St. Thomas Schools 5-7 May 2012 Reunion

Venue: St Thomas Primary School, Lautoka

Souvenir Program

Excerpts from a contributing piece by Mr Luke Vuidreketi in the St. Tho-mas Golden Jubilee Souvenir Pro-gam - 1975

“Before the school was opened in March 1925, several Lautoka children were attend-ing school at St. Joan of Arc at Qereqere, Nasigatoka. I remember one well, because we lived together at Bubu Clara Bennett's place a Nasoso (they call it Nahoho there) and that was Lizzie (later Mrs Tom Henry), also an old pupil of St.Thomas. When St. Thomas opened in 1925 we Lautoka kids came over with our great and beloved Sister Bernard and two other younger sisters.”

Excerpts from a contributing piece by Mr Surendra Prasad (LL.B.)

in the St.Thomas Golden Jubilee Souvenir Program - 1975

“In those days the school was divided into three distinct sections. The Indian and the Fijian section was housed in the two storeyed wooden building (directly behind the Parish Hall) and was under the charge of Sister Jerome with late Mr Andrew Moti and Mr. Hari Charan as her assistants. Part-European school was housed in the building adja-cent to the present Parish Hall and was in charge of Sister Fabian. The European section was in the two storeyed wooden building near the Sisters' Convent and was generally known as the Convent School.”

Thank You … to our sponsors

Started at St Thomas Primary in Class 3 and continued through to St Thomas High. Its an honour to be-l o n g t o t h i s f a m i l y . What immediately comes to mind when I think of high school are the lush greenery; lunch hour when I would at times exchange my cheese and tomato sand-wiches with Bharat's vegetarian roti parcel; sports (minus the long run that we'd do some times around Natabua); listening to the school band practice; laugh-ter; the screams at the Lautoka Zone athletics; school mass and singing in church; feast days; quiet times at the Ashram in Momi; weeding out paragrass; Sr. Re-gina and discipline; and the Christian Brothers. At pri-mary school, I'm reminded particulary of wonderful teachers - Sr Philips, Sr Fabian, Mistress Sesarina, Mrs Ligani, Ms Sebastian, and Master Joseph ..... and play-ing marbles and zuur under the trees! (Seremaia Tuqiri)

Bula everyone, I am an ex-student of St. Thomas Pri-mary school with a very strong Catholic background. A twin with 7 other siblings from the Dass clan of Velovelo ( the tamarine fac-tory ). Started St. Thomas from class 1 - 8.

Memories of 8 years in this school:

Teachers: Sr. Domitilla - Cl. 1, M. Veritima - Cl.2, Sr. Alice - 3, Mrs. Gopi - Cl.4, Sr. Margaret Cl.5 Master Joseph ( my uncle ) - 6, Sr. Magaret Mary 7 - 8.

Most scary thing : was to confront Sr. Peter Channel.

Naughtiest things: picking mangoes from Pricilla's yard n then teasing her n running away.

Vivid memory: our heroes Dennis Rounds and Rich-ard Hill giving a hard time to Sr. Margaret Mary (our nightingale ) in class 8. There are many more which is still very close to my heart.

(Claire Sami—nee Dass).

St Thomas ex-students living abroad unite

in preparation for the 2012 Reunion

Former students gather in Auckland

Isimeli Cagica addresses his Sydney members

Retired Class Four teacher, Mrs Gopi with former students

Former students gather in Melbourne

Former students gather in Sydney

The Lautoka organizing committee members sell raffle tickets for the 2012 Reunion

Reunion Program 1. Friday 4 May 2012 Ice Breaker Night- MC Dennis Rounds/Tony Raihman � 4.00pm-9.30pm-Registration- All ex-students have to register themselves ($5.00) to be able to participate in all the programmes and activities. � 7.00pm-7.30pm-Welcome speech by Mr Dennis Rounds. � 7.30pm-8.30pm-Ex-Students sevusevu to the Parish Priest and the Parishioners. � 8.30pm-10.00pm-Kati will be held. All proceeds will go to the St Thomas Primary and Secondary schools. � 10.00pm-11.00pm- Hymn practice/Socialising � 11.30pm-Closing Note: Grog will be sold at $2.00 per basin. All money collected will be used to buy some more grog for Saturday and all proceeds will go to the Primary School. 2. Saturday 5 May 2012

Reunion Day/Soli- MC Simeli Cagica/Tony Raihman � 8.00am-9.00pm-March of Unity from Shirley Park to the School ground � 10.00pm-11.00am-Reunion Mass Celebrants –Fr. Cecil Williams, Fr. Arthur Leger, Fr. Vincent Ratnam Fr. Lui Vunitabua, Fr. Veremo Dovarua, Fr. Dan Johns � 11.00am-5.00pm-Soli by Branches - Entertainment from branches - Activities games in between soli - Competition of fun games 12.00pm: Sydney organized presentation on behalf of ex-Fiji residents in Austrealia and the St Thomas global community to Rotary Club for flood relief.

Launching of St Thomas Ex-Student Association’s Logo and merchandise � 5.00pm Closing of Soli

Gala Night at Hotel 2000 -t heme night-Blue/Red/White � 7.30pm -Welcoming all ex-students to the Gala Night. Marvis of Mix FM—MC for the night � 7.45pm- 9.00am-Dinner /Light music for dinner � 9.00pm-3.00am -Music and Dancing

Band - Simi Rova and Fiji Fusion with guest appearance by DA Soul Sound – DSS (Australia) - finalist—X Factor 2010 and Australia’s Got Talent 2011

3. Sunday 6 May 2012

Rest and Relaxation � 10.00am 4.00pm, Day Trip to Savala Island. This is a user-pay activity with costs at $95.00 per head. Price will include: � Morning Tea � BBQ Lunch � Afternoon Tea � All alcoholic drinks � Non alcoholic drinks � Usage of non-motorised water sport � Ride on glass bottom boat to the reef 6.00pm-10.00pm: Aussie style BBQ at the Northern Club hosted by Sydney Branch. This is a user-pay activity and funds raised will be donated to the St Thomas school. 4. Monday 7 May 2012 9.00am 4.30pm Working Bees- Bring your own tools to undertake repairs, painting, brush cutting at the primary school. Similar activity may be organized for the High School. 4. 4.30pm- 6.00pm: Farewell to all Reunion participants.

Former students at a get-together in Auckland

For the archives: HMS Pinafore

For the archives: The Wizard of Oz

Fr. Arthur Leger taking his final vows as a Jesuit priest

Students and teachers appreciate a consignment of library books from Australia arranged by Isimeli Cagica

The “grog” and music begin to kick in for the Sydney ex-students

For the Record The May 2012 Reunion is a “dream come true” for a number of people: David Anthony, Clera Chong-sue-Fraser, James “Basant” Singh, Jennifer Doughty-Fremlin, Michael Tuilawa and Moira Yandall-Tukuitonga. Following exchanges on Facebook, I was asked to coordinate the Reunion and began first by opening a dedicated Internet webpage. Following several attempts to generate interest within Fiji, I was fortunate, with the backing of former students, Jale Cagica, Mika Turaga and Arnold Richmond, to obtain the as-sistance of Mr Netani Iowane and a small team of hardworking committee members in Lautoka. With-out their assistance and persistence, the Reunion would have remained a dream for most of us. This Re-union is a reflection of the dedication of the Lautoka Committee to whom I owe much gratitude. We were also very fortunate to obtain the services of Mr Isimeli Cagica, whose organizational skills and dedication to the Reunion are unmatched. Isimeli’s enthusiasm and natural ability to lead, resulted in a “gelling” of former students of both the primary and high schools in Australia. While the original plan was to organize a Reunion for former students of St Thomas Primary School, the overwhelming interest from former students of St Thomas High School meant an extension of the activities to include both primary and high schools with the focus of the celebrations remaining the pri-mary school. Accompanying the wide support for the Reunion has been the chorus of calls for a permanent St Tho-mas Ex-Students Association, representing former students of both schools to be formalized and work on strategies to ensure continuing support for the development of both schools and for a more perma-nent legacy which could, in the future, include a clubhouse in Lautoka for former pupils of St Thomas. The “dream” now is to organize ourselves into a “force” similar to the Marist Old Boys in Suva. I recall Netani Iowane’s words from the outset: “We are small in numbers but with persistence, we can move mountains”. Indeed we have, and God-willing we still can. We, your brothers and sisters behind this Reunion hope you have enjoyed every minute of reminiscing your days as young men and women at St Thomas and have renewed old friendships. We hope this has been the “Best in the West” Reunion for you all and for our brothers and sisters from abroad, we pray that God will be with you as you return home and that we will all be around to attend the next Reunion. We would also like to extend a huge THANK YOU to all our sponsors. Your support has also ensured our “dream” came true. Vinaka, Dhanyavaad and Thank You. Dennis Rounds.

Autographs/Friends’ Contacts