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Moira Celebrates 100 Years

During September, our eldest known alumni reached an exciting milestone, her 100th Birthday. Moira Condon (nee Tate) surrounded by close friends and family, celebrated as permitted within the current restrictions. “Most of my relations are in Melbourne, but it was still lovely. It was a happy day.” She comments.

We asked Moira about her school days at St Ann’s College, where she attended from 1935-1937, as the fourth generation in her family to attend. She recalls the names of all her teachers and friends instantly. “You made a lot of friends. You’d be excited to get home, but you’d only be home for a few days and you’d start missing everybody.”

Moira generally enjoyed school, with perhaps her favourite subject being Latin. “I used to like Latin back in those days. I think it was just the novelty of learning something different.”

Moira graduated in 1937 attaining her Leaving Certificate. She recalls attending her exams at the Presbyterian Church Hall, “We had to sit our exams at ‘Headache Hall’. We used to have to walk off up there. It was a bit nerve-wracking. I remember someone used to sit beside me with a scratchy pen.”

In her final year, Moira was also a Prefect. “I didn’t like it. You had to keep the kids in order.” She admits.

Working for our Community

Emmanuel College alumni received a lot of recognition at this year’s local Australia Day awards for their work contributing to the community in a myriad of different ways.

In Warrnambool, Garry Price (Class of 1981) was recognised with a Local Achiever Award for his decades of work and volunteering as a Music Therapist. Providing therapy and support in aged care homes, hospitals, palliative care, disability services, mental health services and education services, Garry was particularly noted for his ability to connect with people of all ages, experiences and abilities. Garry was surprised by the award, but was pleased to have the field of music therapy recognised.

Helen Sheedy’s (Class of 1991) TEDx Warrnambool was awarded Warrnambool Event of the Year. Thanks to Helen’s work and vision, Warrnambool was the first regional city in Victoria and just the second in Australia given a licence to stage a TEDx event. The result – a showcase of locally grown ideas that have already been viewed by over 56,000 people worldwide.

Emmanuel College was pleased to support Helen as she ran the event from our own Wyton Theatre.

In the neighbouring Moyne Shire, Julie Houlihan (Class of 1979) was recognised as the Citizen of the Year. Julie is involved with an unbelievably long list of local committees and events, but was particularly recognised for work with the Koroit Truck Show. She has been integral in building what was a small event into a key event for the Society, enabling them to make significant donations to various community groups. When we spoke to Julie, she clearly loves being involved, but doesn’t do it for the recognition.

Finally, Moyne’s Young Citizen of the Year was awarded to the Class of 2019’s Michael Killen. The 20 year old’s list of achievements read like those of a much more experienced person. His community focus has seen him involved in the organising of local events, reinventing existing youth programs to be more inclusive, debating bills in Youth Parliament, developing mental health programs and volunteering for community outreach initiatives.

Congratulations to all! We are indescribably proud of all our alumni who work to benefit and shape our local communities.

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