Stanislites Australia Reunion

Howdy Stanislites,

Please turn to page Australian Stanislites in your Facebook, to see the photos of the recent dinner dance. Here’s one of the boys, young and old, belting out the school anthem and a couple or three others, to whet your want for more! It was lovely to catch up with the the usual suspects and then a few more, all dressed in their second-best finery with name badges flashing in the flickering candlelights.

After the initial meet and greet “oh, so nice to see you again” and “you’re looking not a year older since I saw you last year”, it was time for the traditional sing-as-loud-as-you-can school anthem, belted out in about 14 or 15 different voices. The star of the line-up was Craig D’Souza, still studying in Std III and here in Melbourne on holiday. There his is (please look at photograph), standing right next to the oldest man in the group, Ken Fernandes – although, you wouldn’t have guessed so by looks alone (please look at other photograph). And then (looking at the photo again), draped around them is the usual rag-tag bunch of muffins.

Now in its 6th year, we may have been a bit down in numbers this year, but we surely made up for it in enthusiasm. As usual, our DJ Michael Pinto was a great hit, keeping those toes – ours, that is – twinkling away on the floor. And just to spice things up a bit, this year we introduced the masala, that special music that’s world-famous in Bandra. So popular was it, that the dancers insisted on a second helping. The masala was also the cue to award spot prizes to the best dancing cooks on the floor, whether with ladle or with handkerchief, and what better prize than No Worries Curries masala packets? Kindly donated by Claudette. Those of you who did score a packet or two, please feed us back on the results. To the others, you can always order your pick online (as opposed to me, who works on his pick-up lines).

The catering was very good this year, no hic or cup about it. Lambs was on the menu – albeit, as the caterer not as a dish. And a wonderful job they did of it too! Starting with …. well, starters, then progressing to the buffet dinner was a gastronomic pleasure. Sumptuous and flavoursome, the catering this year was well received by all and sundry. And the kulfi simply melted in your mouth! The pPun is well-intended!!

But it was not all eating and dancing this year. The organising team decided to give out prizes in exchange for a little money being dropped into the kitty. Actually, truth be told, they first considered playing a few games of Matka, to add some mirchi to the masala that was planned (remember the world-famous in Bandra dance?) but in the end settled on a raffle. Thanks the the utmost generosity of the paying public, quite a sizable amount was collected. Four prize hampers were awarded, one of them most kindly donated by Tabitha.

Oh. We had a surprise birthday to celebrate too. Now the birthday came as no surprise to Coco, but we thought we’d surprise her with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ as she entered, and a little cake, large enough to feed just her table (there may be a photograph captured, please have a look). Coco was quite happy to let everyone know she’s waited 70 years for this birthday but again, just looking at her, you could be forgiven if you think she’s waited only 60 years for this.

The dance unfortunately, came to an alarming end, with the security alarm suddenly going off with still about 30 minutes dance time up our sleeves — or, if you want to be technically correct, up our legs. But pack up we had to do, all our troubles in an old kit bag, no refunds included. Many thanks once again, to everyone who stayed back to clean up before clearing out. This was one hell of a good show, even if I may say so myself.

As you know, we decided that this dance would be in aid of the at-risk students program being run by the school – the school has implemented a special program to look after students who are at risk of falling by the wayside, or through the cracks, or through the cracks by the wayside. The dance fetched us a tidy sum, just upwards of the $1,200 mark so we will be sending that nice rounded figure to the school. Thank you very much to all who contributed towards that nice rounded figure. If you want to add to that tally, the till is still open.

And with that that’s all said and done, I am already looking forward to next year – Saturday, 18 April 2020. If there’s anyone who really, really wants to attend but this date does not suit, please reply to this email, softy and confidentially. And we shall softy and confidentially reconsider the date.

Love you all ….
Natus Ad Maiora

PS: Now that the 2019 dinner dance is done and dusted, let us turn our attention to the PICNIC – Saturday 16 November 2019. Watch this space for further news!!!!