Zoom in for the Annual General Meeting

The Union’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, 30 September 2023, online via the Zoom platform. Instructions on how to join the meeting are laid out in the email. All positions are open, and new committee members are needed. Nominations will be taken during the meeting. If you are unable to attend, you can still nominate by sending an email to don.newby@bigpond.com by Friday, 29 September.

At the AGM, the management committee proposes a change to the Union’s Constitution, by deleting Clause 3 (b) (ii), removing the category of “Annual Member.” Since no Annual Members have recently paid their subscription, the Union’s only income has been from a few new Life Memberships. The “new” subscription will be determined at the end of the AGM agenda.

Fort Street Foundation

Although Fort Street is a government-funded school, money from the Foundation allows for additional resources to be purchased and capital works undertaken outside the Education Department’s works program. This way, the funds support current students. The School’s website, under “Our Community,” has more information on the funds, which are tax-deductible, and how to donate.

Denice Smith - A Tribute by Don Newby

Denice Smith (née Padmore) was my friend. I first met Denice (Fortian ‘69) at the 1986 annual general meeting of the Fortians Union. I had reconnected with the Union the year before, but her involvement went back to 1972 and followed the commitment of her parents, Jim and Gwen.

Denice was Secretary of the Old Girls’ Union in 1972 and 1974 and joined the committee of the Fortians Union in 1975 after the merger of the Old Girls’ and Old Boys’ Unions, because of the merger of the Schools. She was elected Secretary again in 1976.

Denice fought to ensure the Girls would have equal status in the Fortians Union. In later years, she was active in ensuring the history of the Girls’ School, the “original” school, was not forgotten, especially by the National Trust, the current occupier of that site. She was a proud Fortian and always drew attention to HSC results and the achievements of Fortians, particularly the ladies, in their chosen fields of endeavour.

Denice was active in the Union as a committee member and President for 11 of the last 12 years. When she was not on the committee because of other commitments, the Union lacked direction. Some of those who took on those roles did not have her skills or had their own agendas.

So what were those skills? It impressed me that she seemed to produce a newsletter without effort, finding text and pictures and putting them together in an easily read format. Mostly, I admired her management skills, her planning, and her eye for detail. No doubt these were sharpened during her working years.

For the last 12 years, we worked together on the Annual Dinner, the major event on the Union’s calendar. Last year, despite Denice’s numerous medical appointments and days undergoing treatment, the venue was booked, the menu selected, and the guest speaker had accepted. Then, a week before the dinner, the hotel became difficult about some of our requirements. It was Denice who rang the manager. In the end, we were given two of their “High Tea” vouchers, which we raffled. Denice also provided three more prizes, organised the raffle tickets, and prepared the name tags.

She died the day before she was to host that dinner. It went ahead and was a success because of the procedures and protocols she had established over the years.

Vale Ian McLeod

Ian Frederick McLeod (Fortian ‘54), who died in June, was a highly respected teacher for more than 25 years at The King’s School as Head of Classics and Senior Master. Ian organised the successful Domini luncheons at King’s, enabling colleagues to keep in touch. He was at last year’s Fortians dinner with a group of 1954 Boys. Ian also tutored Fortian Janek Drevikovsky in Latin. You may recall Janek topped the State in five subjects at the 2014 HSC exams.