PETERHOUSE
NOSTALGIA
PETERHOUSE
NOSTALGIA
The
occasion of the Interhouse plays has been chosen as most fitting, as George
has always had drama close to his heart, and has been in charge of the
House plays since inception at PHG. He has done much to foster drama at
the school. He has produced several plays, notably South Pacific,
with a cast from both PHB and PHG, as well as others for the girls, and
for the staff. He acted himself as a barman in a blonde wig in one of them.
When not producing, George likes to go and watch plays, and on many occasions
he has been able to take advantage of his long affiliation with Reps to
arrange school trips to Harare for educational or social theatrical evenings.
George was also the force behind the inception of public speaking as an interhouse activity, and latterly of the Toastmasters Club. Many girls owe much to his guidance in the art of speech making and have enjoyed the opportunity to debate contentious topics within a group.
He has also built up the Chess club. This is a fairly select little group which meets in the privacy of Room 9 and is not seen much by the rest of the school, but certainly his players seem to do exceptionally well in the matches and Stats, so there must be an advantage.
George is, of course, chiefly responsible for Maths and administration at PHG. He has been head of Maths since his arrival in 1988, and subsequently Director of Studies. It is George who prepares the timetable and endures the hysterics and sulks when it appears. George lets all this ride over his head secure in the knowledge that this timetable will be as unchanging as the Rock of Gibraltar (for that year at least). George prides himself on producing a timetable for all eventualities, and while he uses an inordinate amount of tipper in its construction, once it is published no changes are possible at all.
His forward planning for exams, and his skill in divining what information the Ministry was going to want in letters that arrived 3 weeks late with request for one week ago, have made it possible for our staff and girls to be informed of the latest developments in time to ensure a smooth teaching programme and the excellent results that PHG has enjoyed every year.
One would think that this would be quite enough to keep most teachers busy; but not George. He took on the responsibility for tasks, gatings and detentions and ensured that they were done. Fluttering eyelashes and long sob stories have no effect on him, as miscreants have discovered. No reading notices, and not obeying the rules are the main reasons that George himself gives tasks. He really excelled himself recently when seeing a girl in the dining room with a cap on, he issued the usual task. She was a member of a visiting hockey team from Natal!
In his early days, George who had had most of his experience at boys' school naturally gravitated to the coed type of sport. He coached U15 hockey for years then decided to try to hand at girls' cricket. This was something of frustrating experience as Elka Hacking was the only girl he managed to teach to bowl correctly. Obviously there wasn't enough emphasis being placed on this important aspect of education in the junior schools.
Finally George found his niche in Golf, which gives him an opportunity to play every Monday. He gets tease a bit about turning his social pleasure into a school activity, but there is doubt that the girls have enjoyed the sessions and have done well in interschool competitions.
George was on the Peterhaven/Giants' Castle Committee for years, and regularly took groups of girls up to make improvements and do maintenance. It was only when accompanied by him up there myself that I realised the true reason for these outings. We arrived and George at once sent all the girls off to walk Worlds View - a tradition he said that must be followed by each group. On they went on a three hour walk. George then filled the Giants Castle bath with hot water to the brim and lay in it the whole time the girls were away. There was no water rationing at Nyanga.
George has always provided us with topics of conversation. He is diabetic, and at one stage, when his regular brand of insulin was not available, he began to have the occasional slow down, on the replacement medication he was taking. After he had fallen asleep in class once or twice, the girls were trained what to do. George would be brought back to normal by being given a glass of water with some sugar in it. This worked well. A few weeks later, another member of staff, feeling full of flu and putting her head on her desk while her class was working, was startled to discover one of them standing by her desk, silently offering a glass of sugar water. The magic muti was on offer to all.
George had a never ending procession of old cars, which provided endless comment as everything imaginable seemed to happen to them, from being burnt to scrap metal; to being stolen and recovered as major components of three separate vehicles. We tried to persuade George to claim the lot but he is far too honest. No one who saw George's "make over" at the 5th Form entertainment at the end of last year will ever forget his appearance as a fashion model. Even his mother didn't recognise him, from the photos taken.
I have tried to show something of the many different characteristics and interests of George, but it would take all night. He has done so much. He is a Mason, maintains an interest in the Scouting movement, has assisted at operations and is always ready to try something different. I should like to end with a view of the current A block. On Valentine's Day a card appeared in George's pigeon hole: "Hello you sexy hunk" and it has been on his desk ever since. The girls hold George dear in their hearts and so do we.
George, we shall miss your committed involvement, your cool-headedness under pressure and your dry sense of humour. Our headmaster keeps telling us that no one is irreplaceable, but it will be a long time before we find another person who has done so much for this school as you have done, or who will leave so big a gap to fill.
We wish you well in your new venture as an accountant cum computer whiz kid and hope that you will still feel that you are always welcome at PHG in every way and at any time.
S.BUCKLAND
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