Roseworthy Old Collegians Assoc. lnc.
(
Registered by Australia post publication No. SBH0253
(
the changing needs of our cormunity. It is the College museum's L949 Field Marshall tractor
ondisplay at the 1983 Royal Adelaide
Show.By getting out amongst the conrnunity at larg-e,
tire-Colle[e is proving that it is capable of providing-a 1984 education, yet is still proud of its heritage.
The new front cover on this Digest maintains
this
samefeeling.
It is a chain linking the old with the new - the traditional with the innovative. In the centre i.s R.O.C.A., providing the vital link.
The new College logo (the right han{ link) is rather controversial, but has finally gained
acceptance. I will expLaiq this_logo
morefu11y in a future issue of the Digest.
Both the College logo and the
ROCADigest banner vrere designed 6y the College's graphic artist'
Graeme
Lavis.
In this issue, w€ are calling nominations for the
ROC,AAward of Merit. I would urge
al-Lmemberg
to l-ook at the achievements of their fetlow Otd Collegians throughout the-counnunity, and consider nominating anyone they feel
maybe worthy of such an honour.
The A.G.M. and Reunion Dinner will be conducted
at the "Renaissance J[ott€r" in Rundle Mall
onFriday September 7th. Spouses are once again welcoite to attend the dinner with members. I
look forn^rard to meeting
manyof you once again
on this night
0ale
l,layaon3
I
amwriting this in port Lincoln, having
comeover to this great
_spoqfor the Eyre penfnsula reunion. This branch of R.O.C.A. has been in existance for 33 years. rt is a credit to those
$Iest Coast
memberswho have put a 1ot of time and effort into the organisation of this branch.
Andrew Michelmore retires from the oepartment of Agriculture for his service in March, !9 .Agrigulrure and as a mark in S.A., oi appreciation -itbseworrhy- college -and the old collegians Association
havearranged a dinner at the college. This will
beheld on April 13th at-7..3prur. Detairs ror
uootings appear elsewhere in this Dlgest.
The in Agriculture accreditation course has of the Degree yet to in be Applied firr"ify- science qpproved !f -ttte Terriary Educarion Authorily.
TheCollege administration is confident that this will be obtained so rhat the 1993 intake of
students will graduate with degrees.
Student numbers at the College in 19g4 will be
oover 500 for the first time.-This will stretch the acconrnodation to the lirnit. rt is the first
time for 10 years that share room
accormrodationhas had to be offered to Jtrrd"rrt"
Ian Rice
PRESIDENT
Untt
50Argyle
SquaretI
Allanbee Rei.d,A.C.T.
260rMy reason
for writlng ls to
seekinformation
about adlstinguJ.shed
ex-student, the late
Mr Gerald GustaveMasson.
Gerry Magson was awarded
a
Roseworthy Diplonain Agrlculture ln
1911.?rLor to enllstnent in the
AIF on 11 /9114, he was a farmerat Kulde' S.A. After serving at GalllpolL
and being wounded, he waewlth the 9th
ReglnentAust. Llght
Horsein
the
Slnai-PalestLne Ca:npaign.Enlisting
asa private soldiert
he
rose
throughthe
ranksto
be comissioned asa
Lieutenantin
June 1918.On January
l3th,
1919,while his
Reginent was 8t111 l-n Syria,Masson
left the
Arnyto take
upa position with
thePalestine
Government as DeputyAsslstant
AdmLnlstrator (ag.) Thusetarted a
remarkable career which played an importantrole in the rapld
developmentof
anagricultural
economywhich probably has no
perall-el in this century. In
1931'he was appointed
Chlef Agricultural Officer.
Gerry Masson and
his staff
arrangeda
numberof agriculturtrl lnspectlons for
Second World Warsoldiers
who were interestedin the subject. I
was oneof
those men.I
seekinfornation
about anyliving relativeg of
Masson,his
descendants,or
anyother
Person who mayhavelnformation or records which would beof
assistancein
preparlnga
short'blography. A11 correspondence
wtll
be angwered.I
havewritten to
Mr W.Keith
Tanblynof
Renmark who Ltasat
Roseworthy when l'lasson was there.
I
wasDlrector of
ConsJr'vation &Agriculture for the
A.C.T.before tetirLng tn
1975.I
knew somesenior officers in the
S.A. Departmentof Agrlculture,
andit
J.spossible that
some
of
them may have had contact wlth.Massonwhile
he wasin
Palestine.Yours
sincerely,
J .
J.
Htuton5
Aldy Michelmore is to retire from the
Deparrmentof Agriculture in March this year. As a iesult of his work in the Department- of Agriculture
and many-other activities, Andy has eained the respect and the friendship of a wide range of peopl
The
college, R.o.c.A.
andthe
Advisory Boardof Agriculture are
comblningto
arrangea dinner at
whlch Andyfs friends can'wishhin well in retirement,
and wishElizabeth
successin
coplng r^rlth Andyts presence around the housefor 7
daysa week
instead of
2.The
in the dinner
Dinlngwill
Room beheld of
Roseworthyat
7.30p.n. Agriculturar-
onApril r3th,
corlege.r9g4,This
venuewill bring
nany happy mernoriesto
Andv andElizabeth
andto
manyof their friends.
The
cost of the
dinnerper
person,for a fine after-dinner mints
and (f,rangejuice
providedwill
be $25per
double,or
912.50 3-courseneal
followedby
coffee,port, including
carafe wine andon
the
tables.Durlng
the
eveningra
presentationwill
be madeto
Andy onbehalf of all
people presentat the dinner.
please contactsthe college
as soon as possibreif
youwish to
attend.Yf
ryou, -{
.t- _pfssed.. Man1,
aT^7ayLibrarian on
Decemberar
R. A.15th,
C. from 1993, 194g ro Ett the age of
86.Jofn, a batchelor, -will be
rememberedby
many asa benefactor to College sporting teams.'
He also helped p?ny individuals ar Ciillege by his acts of friendship and support when it w6s
needed.He retired to Rest Haven, Mitcham, and continued
his possible. association with young people'., *rr"h ;;---
("OUNCIL FOR THE I,IELFARE OF OVERSEAS STUDENTS
cwos
is
tnvolvedln
a wide rangeof activitles to
assist,students from overseas
countries to settle in to
theAdelaide and South
Australian
envlronment. Volunteers toassist
CWOSwtth
twoact'ivitlee
are being sought. Theseactivitles are contact fe'nlliee
and countryhospitality.
Contact
famllles are families resldent in
SouthAustralia' usually in
Adel-aide and suburbs,wllllng to offer
friendshLp
to
overseas students'
such aslnvitatlons for
overseas student,s
to participate in
famlly-based evening and weekendsportr
entertalnment andother
forms ofrelaxatlon.
Country
hospitallty is
providedby
peoplein
country centresof
SouthAustralia
preparedto host
overseas students oneountry
holidays,
ranging froma
coupleof
daysto
many days.Any members
of
RocAable
t,oassist in either or both
of thesecapacities are
askedto contact
C\'foS, telephone(08)
51 3651,or write to
GPO Box 1750,Adelaide, S.A.
5001'or call in to the loth Floor,
45Grenfell street,
Adelalde.Mr Rick
Abbott-Griffiths, the
Irnurediate Past Presidentof .
cllJos, woul-d be pleased
to
provideadditional
informatlon.LEN LAFFER
Wel-l- known R0CA mernber' Leonard Hughes
Laffer
passed awayrecently.
I,en graduated frorn R.A.C.
in
1933, and then obtal-ned aBachelor
Cf
AC. Sclencein
1934in
Adelaide. He was awardedthe
ROCA Award -olfMerlt in
1976.Len wag
a lecturer at
R.A.C.for
manyyears'
aswell
asa
ehemistat the Berri
Co-operative Packing Union, Production Managerat the
Barossa Cannqries?ty Ltd'
Chairman & Managing
Dlreetor of
Basedow WinesPty Ltd'
anda practising
J-and valuer.Len w111 be sadly missed by ROCA, and
the entlre agricultural
eommunity.
7
To
the
Edl.tor,44 Ferguson Ave.,
Myrtle
Bank,s.A.
5064of
age whenI
Matriculatedto either
Roseworthy The vigorous dlscusslon onthe
importance andprlorlty of practlcal-
workin
courses suchas
ttre Associate Dlplonasof Agricultural
productlon and Farm Management and the,proposed Degree
in
Applied Science (RBAG), haslnsplred
meto rrrrite of ny
experl.ence.when
r
attendedwoodvilleHlgh schoolin the early
1940's,it
waspossible to
Matrleul-atein three
years nr.thout golng onto Leaving Honours.Therefore,
I
wasonly l5l
years andtherefore
wastoo
youngto
goCollege
or the Universitv.
Indeed,
I
wastoo
youngto
goout in the
shearing shedsas
part of the
Dipl0main
trIoolclassing. However, the war r^ras on and shedhands werein short supply,
sor
was askedif r
thoughtr
could keep upwith the otiier
studentsof
the then Schoolof
Mines.r
assured themthat r
wourd be abreto
cope, sor went
oout into the
shedsat I5\. It
waspossible ioi ,"
toeomplete
the five year
coursein four years,
whenr
realisedthat r
would needto
gain wr-dertralning .r,i
experlenceif I
wasto settle
doqrnto a regular job.
-
After four
years away from school andstudy, I
fearedthat r
wouldnot
be abreto
copewith a untvlisiry
course, soI applied to
goto
Roseworthy, and have never regrettedthat
declsion.The
four
yearsout in the
working world broadened myoutlook,
gave mea 1ittle
morematurlty
and motlvated meto
work hardfor a goal.
oneof our year said in first
year he was goingto get the
Gold Medal.i ,r.rer
inagined that sucha goal
wasattainable, but
aimedhigh to .i"rr."
"
pass
(unlike peter Llnklater
who aimed^i
sry" anagot it!) At the
endof
uryR.D.A., r
decidedto
goonto the
Adelaideunlversity,
and. thesethree
coursesfiited together to fit
me
for ny lifets
workin
sheep & wool.BtvLan Je(denLu
"Rathett, Box 1,
Bothwell
Tas74ll
To
the Editor,
I
anwrltlng to
thank youfor the editions of the
Digest whlehI
readwith pleasure. It ie
goodto
see 6ome n€rmesin it
whlchI
remember.te. the list of
3rd years whenI
was
ln lst year. I
have made another move and am nottat the
above addreseAlnost
18 months, ago, we purchaseda property
"Grantham",at'Bothwell,
and wealso
lease two nexc door propertLes,"Rathe" & "Logan".
At
the moment, werun
about 41000 breeding ewes, and have 80 cows &calves,
14'000 wethers plusreplacements.
We
also
growoats, barley
andtriticale. In the past'
Rathe has grown good wheatcrops, but
sunmer &spring frosts
haveon occaslons wlped wheat crops out.
We are about 11100
feet
above sealevel,
and have snow aswell
asfrosts during the wint'er,
and alsQat other
timeson occasions.
The Ramsay
fanily
number6 at the
momenEwith
number 7due
shortly. I
enclose membershipfees,
andlook
forwardto the
25 yeat reunionof ny year'
whichI
hopeto
attend.Saw
Philllp T.
Loneyrecently,
and heard heis
enteringpubllc life (or
hopesto)
asa local councilor.
Hels
campalgn{ng
vigorously,
so,shouldget in with a litt1e luck.
Best wishes
to
Roseworthy, ROCA andthe
Digest.R.J,
Ranaaq (RDA 1960)-l
9
43 Ashford Road,
Helensval_e Ql_d
To
the Editor,
Taking a
hint
from AlanMartin, I will
nowwrlte a
fewof
ny memoriesI
was bornat
Oodnadattain April-,
1895, and myfather
havinglost
Dalhousiesprings station
through drought around1890r lnvested
in
two camel teamsto carry stores for
the,inland stations
etc.Unfortunately,
myfather died in July
1895, so Frank Marsh whonfather
had takeninto
partnershipwith
one ofthe
eanel teams,took over.
Mother decidedto live in
our homein
oodnadattauntil
we rrrereold
enoughto
goto
Adelaldeto St.
PetersCollege, that is
mybrother
&I,
and mysister to
Miss Jacobs.We
both left college at the
endof
1913 andI g9t
a, scholarshlpto
Roseworthy, and receivedny
Diplona in. March1916. My
brother
\.rentto the Varsity
studying Engineering,but enlisted in 3rd Light
Horse and waskllled at Gallipoli in
October 1915.r
took anoffice job with H.v.
McKay, sunshine Harvesters,for
18 monthsor so,
and thenenlisted in the Fleld Artillery,
however
the
war ended, andln
Septemberl9l9 I got a dairy
farmat Monteith;
onthe
Murraywlth Billie
McNeil, another Roseworthyold scholar. After
12 months,Billie
wanted toget married,
so wesplit
and he boughta property at
TealFlar.
After that, I
carried, onuntil
May 1923, whenI
had to1et
myfarn
andreturn to
Oodnadatta to.take. over the Camel buslness for.my mother,as
thLs was her.meansof, support.
Or^ringto the
minesclosing,
businessielJ-
away, soit
took me5
yearsto
work,hire
&sell
befot'ereturning
South
I fitted out a
team, two buggy camels,flve rlding
camels, andr
hadto
makethe iron
framesat the old forge,
& severalpairs of
.tuckerboxes & waterbarrels for Dr
Bazedow, lookingfor
Laceters Reef.I
returnedto Monteith,
andafter a
few months,I
decidedto sell
and boughta property
neer Echunga, whlch was mostl_ytlnber country, but freehold wlth lees
ratee.I
boughtat the
endof
1929, and 1930 went dead as weall
know, and
I got
oneshllllng a
poundfor dalry butter
fromelght
cows. WhenI
squared upwlth the Soldler
Settlement Department,I
was congratuLated on being oneof a
few whohad
pald hls
way.Things were tough
at
Echungaln the l930ts,
andjust
whenr
wasraklng ny flrst
sub-clover seedin
1939,the
bushfiretook the lot
putLng me 3,000 pounds behind.Well, the
1940ts cane good andI
took heavycuts
& cropsoff
soneof ny
paddocks, which createdastir,
g0tons
ofensilage off 7 acres, clovers
&nixed rye
grasses, 40 tonsof white turnips to the acre,
2ndyear
&elght tons to
the acredry
groriln potatoes3rd year,
same paddock.One
of
thewell to
do farmersin the distrlct
asked Lf he could come and see myfarm, as the early gettlers
thoughtthat ny side of the
Range\rasn't
any good.In the
1939flre, 4 of us, lncluding
nywife,
saved our home andour
sheds, throughfill_lng 9 foot
troughsready
ofor the
bucket & napsprays.It
was hard workclearlng
bluegum, redgum,strlngybark
&mountaln gun
wlth a
Digger wlnch anda
Trewella Horsepuller.
r sold out ln
1946 and boughta
caravan and spent3l
yearshaving'a trlp
round eachof the states.
We ended up buylnglnto
businesg & house renorvatl.ongin penrith
N.S.I^1. 1950.I dtd
sowell that in
Christmas 1958, wesailed for
England, bought a Land Rover &
16t
caravanto our
requirements and toured England, Scdtland &Ireland,
then across toFrance &
all- the dlfferent
countrles.tJe then bought
a
Daimler Sovereign & shipped across to Canada & Amerl.ca where we touredover
141000rniles.
Thenback t,o
Australia via
New ZeaLand.Geonge
E.
Eagot(R.D.A. 1916)
11
Ian Rice,
Presldentof
R.O.C.A.is of the opinion that
the West Coast Ol-d Scholars must bea
cleanLlving lot -
againblessed
with perfect
weatherfor the
annual beachpicnic at Bil1y Light
Point.In
excessof
70adults
andchildren
madethe pllgrlnage - started arriving at
11 a.m. and some \rerestlll there at
8p.*. not
wantingto leave.
Besidesthe
usual barbecue,delicious crayfish
was onthe
menu- lt
proved so popuLarthat orders for next year's big
dayare
alreadyln
hand.The two
best fed
dogsin Port Lincoln
onthe
day were"Bonzo" Patt,erson and
"Spot"
Eime. Hamish hadto carry his terrier to the station
\ragonso that the
engorgement could beslept off.
Bob
Stirling's
grandchildren provedthe best
fishermen onthe
day,while
Roger Lawesably
denonstratedhis
swirmingability. In the
major league, Mark Langman and Tony Adansgave death defying water
ski-ing
demonstrations.Julie
Quirk hasrelieved
Mo.Barry of his "treasurer"
duties -
seemed mucheasier to
pay upin
good humourwith Julie
dressedfor the
beachtaking
money,whlle
sportinga
bewitching smileNoticed Wally Goulter work
his
way through twoplates
of meat andsalad, dessert,
rdatermelon and icecream, then ontocrayfish with a giant cigar to finlsh the
exercise- not
badfcr
80 years youngaHe, like
manyothers,
including Geoff Robinson,finished the
weekendwith hls fair
shareof
sunburn.Glyn Webber, guest speaker
of the
previousnight,
reekonedthe curative
powersof the
sunnyday, plus the
variouswines, carrying Taylor or
Collegelabels,
helpedto
puthiro back on
his feet after a bout of the tfl.u.
Elizabeth Michelmore and
Jerry
tr{oodroofe swanout to
sea-
looked
as
though they wereeloping to
BostonIsland -
while
Andybreast-stroked
alongthe shoreline
dressedin
bathers andhat with
glassesfirml} in
place.I'Ie would have
llked to
have heard whatHazell
Jones waetelling the ladles -
somethLng abouta fire
errgLne madlyringing lts bell!
!Werll
haveto
speakto
Barry Laweg abouthls wife
picklng on Ken Holdenall
day-
throwing sea \ilater over hlm wasthe
maln compl-aint- said
hewontt
comenext year if
therefs any chanceof repetltlon.
Hope hestays
away-
ehenlght pick
on me! !The
shelter
department waawell
cateredfor with
Brian Ashton and mateeconstructing the nain bullding,
whlleJeff
Elne andwife,
fo1-lowinglengthy
discuesLons,finally got thelr circus tent slzed shelter upright
and secure. TheStirling
fanlJ-y carped alongslde wherethe
youngest memberthrived
ona diet of shell grlt
andbottle
tops.Jln
Egan and Don McCarthydldnft
have muchtime for
eating anddrinking -
were busy keepingtheir
charges fromgetting int,o
deep water.Saw Jon Shlpard (Penong) and
Ian
llolman (Cockaleechle) dlscussLng harvests- both smiling
upbtg.
Marlene (Jonrewife)
reckonsPort Lincoln
remindsher of the
plaeeof
her childhood-
Alawoona- the only thing
nissJ.ng there wasthe sea. .
The Mlnnipa area was represented
by Stuart
Weckert. Thlnk he enjoyeda
dayby the
seaalso * nlght lure
hlm backnext
yearThe three youngsters
of
Grant and lleLen Hayman made the mostof the
day-
daughter looked smashLngin
strawberry decorated bathers.Maurice and Margaret Barry had
to give the picnic
a missthls year.'To look at
thFln qo one wouldthlnk theyrre
old enoughto
havea 2l year old
daughter-
she was celebratingher birthday
el-sewhere, hencethe
apologies.Again
all the effort
was worthwhile- setting
up and thenclearing
awaythe debris
was madellght'by
many wlJ-linghelpers this
year.OQa HdbQl
13
The 1984 Annual General Meeting and Reunion will
be held at the "Renaissance Tower" on Friday 7th
September.The A.G.M. will start at 5.30 p.m., with the
dinner following at 7.30
p.m.Cost will be $16 per person. Wives (or husbands etc) are extremely welcome to attend.
The "Renaissance Tower"
maybe better known to most of us as the former Cox Foys building in
Rundle Mall. Late night shopping will be availabl_e
until 9.00 p.m. in Rundle Mall if your
spousewould prefer to do
someshopping prior to the
dinner. Arnple parking and public transport are
available.
R.S.V.P. for the dinner is Sunday September
2nd.A list of the 10 & 25 year groups will be included
in the next Digest.
If any other year groups would like to arrange a special table, please contact the Secretary.
We
would like to issue a special invitation to graduates from the newer courses (Horse, Natural Resources, W.P. &
M., etc).
Graduates from all of these courses are of equal standing in R.O.C.A., and it would be a pleasure
to see
somenew faces at the meeting & dinner.
EVIPLOYMEITI OPPORTUNIT IES
Deparbnent T.A.F.E. is looking for staff wi-th agrlcuttural and
lprti.cultr:raL skills and an_abj.Lity to preserrt iorrnaf trainingi;
9s_n*11 Salaries as nrarnging physical projects for disadrantaged ccmdities.
range frun approxirnately $18,OOC _ $28.000.
PqJLTRY JOts
Goldenlay Poultry seek Rosei^Drthy Agricultural College Gradr:ate as trSinee-L!-lit rnanager at Angle Vaie Road Brarrch. Currently rrn about LOO,OOO hens, mL:st be prepaned to work every 3rd
"LX*ra,
good rarage. Cdrtact ttr. Mike e.e"sf"rg,ts, (OAil erS fSg.
GRAIAM BROOKMAN (neC) CAn PROVIDE I"ORE DETATLS.
The R.0.C.A. Award of Merit has been
awardedsince
1961.It is an honour conferred on outstanding
ROCAmembers
in recognition of meritorious service
to Agriculture, the
Communityor
ROCA.It is not awarded lightty, and the nominees are reviewed by a panel comprising people from the
highest levels of Agriculture.
As an indication of the quality of recipients over the past 23 years, scan your eyes down the
list beIow.
1961 -
ROVTLAND HILL1962 -
DAVID RICEMAN1963 -
LEN COOK1964 -
W.J. DAWKINS1965 -
FRANK PEARSONL966 - A.R.
CALLAGHAN1967 - R.I.
HERRIOT1968 -
DENIS MUIRHEADL969 -
JACK REDDENL97O
-
RON BAD},IANI97I
REX BUTTERFIELD1972 -
M.R. KMUSE1973 .
R.H. KUCIIEL1974 - A.J.K.
I^IALKER. 1975 - K.
PIKEL976 -
LEN LAFFER1977 .
DES HABELT978
H.R. DAYT979 -
MARK IIUTTON1980 - c.w.
HooPER1981 -
ANDREI^I MICHELMORE1982 -
M.B. SPURLING1983 -
RALPH HEWITT JONESPLed,6e pLLt
a bi,t o(
thought..ittto the
nomlnaLLono( a
R?CAmenbett don
th.is
Artutd.15
"
AMBD_OE_IERIINOMINATIONS FOR THE
1984
''AINIARD OF MERITII ARE REQUTRED NOW! !Please fill out a form containing the details listed below,,and post to the
R0e4Secretary, Roseworthy College, Roseworthy S.A.
5371.*
It
NAIvIE OF NOMINEE:
ADDRESS OF NOMINEE:
PROPOSED BY:
SECONDED BY:
Supporting data should be provided on career, employment, and occupation since leaving R.A.C.
Please 1i-st
mgj_grpublished papers, achievements, academic qualifications and honours
bestowedThe selection panel eonsider the work done for Agriculturg, the College, the Association,
andthe
Conrnunity.Nominees
must be financial
membersof R.O.C.A.
Nominations must be proposed and.seconded
byfinancial
members.A
large
numberof
Digestsare
being "RETURNED To SENDER"because members
shift
house andfail to notify the Editor.
If
you have changed your address,or
knowof
a member whohas ceased
receiving the Digest,
pl-easefill in the
form onthe
back eover.APPLICATION FOR R.O.C.A. MEMBERSHIP
I wish to join Roseworthy Old Collegians Association;
NAME:
ADDRESS:
COURSE ATTENDED:...
YEAR CRADUATED:...
Qleque enclosed for LIFE MEMBERSHIP $25
ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP $ 5.OO SICNATURE:...
PLEASE FILL OUT AND RETURN NOW. .
L9B4
A.G.M.
and REUNION.R.S.V.P. 2nd September
to R.O.C.A.
SecretayyC/-
Roseworthy College, Roseworthy.S.A.
5371,(or
phone Andrew Michelmoreon
(085) 63 2831,Preferably 7.00a.m.
-
8.00a.m.)I will/will not be attending the A.GM. and reunion on FridayTth September, l9f4 I enclose cheque for $...being payment for...pTsons at $16 each.
SPOUSE/FRIEND
CHANGE OF ADDRESS NAME:
ADDRESS:
YEAR GRADUATED: