1968 Medical Reunion
The Medical Class of ’68 recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of their qualification at a reunion held at the Deerhurst Resort Hotel, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. The event from 25th- 28th September 2008 was attended by 45 Graduates and their spouses, making a total of 83 persons. The Deerhurst Resort has two golf courses and this was undoubtedly a factor in the choice of location. The timing coincided with the development of the “Fall” colours in all their glory.
The reunion was carefully planned by an organising Committee in N.Ireland and Canada and the Canadian part of the Committee made the local arrangements. The organisers were delighted with the response to the idea of meeting up in Canada. Participants made their own travel arrangements and this permitted great flexibility. Some chose to visit relations and friends whilst others took the opportunity of touring to a wide variety of locations throughout North America with a few cruising to Alaska. The downfall of the Zoom airline affected the itineraries of those who had booked Zoom flights but this did not detract from the sheer delight of such a crowd meeting together in a magnificent place.
The centrepiece of the reunion was the Scientific Session entitled “40 Years on the Coalface” This was Chaired by Chris Kirkpatrick. The local host, Ivan McCully, welcomed the delegates and Ian Hunter gave the News of the ‘68 “year” and read apologies from those unable to attend. Of the 45 graduates present, there were two each from Australia, Scotland and USA, five from England, 11 from Canada, and 23 from N Ireland. Boyd Kane presented the results of an “Annual Audit” based on a questionnaire he had circulated prior to the meeting. Whilst part of this was related to the numbers taking statins and membership of a local “gym” much of it was more frivolous! The subject matter of the other talks was wide ranging and very interesting. The talk by Chris Green entitled “A Second Chance” made the greatest impact of them all. Chris had a very successful career as a Paediatrician and as author of international best-selling books such as “Toddler Taming – a Guide for Parents” and several equally successful books relating to different age groups. Unfortunately Chris suffered a stroke at a young age and the effect of this was that he “lost his words”. He could no longer speak or recognise the written word. He had to give up Medicine and his career as an author seemed to be at an end. Around this time his wife died from a progressive lung disease and his future looked bleak. However, thanks to intensive rehabilitation, he can speak again and together with his new wife, Judi, he has managed to produce a new edition of one of his books. The fact that he could give the talk about these experiences was a triumph for him and he was given a standing ovation.
Any gathering such as this must have lots of uncommitted time for delegates to talk with people they haven’t seen for years. The Year of ’68 has had several very successful reunions at ten yearly intervals. However on this occasion there were people there who hadn’t seen each other for 40 years and that takes a lot of catching up! As the cohort of ’68 either approaches retirement or have already retired, the financial aspects of retirement were very popular topics of conversation. It was noteworthy how many of the year had suffered serious illness and several had lost children through serious accidents. Others had grandchildren with life-limiting conditions. Many members of the year had very successful careers in different branches of Medicine. However, it was these sobering facts which made more of an impression than the success stories.
It would be hard to pick out a particular highlight from the social programme – for many it was the golf competition, others particularly enjoyed the nature walk with a professional guide on the Friday afternoon, surprisingly very few ladies availed themselves of a shopping trip into Huntsville itself. Those who went into Huntsville found it to be a very interesting country town. On Saturday the entire group travelled in two school buses for a cruise on Lake Muskoka, about half an hour’s drive from Huntsville. After a sit down meal on the ship we enjoyed a cruise on this beautiful lake, studying the various large mansions on the water’s edge, marvelling at the colours of the trees and chatting to friends.
The climax of the gathering was dinner on Saturday evening in the Deerhurst Resort. After a splendid meal, we were addressed by the President of the Ontario Medical Society, Dr Ken Arnold, also a Graduate of Queen’s University Belfast Medical School. Following speeches by several members of “the year” it was time for the prize distribution for the golf competitions and thank you gifts for the organisers. Each delegate received copies of the official photographs of “the graduates” and the entire group which had been taken the day before. In addition everyone was given a DVD of all the photographs and video clips from various events over the years that were shown during the reunion, particularly in the Hospitality Suite which was the venue for pre-prandial and late night social gatherings.
On the Sunday morning a short worship service, led by Russell Harpur who has now changed from his Medical career to be a Pastor, was well attended. The final meal in the Hotel was a lavish Brunch after which the delegates bid each other a fond farewell and set off back to the real world. It had been possible to arrange car sharing so that no-one needed to use public transport. The following evening many of us met again in Toronto airport, prior to flights to various parts of the UK.
The 40th anniversary reunion of the “year of 68” left us with very happy memories of a wonderful occasion. The parting question was when, and more particularly where, should the next one be. The glory of the Canadian Fall is very hard to beat! It is interesting to note that the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville will host the Canadian G8 summit in 2010 – I think we approve of their choice of venue!!
N. Ireland Committee L to R: Denis White, Ian Hunter (Organising Secretary), Maureen Wallace (Moore), Ray Fynes (Canada) and Dermot Hoey.
Symposium speakers: L to R Chris Kirkpatrick, Boyd Kane, Edwina Gillanders (McCavana), Chris Green, Alice Taylor (Swann) and Barbara Golden (McIver).
Two Instonians catching up – Brian Bond , Belfast (left) and Knox Ritchie (Toronto).
The Canadian Organising Committee: L to R Knox Ritchie, Ivan McCully and Tommy Smyth after being thanked by Randal Hayes (Belfast).
