, checks in on the school regularly and is an ardent collector of historical facts about the school shared some inportant updates with those present..
“The school has shone by achieving 100% pass rate in the matric exams and 95% of pupils achieved a Bachelors pass. For a boy’s school it is unusual as not many boys school achieve 100% pass rates. I think we are only one of less than 10 schools in that category.
“As it regards sport, cricket continues to shine and we have a very good cricket programme – we qualified for the SA 20 competition and though we didn’t make the knockouts we receivex the best team spirit prize. Six Old Boys are playing professional cricket and a few others are international cricketers.
Other sports, such as hockey, squash and cultural activities remain prominent on the school’s sporting curriculum. as extra-miural activities.
He said chapel remained the centerpiece of the school and there would be a rededication on May 17 after undergoing a recent upgrade. Bridger said plans for a new rugby pavilion was also in the pipeline
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, March 27, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
