2021 is the 125th anniversary of the founding of the ODU.
It has been more than two years since the UK ODs sat down to break bread at their annual black-tie dinner. If I recall anything from my school physics, it is that energy is never destroyed ; it's just converted into another form. In this case, into a supremely enjoyable 2021 dinner where noise and camaraderie in equal parts testified to amount of pent-up energy just waiting to get out - and it did.
Back at our old stomping ground, the very grand Carlton Club in London, a full-capacity of 92 ODs and guests (with many on a standby list) looking very dapper, assembled on Friday 10th September, to remind ourselves what these dinners - when we could still hold them - were like. Covid in all sorts of ways is long!
The pre-Dinner reception was in The Morning Room and it was soon obvious that the evening would be special. ODs mingled across years and lockdown stories abounded, but now in the context of restored liberties (almost).
Adrian Kritzinger (F, 2006) supplied the very wonderful sparkling wine which provided the grease that started the wheels turning. Not to be outdone,
Anthony Record MBE (S, 1956) most generously donated the fabulous wines from his estate, Domaine Gayda and
Michael Cockburn (F, 2006),
James During (B, 2007) and
Devan du Plooy (G, 2007) delivered their very refreshing Co.bru beer. To all of them our huge thanks.
The warm-up over, we marched off to The Churchill Room for the dinner.
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| Our OD speakers for the evening: Anthony Record, Choppy Bands, James Gardener, Calum Wehmeyer and Francois Louw |
We stood as James Gardener (W, 1974) opened the formal part of the evening with an original grace he "curated" (as they say nowadays):
Benedictus
benidice
Nikonwabele
ukutya kwenu
Vir
kos en klere, dank u Here
For
food and friends, thank God. Amen
Then, standing in for our Patron,
Raymond Ackerman (S, 1948),
Anthony Record MBE welcomed a full house of 92 ODs and guests and read a message from Raymond.
Although a small island, the UK is a beast when it comes to travel and Anthony singled out
Calum Wehmeyer (B, 2017) who came from Edinburgh and who proposed the Toast to Bishops, having been drawn, as is tradition, from one of the youngest ODs present. From Bath trekked
Francois Louw (W, 2003) and from Yorkshire,
Richard (G, 1976) and Joy
Montgomery. And from Cambridgeshire
Nick Koster (F, 2007). Many other ODs had travelled into London from faroff places and for that we are very grateful.
From even further afield, he welcomed Dr
Rudolf Beekman (O, 1962) and his wife Marjan who had come in from The Netherlands, as had
Cormac Petit (O, 1973) and his wife Nahnya.
Anthony and Carole Record had come France.
And Choppy Bands (K, 1990) our brilliant MC for the evening, had flown in from Dublin. His relaxed but effective crowd control combined with his urbane charm and witty and eloquent delivery surely makes him indispensable for future dinners.
We were delighted that Ashley Pople (St Cyp's), the first non-Bishops Bishops Rhodes Scholar, was also with us. She is about to receive her DPhil from Oxford and head off, next month, to New York where she will be taking up a position with The UN as a development economist.
After the Welcome, Calum proposed the Toast to Bishops and what a toast that was. It is difficult to say whether 92 Bishops Old Boys can be moved to tears of affection for their alma mater, but Calum got them very close. His Toast and congratulations to the ODU on its 125th anniversary is reproduced at the end of this blog.
Our guest speaker was Seema Jasmal who delivered an engaging and motivating talk on grabbing opportunities, using time wisely, pursuing one's passion and sharing our delight by reminding us - should that have even been necessary - of the recent Bishops v RBHS 1st XV rugby match which Bishops won 50-10. Seema, who is one of the UK's most accomplished and entertaining TV sports' presenters, was charming and artuclulate and added wonderfully to the atmoshpere of the evening.
Francois Louw was in charge of the reply and thanks and picked up on one of Seema's messages of "if you don't know your purpose, follow your passion; if you follow your passion, it will lead you to your purpose". That struck a chord. His thanks were pithy and on point.
After a delicious main course and dessert washed down with OD wine, sparkling wine and beer, we returned to The Morning Room for an ever-increasingly popular after party which extended until 12.30am when ODs dispersed into the night, who knows where, but eventually heading homewards (presumably) reflecting on a great evening and hoping that next year's will be uninterrupted by viruses of any sort.
Our thanks as always to The Carlton whose gracious staff never fail to go the extra mile to ensure a happy and successful evening.
Until next year, Floreat Bishops
The full guest list and Toast are given at the end of this post
Click on the photos to enlarge them
The Pre-Dinner Reception
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| Andrew Floyd, Michael Mills and James Gardener deciding who to be |
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| David Jordan and Andrew Floyd |
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| Mark Jones, Nick Smith and Stuart Crawford-Browne |
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| Michael Cockburn and Kamal Sacranie |
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| Wendy and Nick Heesom, Anthony and Carole Record |
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| Lloyd Bowden, Calum Wehmeyer, Nick Cunningham and Jessica Williams |
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| David Jordan, Andrew Floyd and Rudolf Beekman |
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| Peter and Marie Syfret with Susie Nixon-Eckershall |
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| Kosta Scholiadis and Stuart Crawford-Brown |
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| Tom Horne and Rob Brink |
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| Chris Leach, Nick Boswell and Mike Leach |
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| Nick Koster and Charles McGregor |
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| Keegan Sutherland, Tom Horne, Rob Brink and Max Alexander |
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| Stuart Commins, Francois Louw and Pete Karstel |
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| Richard and Joy Montgomery |
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| Steve and Audrey Hofmeyr with Caelim Parkes, and in the background, Andrew Floyd, Rudolf Beekman and Neil Orpen |
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| Ian Currie, Nick Boswell and Brendan Raubenheimer |
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| Chris Leach and Rupert Tripp |
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| Nicole Suckling, Joy Montgomery, Steve Suckling and Richard Montgomery |
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| Greg Baldwin, Graham Thomas and Grant Challis |
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| JJ van de Vyver and Ashley Pople |
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| John Parker-Wood, Carol Lyon nad Mike Taylor |
The Dinner
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| The seating plan - nemesis of any party planner |
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| The lull before the storm |
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| Darren Bosman, JJ van de Vyver and Paul Cohen |
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| Menna McGregor and Audrey Hofmeyr |
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| Tim Loughton, Nick Heesom, Anthony Record and Nicky Bicket |
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| Richard Gabler and James Plimsoll |
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| Paul Cohen and Andrew McAlpin |
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| James Plimsoll, Tom Horne and Chris Leach |
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| Jackie Wilgar and Andy Jackson |
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| Choppy Bands and Anthony Record |
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| Max Alexander, Rob Brink and Stuart Bristow |
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| Rudolf Beekman |
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| Choppy Bands, Anthony Record and James Gardener |
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| James Gardener saying the Grace ... |
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| ... and standing for it |
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| Anthony Record with the Welcome |
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| Seema Jaswal (speaker) and Zandy Macdonald |
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| Nick Heesom, Anthony Record and Nicky Bicket |
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| Richard Gabler, James Plimsoll and Chris Leach |
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| Calum Wehmeyr proposing the Toast (1) |
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| Calum Wehmeyer proposing the Toast (2) |
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| Calum Wehmeyer proposing the Toast (3) |
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| Standing to propose the Toast (1) |
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| Standing to propose the Toast (2) |
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| Seema Jaswal on her way to give the main speech |
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| Seema giving the main speech |
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| Listening to the speech (1) |
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| Niall Carroll, Choppy Bands, Graham Thomas and Grant Challis listening to Seema |
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| Francois Louw replying to the speech and thanking Seema |
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| ... and handing her a gift from the ODU, triggering some hilarity from Choppy! |
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| Bruce McGregor and David Jordan |
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| Greg Chiappini |
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| Francois Louw, Seema Jaswal, Zandy Macdonald and Richard Koster, with the Carlton staff gathering in the background to be thanked |
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| Mark Jones, Justin Thorne and Darren Bosman |
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| Dugald Macdonald, Francois Louw and Seema Jaswal |
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| Richard Montgomery and Andy Jackson |
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| Cormac Petit and Menna McGregor |
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| Nick Smith, Mark Jones and Pete Karstel |
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| Ashley Pople and Brett Ormrod |
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| John Parker-Wood |
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| Choppy Bands and Nick and Wendy Heesom |
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| Rupert Tripp and Max Alexander |
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| Rupert Tripp, Max Alexander, Nick Boswell and Rob Brink |
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| Peter Syfret and John Parker-Wood |
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| James Gardener and Steve Hofmeyr |
Then to the After Party
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| Ian Currie, Dugald Macdonald and Brendan Raubenheimer |
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| Gabriela Grodzki and Stuart Bristow |
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| Choppy Bands and Steve and Nicole Suckling |
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| Justin Thorne and Nick Koster |
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| Chris Leach, ..., Doug Mallet, Mike Leach and James Plimsoll |
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| Neil Orpen and Joy Montgomery |
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| Keegan Sutherland and Daniel Russell |
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| Sam Mitchell and Candice Grupping |
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| Chris Leach, Nick Boswell, Mike Leach and Ian Currie |
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| Stuart Commins, Adrian Kritzinger and Michael Cockburn |
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| Stuart Crawford-Browne, Choppy Bands and Andy Jackson |
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| The last moments of the after party for those who managed to go the distance |
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The Toast to Bishops
(click to enlarge) |
The Guest List
(click to enlarge)
