2019 Brunch Report

Video from Phil Vignal: https://youtu.be/hQgOoClonYg

May 19, 2019. Sixty-one people registered for the Sunday brunch but in the end, three were unable to attend. Six were special guests, 5 were from the class of 1957, 4 from the class of 1959 and the rest from our year.

Ed Jackson was masterful and well prepared as emcee.  He introduced our guests, various speakers and entertained us with an introductory poem and concluding joke. 

Prior to the start of brunch, our classmate, Reverend David McKay gave a blessing to all past classmates and our event.  Ed Jackson, then introduced our special guests:

Dawne (Sullivan) Waddell and her husband Bill Waddell

Lianne (Sullivan) McBride, daughter of Barry Sullivan

Lana (Sullivan) Matheson, daughter of Barry Sullivan

Shannon Sullivan, daughter of Barry Sullivan

Maureen (Murphy) Creelman, NVHS Educational Foundation

Dawne is the former wife of our classmate, Barry Sullivan, and the girls are the daughters of Barry and Dawne. The Sullivan family was present because they are in the process of transferring a Barry Sullivan bursary fund that they administer to the North Vancouver High Schools Education Foundation.  Unlike our fund, that currently has $12,063 available for distribution as bursaries, the Sullivan transfer is more than 4 times our balance.

Last year, when they were contemplating making the transfer, we invited Dawne, her husband and any of the Sullivan children to attend one of our events.  This year they attended and they were regaled by various “Barry” stories. Dawne and Barry’s daughters displayed considerable poise and maturity in having fun with an “older” crowd.  Shannon, in particular accepted the comments about having the “Barry” nose.

Dawne (Sullivan) Waddell, a West Van gal, gave a wonderful account of how she and Barry met (Mahon pool), the successes of their offspring, Barry’s legal career and his activities as head of the Royal Commission on Education.  Unfortunately, the portable microphone, faulty or low on battery, kept fading out.  In spite of that hardship, Dawne was able to communicate her informative story. 

Maureen (Murphy) Creelman gave an overview of the North Vancouver High Schools Education Foundation, pointing out that it has an extremely low expense ratio. She mentioned that is facilitated by our classmate, James McPherson, who does the annual audit free of charge. One interesting tidbit that she revealed is the fact that a portion of a major contribution by Miss Crute (remember her!) was transferred to our Barry Sullivan bursary in 2010.

After Dawne’s presentation, Keith Robinson and Earle Matheson announced the reunion of the Class of 1957 that will be held at the same Holiday Inn and Suites on June 12, 2019. 

Sheila (Brown) Ward commented on the website and Bill Wedley made some comments about the data base.

After the meeting, classmates and guests mingled and socialized.