The Old Bordenian Association

The article below is reproduced from the last edition of the Maroon.  For those of you who are members of the Association, it will act as a reminder of the many reasons why, once a year, you pay £10 subscription to continue to be a member of the Association.  Old boys of Borden Grammar School who are not yet members of the Association – why not join.  Even in these days of belt tightening, £10 a year is not a great deal to make a real difference to the extra facilities that we can make available to the school.  Click here to find out more.  Now, back to the article…

What is this, you say – the man must be mad. It is not a Treasurer’s traditional role; collectively they are known as tighter than Fort Knox.

Let me explain. Since its foundation, one of the main objects of the Association, enshrined in our Constitution is “to assist the School and its organisations financially and in other ways”, so the actions of your Committee focus on this. In recent years, our donations have covered:

Our School report might have said “Not bad, but could do better if he tries”. This then is the prime reason why the Association needs to continue with the concept of an annual subscription, even when the paper Maroon magazine has ceased and all the news is covered on the Website. The Maroon is our main expense (£1,600 after advertising revenue) and its disappearance can only mean that we have the potential to increase our donations to the School. So clearly subscriptions are our lifeblood, and we hope that all Association Members will continue to give us their support, so that we in turn can continue to support the School.

I have many back copies of The Maroon, the first being the 9th Edition(1945). It had 36 pages, surely very good during a time of rationing. The Accounts showed receipts of £28.3s.4d, with expenses of £26.2s.6d, including Maroon printing costs of £17.0s.1d. Annual subs were then 4 shillings (20p) with Life Membership 2 guineas (210p). How inflation changes everything!  The Maroon is part of the Nation’s and the School’s history. This Issue recorded the return of 5 Old Boys from P.O.W. Camps and the award of numerous medals. Several Old Boys wrote from bases overseas to George Dawkins, our long-term Secretary. The annual cricket match saw D.A. Jarrett score 16 before being bowled by R. Weller who finally took 5 for 34, W. Wellard 3 for 31 and B.J. Allard 2 for 34. Brian Allard was run out for 16 and J.R. Allard hit wicket for 5.

Such is the stuff of memories and talk at School reunions! We very much hope all readers will continue to support the Association and School in any way they can.

Finally, a brief reminder of our Treasurers over the years:

To circa 1950, John Taylor;  then Bill Wellard to 1960;  Jim Stead to 1970;  Peter Taylor to 1987;  Trevor Ingram to 2001;  Neil Hancock to date.

Not bad, only six Treasurers over 60 years!

Neil Hancock