St. George’s College’s Class of 1974 50th Reunion Fundraising Target Achieved…

We are deeply grateful to our Old Boys for the tremendous support they provide to this noble institution each year. A donation was presented to our principal, Mrs. M. Campbell and Chairman, Fr. R. Tulloch, to support our solar project.

AMDG

The idea of the staging a 50th Reunion for the class of 1974 was preceded by the formation of a WhatsApp chat group in May 2021, initially consisting of five members of the graduating class. The plan was to grow the group and for it to become the vehicle for enabling members to connect and reminisce about our high school days. To date the group has grown to seventy five members.

During deliberations within the group, the idea of the reunion was born in September 2022. A direct consequence of these discussions was that of identifying and funding of an activity/project commerating the 50th milestone. It was imperative that this initiative delivered tangible long term benefits to the school.

A Steering Committee was constituted in September 2022 to plan the reunion and to identify a suitable project. The committee deliberated and advanced the idea to continue the existing efforts to solar equip the entire campus. The overall objective is the removal of StGC from the JPSCo electricity grid thereby saving millions of dollars per annum. These savings could then be channeled into the continued development of our beloved institution.

It must be noted that Donald Fung, a Steering Committee member, suggested the idea. He has been involved in the ongoing initiatives to facilitate STGC reducing its overall energy costs.

The Steering Committee and the wider body chose the building housing the admin offices and the fourth form block. The estimate to equip this building was US$35,000, the sum which became the fund raising target.

Numerous Zoom meetings and WhatsApp group calls were held from this point until the eventual staging of the event.

The event exercise involved ongoing networking – with Old Boys Chapters (Jamaica, US North East, South Florida and Ontario), collecting and placing funds towards ticketing and the collection of funds for the fund raiser.

The event, staged over three days, was named and branded – The Razzle Dazzle – adopted from the very name and chorus of our school cheer. Members of the class of 1971also joined us in the celebrations. The program was :-

July 25: Mix & Mingle, Peppa Thyme (Constant Spring Golf Course)
July 26: Mass celebrated by school chairman Fr Tulloch and Back to School Tour which culminated in lunch and games at Emmet Park
July 27: An evening of dinner & dance,Talk of the Town, Jamaica Pagasus whereby funds were presented to the school

Though having widespread participation from the class, Kenneth Warren, Donald Fung, Charles Watkins and Carol Edmonson were quite instrumental in the pledge amount being met. Additionally, Donald Fung also provided additional funds for a second building to be solar equipped – the Adrian Chaplain Industrial Arts complex.

Another high point of the celebrations was the publication of a special reunion yearbook edition – collector’s item – which went beyond a reprint of the original 1974 edition. The publication featured a range of contributing articles on topical issues by graduates on our recollections and just how we had evolved since those formative years at STGC. Our dinner dance event programme was also wrapped around a series of lighthearted videos on our school days. In addition, various ‘mini reunions’ were also held (in Jamaica and South Florida) for camaraderie and the strengthening of commitment to our beloved alma mater.

This serves as a note on what proudly was a sustained focus. A vision is for the school to be completely solar powered. We are hoping that other buildings will be adopted as sponsored blocks by other graduating classes / chapters.

We continue to exchange notes and ideas in the created WhatsApp chat group. Proverbially ‘back at school,’ we remain a committed class to the development of St George’s College, our distinguished North Street high school institution, transforming young boys into fine men.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam