Rugby & Curry FOB Reunion in Vancouver

The IRB Rugby Sevens tournament in Vancouver over the weekend of March 12 – 13, 2016 in Vancouver provided an opportunity for a Falcon Old Boys get-together. Brain Darling (Hervey, 1968) and his son JJ were coming to Vancouver to join me and my sons for the tournament and we put the word out to FOBs in Canada and made a reservation for a small private dining room at a restaurant in downtown Vancouver for the evening of March 12. I have recently made contact with 20 FOBs in Canada although we think there are about 32 of us. As you all know, Canada is a huge place but we are fortunate to have some FOBs in the region.

March 12 was an extremely long day of rugby viewing, starting with the England-Wales six nation game at a pub at 8 am followed by another 10 hours on the sevens pool games. Undaunted, we gathered at the restaurant at 8 pm and were joined by Ian Hornby-Smith (Hervey 1967), Mike Hogge (Founders 1968), Kevin Ross (Hervey 1972) and Pete Methven (George Grey 1975). [There were also two university friends of Brian with us who in turns out had common acquaintances with some of the group, proving that that there are only two degrees of separation for southern Africans.]

Over a delicious curry dinner, Brian brought everyone up to date on his recent visit to the college for Speech Day in October 2015 and gave an overview of the structure and goals of the Falcon Foundation. The FF is fully established in the USA and in the process of being set up in Canada. Brian explained the joint aims of establishing an endowment fund for capital projects and a pensioners fund to assist the retired teachers living at the school whose pensions were wiped out by the Zimbabwe dollar crisis. The intent is to provide a simple method for FOBs to donate whatever they feel is possible in a simple, tax efficient way. We also gave an overview of Quiet Waters and Quest Africa and the tremendous work the college is doing to make the most for their location and facilities. I also gave everyone a copy of the Falcon Song on a flash drive.

It was an very enjoyable evening and everyone appreciated the efforts being made to re-establish contacts with FOBs and build the relationships with the Falcon Foundation and Falcon College. We hope to have similar events in eastern Canada, likely the Toronto area and again in Vancouver, and thanks to those who were able to attend.

Jeremy Haile (George Grey 1968), Vancouver, BC, Canada