The Ignatian - December 2016 Vol 26 July Edition Vol 27 | Page 40

Riverview Boarding Roadshow
Sydney and the Bush
In May, a boarding caravan went rolling through the State’s west and
south. We firstly joined a multi-school boarding expo in Dubbo, then
moved on to mount our own displays in Orange, Forbes, Cowra,
Young and Tumut. An enormous group gathered for dinner, held
once again at Lazy River, Dubbo, hosted by Peter and Pamela Scott.
Peter Anderson’s toast to the College was both sidesplitting and
moving. There was a brunch in Warren where families of McKays,
Nadins, Druces, Noonans, Robinsons and many others gathered
and shared stories of the past. There were dinners with the Sloanes
in Orange, the Thomases in Forbes the Hobsons in Young and the
Grahams in Coolac. Many families joined us at those gatherings –
Metcalfes, Bolgers, Bonsembiantes, Makehams, Backs, Meinckes,
Mandy Tooth and Sue Buttenshaw.
All along the way, the welcome has been warm and generous. The
frequent comment has been, “Thank you for visiting us.” But we are
always the more indebted. And our gratitude is for much more than
hospitality, as rich as that was. It is for entrusting us with the sons of
the soil over so many generations. It is for the ongoing support of the
College in both material and spiritual ways. It is for being such loyal
advocates and ambassadors of the College ‘in the field’.
Seasonally, this has been the best of times to be on the road. Sunny
autumn days, a freshness in the air. Trees turning tones to crimson
and gold, leaves showering the roads. The cloud formations could
have inspired Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, when he wrote:
… up above, what wind-walks! what lovely behaviour
Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier
Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?
At every turn of the road, the pastures and paddocks seem to have
been blessed with recent rains. The fields emerald green with the
winter crops of sorghum and canola starting to push through. The
cotton crop is baled up ready. Creeks were running well. Dams were
deep. In the late afternoon sun, the vistas could have leapt from
an impressionist’s painting. Such sights make it easy to see why a
psalmist could write with gratitude to God, perhaps three millennia
ago and experiencing something similar:
Abundance flows in your pathways;
in pastures of the desert it flows.
The hills are girded with joy.
The meadows clothed with flocks.
The valleys are decked with wheat.
They shout for joy; yes, they sing! (Psalm 65)
Outside Warren, we were taken by Peter Debus to John and Robyn
Nadin’s property for an afternoon to see three hundred or so head of
sheep trucked for the sale yards. To watch the dogs at work, eyes on
the sheep, then eyes on their master, a bark here, a nip there, simply
puts their comfy city cousins to shame! Along the way we passed
farm after farm of the McKays, the Egans and the McAlarys. This
was clearly Riverview territory. Out of Dubbo, we saw Chesworth’s,
the most inland dairy in the State. Later, in Forbes, we bought pies at
Hartwigs and supplies at Flannery’s Pharmacy.
It was a memorable time spent in Orange. We stayed in Duntryleague,
the mansion built by James Dalton a few years before his namesake
(but no relation) Fr Joseph Dalton SJ purchased a farm at Riverview.
The Dalton brothers, James and his older sibling Thomas, were
both created Papal Knights for their charitable works. James built
Duntryleague (named after their home in Limerick), while Thomas
built a fine residence, Wheatleigh, in Naremburn. Thomas had a son,
another Thomas, who went to Riverview, and who was also a Papal
Knight. He it was who was largely responsible for the construction of
the Dalton Memorial Chapel and then arranged for Fr Joseph Dalton’s
remains to be re-interred there from the Gore Hill cemetery. More
generations of Daltons followed, with Angus (Year 12) and Timothy
(Year 9) representing the current generation.
So much history. So many stories. The ones I took to heart were
accounts of how families and classmates had rallied around and
pitched in to help others in tough times to ensure they could send
their sons to ‘View. Yes, we are blessed with boarders, we are blessed
with benefactors and we are blessed with the bounty of the land. All
experiences of grace. All causes for gratitude. Let us never forget to be
thankful.
FR ROSS JONES, SJ
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