1917 Society - Ninety-First Anniversary Dinner

The Society is an Old Boys' grouping that concerns itself with the past and the present, with a glance at the future. It was inaugurated in 1918 by the friends of one Old Citizen whose death in the battle of the Somme was felt so acutely that they wanted to commemorate him through their close support for the school where they had grown up together.

On 14th September current members gathered to commemorate James Maxwell Adair Hannan, and to hear reports on the School today, formally and informally, given by senior boys. Among the members was Geoffrey Coulson, whose father, one of the original founders, looked on from a portrait on the wall. The present senior prefects, Daniel Grandowicz, William Pimlott and Josh Hirschowitz, told us of the present and the prospects.

They were not chosen through membership of the triumphant Public Speaking team, but their eloquence showed no marks of the Robert Peston school of elocution. Rugby has gone, while Soccer flourishes, a trend that seems to reverse every half century. The spirit of rugby lives on in Water polo, while Basketball waxes as Athletics wanes. The population of prefects is to fall from 60 to 40, news that triggered memories of a Prefects' Room holding a mere dozen - but comfortably furnished with a substantial drinks cabinet.

Proposing the toast of ‘the School', Bruce Todd, again elected President of the JCC, explained how the new Alumni Relations Officer would strengthen the functional ties with Old Citizens, and facilitate the practical networking which the City does so well. The Secretary, Martin Israel, even found time for a personal toast to one member whose birthday it was on the day. Thanks are due each time the Society meets, to Martin for the organisation beforehand, and to Barry Darling for impeccable management on the night.

As ever, the evening began with formal communiqués in the Committee Room, and ended with highly off-the-cuff briefings as the port went round and Barry ensured that the decanter did not touch the table. Recollections came forth as the evening passed. Some have had longer for their recollections to mature, graduating from memory to myth; more recent reports, while hamstrung by evidence, still tell of an exceptionally active school community.

Most important of all, the three student representatives reassured us that we belonged in an impressive tradition. Were we ever so competent? I aspire to having been so. Most sobering, as we scattered genially into the night, the prefects, encouraged by Second Master Gary Griffin, were due back at an unimaginable hour the next morning to go away for a spirit-raising stay with junior forms, to whom they are attached as role models. Role models indeed!

RLDP