ABOUT THISTLELONIANS

COMMITTEE & ADMINISTRATION

The Thistlelonians was formed in 1994 to encompass the ex-students and staff of McKinnon High School/McKinnon Secondary College.

Our goal is to celebrate and facilitate communication and involvement amongst the past and present college community.

With the generous support of the Principal and School Council we are able to interact with former and current staff and students and form an integral part of the modern McKinnon school community. Through this support we are able to maintain an office at the school, have the IT and Media Team assist with maintenance of our website, including Facebook and LinkedIn, produce this magazine and have Melanie Lynch as our Thistlelonian Administrator. We also have representation on School Council.

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Our main fundraising is through our reunions, conducted each October and donations to our Scholarship Fund. With this money we are able to award bursaries to three Year 9 students and contribute to other school community activities. We are always delighted to receive Thistlelonian Award donations and you will read of some of the award winners from previous years in this edition. 

The Committee has been working to streamline our administrative procedures as we move away from costly and inefficient postal communications to email and Facebook technologies. We are actively seeking email addresses from any former McKinnon students and staff so that we can keep you up-to-date with Thistlelonian and school activities, such as YOUR reunion invitation. 

The way the reunions now work is that we celebrate five years after graduating, then it moves to every 10 years until you hit your 40 years of graduation. This, in part, is to ensure healthy numbers at reunions, as some feedback indicated 5 years was too often.

Please encourage any school friends to update their details using the links here.

With the restructure we now have three categories of membership:

Life Members - as elected by members to acknowledge the special contribution of certain individuals made to Thistlelonians.

Lifetime Members - open to members who have generously donated the $200 lifetime membership fee to the Thistlelonians.

Associate Members - applies to anyone not listed above, who either attended or taught at McKinnon, and has not expressed a desire to be excluded from communications. This is free and accounts for many thousands on our database.

It is as a member of the above categories that you have received this magazine and will continue to receive information from us. We hope you enjoy a closer connection with your old school and encourage your participation.

Feel free to pass this newsletter on to your former school classmates and encourage them to update their contact information with us.

HISTORY OF THISTLELONIANS

Thistlelonians Inc was formed in 1994 to facilitate communication and involvement amongst the past and present college community.

The original ex-students association was formed by the Class of 1959 which was the first class to matriculate at McKinnon. The organisation was called M.E.S.A. – McKinnon Ex-students Association – and operated until the late 60s.  The committee organised social activities and supported the school’s fund-raising schemes.  Tennis, dances and record nights were organised by the committee of 17 members.

The aim of M.E.S.A. was to promote and cultivate the social, sporting and general welfare of ex-students and to assist McKHS both financially and materially.

Activities included snow trips (in conjunction with Beaumaris and Dandenong HS ex-students), a night club evening, car trials, theatre night to Dr Zhivago, BBQs and functions at private homes. Fund-raising was part of these activities.  MESA also ran a sausage sizzle at one of the school fairs, raising £93 one year.  Subscriptions were five shillings annually.

M.E.S.A. PRESIDENTS

1959 & 1960 Kay Butcher

1961 Colin Graham

1962 & 1963 Ken Launder

1964 Chris Howard

1965 Trevor McKay

1966 Kevin Kee

1967 Trevor McKay

In the early 1990s, Martin Vink provided the expertise to establish a viable ex-students association with the first meeting held in September 1993.

Since incorporation in 1994, Thistlelonians has maintained a data base, currently 19,000 alumni, organised the annual reunions for various classes in rotation and supported the College.  The first reunions were held in 1994 at various venues – Caulfield RSL, the Bentleigh Club and Glen Eira town hall.  The inaugural president was Ray Hartland (1974) from 1993 – 2005 and Geoff Woolnough (1971) has been president since then.

Thistlelonians supports the college by providing three Year 9 scholarships annually, sponsoring projects such as the Great Victorian Bike Ride and purchasing items for the College including the iron sculpture of the College’s thistle logo on the wall of the assembly hall.  

Thistlelonians maintains an historical display in the MERC area of the main campus.  Ex-students and staff have donated a variety of items dating from 1953, including photos, uniforms, badges, cadet memorabilia.  The display is changed throughout the year and is enjoyed by current students and visitors.