I realise it has been nearly six years since I created this website and, although there have been a few messages posted in the forum, I haven't written anything very substantial in that time.
When I started this website idea in 2009, not long after the fortieth anniversary of finishing my schooling and attending a reunion of my former classmates, I hadn't had a vast experience in website design and construction. I suspect that the original site had most of the essential features I was looking for—a place to download old yearbooks and photographic memories, to read and discuss our recollections of our days at school and to keep people informed of events in the lives of our school mates—essentially a keepsake of memorabilia. I am generally pleased that the site has attacted a couple of thousand visits; the "hits" on the articles attest to that fact. Daramalan Class of ’69 features nicely at Google. But, as I wrote in my earlier article Field of Dreams, it's one thing to build something and hope people will come, it's another thing to invest time and energy into promoting, marketing and maintaining that which one has constructed.
I certainly never expected that Daramalan Class of ’69 would attract visitors from all around the world—from India, Poland, Russia, the USA—but once a website finds its way into the internet search engines, websites get visits from the most unexpected quarters. It's unfortunate, in this time of heightened international terrorism threats, not all visits are welcome, however. There is a constant need for vigilance to ensure that websites are secure and free from attacks but even the best-available defences are no match against those whose sole desire is to undermine and wreck others' enjoyment.
Daramalan Class of ’69 is a personal website; it's not a business and the world will not come to an end if the site disappears from the internet. The site has little artistic, literary or financial value. So why do people target sites like these? Well, there are mongrels in the world who do target independently-operated websites like this one and we do have to on our guard. As I said, despite all the precautions that I had taken to protect this site from harm, the site was successfully attacked and ruined and I've spent that past three days rebuilding it and, I hope, make it more secure in future. That's the end of the bad news and now for more pleasant things.
Brian Hingerty
Some of you may remember Brian as one of the teachers at Daramalan in 1968 who taught French and, along with three other priests, wrote the famous "gang of four" letter to The Canberra Times about their views on contraception. Last Friday I received an email that read:
I have only just discovered this site...quite by accident. It brought many memories flooding back.
Brian Hingerty (Tel. 0404978184)
PS I still live in the Canberra area.
It was after reading this email that I looked at the website that I have neglected for such a long time and discovered, to my dismay and embarrassment, that the site was no longer working.
I telephoned him and we talked for half-an-hour or thereabouts.
After leaving Daramalan at the end of 1968, Brian went to the ANU and later went on to become president of the ANU Choral Society [SCUNA] which had its 50th Anniversary dinner and concert a couple of years ago. After his stint at the ANU he went on to teach at Canberra Girls Grammar School for 20 years followed by another 18 years teaching at Marist Brothers College in Canberra. He now lives in in Williamsdale (you know that little hamlet on the Canberra/NSW border on the Monaro Highway when you're driving south to Cooma).
As a side note, after writing my article about the "gang of four" those years ago, I contacted Michael Fallon—at the time he was the parish priest at Kippax—to see if he would object to me writing a story of the event. Barry Brundell (another of those who co-authored that letter to the newspaper) is alive, a priest, and writes theological treatises. John Hanrahan left the priesthood soon after 1968, went to Melbourne, became a writer and died in 1997.
I'm glad I telephoned Brian. I let him know that, although the Daramalan Class of ’69 site was off-the-air, it would be restored to order "on the third day".
… and on the third day
The site has been restored. I used the opportunity to give the site a thorough face-lift, updated most of the underlying software and replaced one or two features. It's a curious thing that every website I've built—and I must have built hundreds—has been different. Differerent challenges, different designs, different features. Every time I build a website there's always something new to learn.
Some of the "furniture" was damaged in the move—I lost the original captions that accompanied the photos that Michael Backhouse sent to me—but I'm not going to try to restore everything all at once. Daramalan Class of ’69 has been a labour of love. I was tempted to abandon this project but I just couldn't bring myself to say adieu.
So, there you have it.