The Chronicle 2022

We look forward to seeing you at one of the events in 2023.

purpose of introducing the new leadership and getting to know some of the active Michaelhouse old boys in Pretoria. On 21 May the branch hosted Michaelhouse Old Boys, who are students at the University of Pretoria, for a night out at the local watering hole named Livingstones and on 20 November 2022 an afternoon of paintball capped off with a braai was a fun ending off to the year for members. The branch is now in the process of formalizing its structure to ensure greater work may be achieved in future. In that regard, various members have volunteered to lead and join committees handling events, fund raising and liaising with students and Old Boys in Pretoria which will help the branch grow and hit the ground running in 2023. he UK Branch has had a fantastic 2022 as we hosted a full set of events after the lockdown restrictions of the prior two years. The AGM Dinner and Auction, our signature year-end function held at our unofficial headquarters at the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly, was once again jam packed with close to 100 attendees! Members came through from across the United Kingdom and Europe, and we were fortunate to have the Witherspoon brothers make the long journey up from Balgowan to have representatives of the school in attendance for the first time since 2019. OMs spanned the matric years from 1956 to 2021, with instances of two and in one case three generations from the same family in attendance. Many a story was swapped over a glass of wine or three, and this would invariably result in the more experienced Old Boys captivating their younger audience with tales of their escapades some decades past that only grew more elaborate as the night wore on. We held our second annual silent auction during the proceedings and as ever are grateful for the generosity of our members, raising over R100,000 that will go towards realising the Club for Life Vision. It would not be an OM function without a war cry and, after a rousing Stars of the Morning , some of the braver ‘toppies’ tried to mix it up with the youngsters at a pub down the road until the early hours (much to everyone’s chagrin the next day when waking up for a full day of work!). Overall we had some 210 OMs attended seven events in 2022: • Thirty six attended the two Spring and Autumn networking events we had in London with Hilton, Bishops and St Andrews; • Nineteen attended the Summer Luncheon in London; • Thirty attended the Michaelhouse/Hilton golf day at Silvermere (making up 30 of the available 48 spots and which we won by a narrow half a point!); • Fifteen attended the Edinburgh dinner at the New Club in Scotland; • Sixteen attended the Winter Luncheon in London; and • Ninety four attended the AGM in London. Once again we have been blown away by the energy and enthusiasm shown by our members. Events have been packed, T UNITED KINGDOM CHAIRMAN: SCOTT WADESON

MIDLANDS CHAIRMAN: RICHARD BATES

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his year again sees Old Boys and parents of current Michaelhouse boys move to the Midlands for various reasons, but mostly, because they can. The attraction of living in the Midlands and being close to their kids and or old school is very tempting and doable in this age of being able to work remotely. Every year we host a golf day which we do with the Hilton Old Boys on the Friday before the Hilton vs Michaelhouse home weekend. This has been successfully driven by Richard Butcher (East 1987) for the last 15 years and you can only get a spot if someone from the previous year pulls out – making it a very sought after golfing and Old Boys event. Thanks go to Butchy for his sustained contribution. Once a year we all get together as Midlands Old Boys. This year we managed to secure Old Boy Sean Hensman (East 2000), but due to busy calendars and schedules, we have rescheduled for February 2023. Sean Hensman plans to share stories and talk to us about the work he has done in conservation, focusing on the human/elephant conflict that has become so prevalent in Africa. We are looking forward to having Sean, (an ex recipient of Michaelhouse’s Rugby Player of the Year) back in the Midlands and I am confident that we will have yet another well-attended gathering. The role of the Midlands Branch is also to manage the Weaner Scheme, a programme initiated to assist and support Old Boys sons or grandchildren who are from farming communities to attend Michaelhouse. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage any farmers who are not yet a part of the scheme, but who want to get involved and give back, to please get hold of me – a couple of weaners make a big difference in enabling a boy to benefit from our wonderful school. The Weaner Scheme has recently introduced a change whereby anyone running weaners for the scheme can decide whom they wish for their credit to be allocated to. On behalf of the Midlands Old Boys we look forward to a successful 2023, as we continue to offer our modest support and guidance over these dynamic and interesting times.

TSHWANE / PRETORIA CHAIRMAN: OLWETHU MHAGA

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he Pretoria Old Boys Branch has seen significant change in 2022 with the passing of the baton to a new generation of leadership. We thank Matthew McCormick for his outstanding leadership of the Pretoria branch and dedication to its members throughout these many years. The leadership of the Pretoria Branch has subsequently been taken up by Olwethu Mhaga (as Chairperson), Zawadi Dlamini (as Deputy Chairperson) and Ryan van Greunan (as Secretary General).

The branch has had a couple of events this year both for the

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