Milroy Berenger….a look at the man behind the dance souvenir
As an avid reader of college news, often hankering for days gone by, I look forward to emails, STC OBA websites and the flagship Sydney OBA Dance souvenir to satisfy my reading appetite. Perhaps I am mellowing with age (highly debatable) but the past few dances that I have attended, my objective at the outset is to ensure my wife secures in her handbag a copy of the dance souvenir so it doesn’t get misplaced. Having voraciously digested last years magazine I headed for my Thomian archive bookshelf when the penny dropped! Leafing through several past souvenirs I could easily link the identifiable name of Milroy Berenger to the benchmark dance souvenir we Sydney Thomians have come to enjoy. This unassuming gentleman will however be quick to credit the success of the magazine to others and the incumbent committee each year. That may be partially correct but its Milroy’s methodical planning, precise layout skills and careful scrutiny of articles and suggestions that adds the proverbial icing on the cake.
The role of editor was ‘shoved’ on Milroy around November 2000. Not satisfied to simply cut and paste articles, pedestrian jokes or fill the pages with meaningless anecdotes he immediately set about contacting Thomians and teachers across the globe for quality reading material. Dance souvenir 2001 heralded the beginning of a quality product. Milroy vehemently refused to print cheap jokes which he said could be easily sourced on the internet. Instead we were enthralled by Thomian specify articles which underlined the uniqueness of being Thomians near and far. His article ‘Rally round the college flag’ highlighted the need and stressed the importance of maintaining the Thomian tradition through the dance souvenir. In his words “I had a chance to produce unique Thomian literture, written by Thomians, for Thomians to read”. This vision of his, I’m very pleased to say has firmly gripped our readership base with many Thomians who cannot attend the dance wanting spare copies.
Those of us who have served with Milroy in the committee or gained from his editorial skills will understand why he has been affectionately dubbed ‘Warden’. A stickler for perfection, transparency and accountability he is passionate about the OBA and college. United we stand, divided we fall; he wants our membership base to grow every year into an “all inclusive” association for the common good of the college. The Thomian heritage and traditions are important to him. He continues to canvass support from new members, articles and advertisements regardless of whether he is\not in the committee. When I spoke to him the other day, Milroy provided me food for thought by saying “the OBA should be at the heart of every Thomians superannuation”. I’m convinced this quote has the blessings of his dear wife Gladys who would rather have him engage in OBA activities than attempt house work when he retires one day!
Thank You Milroy. We salute and commend you for your dedication, support and for being a remarkable mentor to the Sydney OBA.
Its evident that Milroy’s editorial creativity has now extended to fashion!
Esto Perpetua
Chitran Duraisamy (Stone House 1974 – 1984)