14/11/2019
Hi Everyone,
I certainly hope you all had a good time last Saturday night - I know I did!
Now that it’s over, I would like to say thanks to those that that helped make the night a reality:
Brad Lewis - Brad was instrumental in motivating people early on the piece. He was in regular contact with Paul Le Mottee and bouncing ideas around like having a “School Social” at the Henry Kendall Hall. That idea very nearly happened but people got busy and injured and it didn’t get the energy it needed to make it happen. Brad continued to be a great motivator and ideas contributor for the night we had and we are all very grateful.
Francine Steedman – Francine was amazing. Despite having to pack in the weeks leading up to the night and then moving to a new house and unpacking in the days just before the night, Francine never stopped contributing ideas and helping in lots of ways and was bright and bubbly on the night too! Francine was one of the organisers of the 20th Reunion back in 1999 and was a wealth of help and knowledge.
Paul Le Mottee – Paul loves this stuff. He always talks about how much fun he had at school and how he is so grateful to be part of all of us and how all of us are a part of him. Paul was heavily involved in the 30th Reunion along with Sue Harris, Linda Bennett and John Henry. Those four found the email addresses or other contact details for just about every student in our year and that information made it so much easier this time around.
One special thanks for Paul, is that putting on a night costs money, and it cost a lot more than the $25 per ticket covered. Hiring a room right on the water at the Sailing Club, providing finger food and sweets, hiring a juke box and karaoke machine and decorating the room cost about $1,000 more than the money collected from tickets.
Paul very generously said right from the outset that he would cover any shortfall and he has done so. This kind of generosity to people that haven’t been a part of his life for 40 years is rare and probably deserves something in return so I am going to give Paul and his business a plug:
Paul himself is a tribute to the education and environment provided to us at Henry Kendall. He is well spoken, well travelled and well liked. Apart for running his own business for nearly 30 years, Paul holds a number of positions including:
Councillor on Port Stephens Council
Vice President of Housing Industry Australia (HIA)
Director of Association of Accredited Certifiers
He is also a Life Member of Port Stephens Cricket Club and the former President of the Williams River Preschool Association that ran three separate preschools.
Paul’s business is called Le Mottee Group. The business provides services to builders, farmers, developers and Mums and Dads. The services include Surveying, Civil Engineering, Town Planning, Ecology, Bushfire Threat Assessment and Strata Certification. If you are building a house, units or shops then Paul would love to able to help you and it would be a good way of repaying him for the time and money he has put into our reunions over the years.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again - hopefully at regular "gatherings" rather than waiting for our 50th reunion.
Until next time,
Denise
