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A.O.S.A. 2002 ANNUAL REPORTS |
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This Magazine
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Properly JOHN, occasionally RICHARD, but most popularly “DICK,” that was Dick at school and now, to us, always Dick. I knew Dick out of school almost more than I knew him in school at Ayton. His family was from Scarborough and every summer I used to send myself off to visit my Grandparents for about 6 weeks; then Dick and I used to meet almost every day on the beach. We usually had a bat and a ball and some kelp for a wicket and spent most of our time together in the surf in conditions which are now normally “red flagged.” It was usually a balmy 55 to 60 degrees and how we survived that I don't know, but sometimes the posted temperature outside the North Bay swimming pool was up to 68 so we could really disport ourselves in what we considered blissful conditions. After all that I never became the great swimmer he did, but I do remember that in school swimming competitions he was well nigh unbeatable in his class.
This all led to an interest in advances in printing technology, and his expertise in this field he now uses to make the completed Old Scholars' Association Annual Report which we all enjoy so much, ready for publication. He travelled the world, picking up expertise on advanced techniques being used around the world and bringing it back to the U.K. In about 1970, Dick started his own printing equipment supply company to take advantage of the use of the quickly changing technology. Dick's success in this field allowed him to make his home in the Isle of Man, where he renovated his own Victorian house in Castletown, and found that Stan Jones's woodwork lessons came in handy. Boys of that era remember Stan's exhortation that we should be able to saw a piece of wood into two pieces and leave a portion of the guiding pencil mark on both sides of the cut! Dick will remember that, because after we had made the cut we used to pencil down each side again! (Wonder if Stan ever knew?) And Dick has an abiding compassion for people, of which we are all aware today. This compassion took a different direction after settling on Man, when he, with others, was instrumental in the establishment and funding of St. Bridget's Hospice on the island, and although he is now “hands off” that end of it he is still very interested in the Hospice's welfare and keeps a watchful eye on their computer operations.
I had always believed that the ascension to President of AOSA ought to be a recognition of service, and in that respect, Dick is a worthy recipient several times over. One has only to take a look at the annual AOSA publication in recent years to see how Dick, as acting publisher, and using his printing expertise, has wrought such great changes in its printed version to our benefit. Some years ago he took over as Membership Records’ Secretary and has kept a tight grip on the records, to the extent that now almost nobody may escape or get lost. And if that were not enough, Dick single handedly has developed the AOSA website which is now known world-wide, is being contacted by visitors these days at the rate of 200,000 "hits" per year and is applauded by all who discover it. I am personally very happy that in the early 1980s, when Gill Jackson and I started to locate our classmates, one of my first contacts was to the contemporary Dennis Printing Company in Scarborough to ask, “does anyone know where Dick is?” I had the answer in a matter of days. Dick Dennis, everybody's friend, follows a long line of Dennis family members who have served the school in many ways and there is no doubt that he will continue that record of service on our behalf in his own presidential year. Arthur Grainge, 1946-52 |
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As
with many other of our school relationships, we parted company for
almost 35 years and did not meet again until the 1980s. Being a seaside
boy Dick went on to satisfy a passion for marine matters by entering
Outward Bound Sea School at Aberdovey. But it was always known, or
expected perhaps, that he would eventually enter the family printing
company and to that end he went off to study the printing business at
the Manchester College of Printing Technology, then was called to do his
duty for Her Majesty for a couple of years in the Army. Although Dick
did go into commercial printing after his service, he never went back to
the Scarborough family business, instead finding a niche which suited
him in the supply of printing equipment to the industry.
These
days, although in full retirement from his old profession, Dick indulges
himself with his radio controlled model planes, gardening, looking
around historic buildings and several times a year he and his wife Freda
head off touring in their motorhome "on the mainland.” Of course
one of those tours is an almost annual visit to Ayton for the reunion,
where his vehicle usually becomes the HQ Bunker for members of our
65-year-old class. His hospitality is of the best, and has ranged from
“Euro Bap” sandwiches to oriental stir-frys. In addition to his
hobby activities, Dick's great interest in personal computers and the
World Wide Web has led him to form a company which designs and hosts
websites.