Opening of The Maristonian

On Friday 9 June over 130 old boys, parents, staff, board members and trustees mingled at the opening of The Maristonian, home of the Marist Old Boys and meeting place of the St David’s community. On April 11th work began on The Maristonian as it would undergo a significant renovation to create a new venue that offers our old boys, as well as parents and staff alike, a place that brings our community together. In terms of the use of the space, the range of possibilities extend from early morning meetings in the board rooms to monthly old boy get-togethers, and of course, as we witnessed at Old Boys’ Day, after match functions as well. Although so much effort has already gone into this project, our real work starts now to ensure that we keep up the momentum and ultimately enjoy the fruits of our combined labour.

The Maristonian was officially opened by our Executive Headmaster, Mike Thiel, he spoke about the partnership between the school, the PTA and the Old Boys which brought our new home to life.

Brother Fortune then offered a moment of prayer and encouraged the school to ensure this venue is used extensively as it a is a symbol of cooperation and will ultimately bring people together to celebrate all that is Marist. This was followed by a delicious dinner and the evening was closed by the Chairman of the Marist Old Boys Association, Matthew Ramsden. Matthew had a long list of thanks, as listed below. Many attendees on the night inquired about how they could support this project going forward. Our unique donor board was on display and was clearly a point of interest to many. 

For those who would like to acquire a place on our donor board please contact Joe Kotwal at the school for more information.

On behalf of the many stakeholders who are directly responsible for the success of this project and the intended use of The Maristonian down the line, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to those for attending the opening of the Maristonian.

• The School Board and Exec for support for the project over many years, for managing the approval processes and for offering up this space, allocating resources and personnel to see it come to life.
• The St David’s Marist Foundation and Trustees for their dedicated and ongoing support over a number of years in initiating and managing fundraising initiatives in support of the Maristonian, for managing and growing the invested funds, nurturing donor relations and reporting to donors and stakeholders over this time. This dedicated focus was instrumental in bringing this project to fruition and our entire community is and continue to be grateful to the Foundation for the work they do in supporting St David’s development and vision.
• The PTA, who several years ago funded the kitchen upgrade.
• Shaun Sutherland, the Head of Operations at St David’s for project managing the build and financial oversight of the project from start (11 April) to finish, we are extremely grateful. 
• Our extended thanks to Thomas Ramutshindela, Daniel Shibambu, Paul Fungela and the estate team for the remarkable effort over the past few weeks to ensure that so many additional tasks were completed in preparation for the opening. Further to our support staff for ensuring the venue was clean and ready to host our guests.
• The Advancement Team for helping with many of the touchpoints that made the opening such a special evening.
• Kim Abraham and Nicky Ferreira for their help in providing the amazing décor.
• The St David’s Boarding House and Bidvest staff for relocating the dining facilities to the College Pavilion during renovations - we hope you now enjoy your new dining hall!
• The Bidvest Team for catering the event with support from Thembi Mazibe from the school side.
• The working committee who met and discussed this project almost daily. Matthew Ramsden, Andrew Munro, Andrew Kirkland, and David Dias.

Of course, we can’t forget our long list of donors who made this project possible, who have been recognised on our donor board.

Mr Joe Kotwal

Stakeholder Manager