On July 29th over 1100 Leonians and their guests got together for the Centenary Ball at Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre.
With a nod to Kit Walker the foyer of the centre was decked out with a purple carpet and if you were lucky you could hide among the trees and rocks for a photo with the man himself.
Our Residents came in bus loads from the College and Leonians came from far and wide for what promised to be a cracking night.
Our President, Isaac Dickinson got the night off to a great start by welcoming everyone and he talked about what the College means to current Residents. Isaac reflected on how the College has changed, as the world around us is changing. Isaac finished by introducing Bishop McGuckin to lead everyone in Grace.
After a first course of either seafood or beef fillet our Council Chair, Daryl Hanly OAM took to the stage.
Main courses of eye fillet or lamb cutlets followed Daryl’s speech and the room was buzzing as groups caught up with friends they hadn’t seen in years.
After the main course, Head of College, Steve Foley, gave his address. The celebration covers the last 100 years however Steve talked about what the College is like today and how it fits into the modern world.
After wishing St Leo’s a Happy Birthday our eyes were drawn to the end of the room because…you will never believe it…The Phantom had come to pay his respects to St Leo’s.
He was very kind and brought along one of the biggest chocolate and Bailey’s cakes you have ever seen. It needed to be big to feed everyone! After cutting the cake it was given out to all the guests.
Following the speeches Isaac introduced our Sergent at Arms, Darcy Wright, who invited our men from each decade to stand up in their year groups. Our longest serving Leonian who was in attendance was Dr John Casey who attended Leo’s when it was at Wickham Terrace in the 1950s. After that we went through all the decades until we had all the Leonians in the room on their feet. Darcy asked all the other guests who have supported their sons, brothers, husbands, friends or Residents over the years to stand up so the whole room could toast St Leo’s. It was a true spectacle.
Once the formalities were over Radio Club Band kicked off the night’s entertainment and we all got up and danced. And danced. And danced. Many, many guests were still up and dancing right until the end at midnight and we had to be asked to leave.
The party didn’t end there! At the same time some around 60 Leonians who had not been able to get tickets to the ball had attended an extension event at the Charming Squire, below the BCEC. So the ball attendees went to join them there! Again it was a delight to see so many Leonians in one place at the same time.
So we have put our tuxedos away, our feet have finally stopped aching from all that dancing and we still have some wonderful memories of a great night.
Want to relive the action? A video capturing the highlights of the night is pinned to the top of our Facebook page.
Want to see more photos? Go to: bit.ly/leoscentenaryballphotos
Stay safe, enjoy the break and we look forward to welcoming our new residents next year!
