SYDNEY - If your idea of fun and entertainment includes good old fashioned dance music, top quality food and great company, then you wouldn't have been disappointed at the St Peter's College Old Boys Union NSW, fund raiser dinner dance at Castle Hill last Saturday night.
Add to that plenty of prizes and surprises and you have one of the most memorable evenings you can expect.

Old Peterite and well known entertainer Guinn Regal and his Night Shift provided the main music to dance the cares away while the one-man band of Irwie Coelho proved the revelation.
Standing and delivering without a pause, the talented Irwie's amazing array of music, including Spanish favourites, brought the crowd to the dance floor with calls for encore, reverbrating around the packed Castle Grand Pioneer Ballroom.

There was a fair sprinkling of other nationalities and old boys of different schools, all caught up in the magic of a nostalgic era, with the Peterites showing the rest how the best do it.
This year's dinner dance will go down as one of the best organised, from the excellent catering arrangement and attentive staff to non-stop dance and sing-a-long music, to top quality beverages available throughout the night.

Chef Rohan Gamage and his team deserve rounds of applause for providing a perfect backdrop to a grand evening where Senani Gunasekera proved a more than capable compere and auctioneer.

The evening also flagged fund raising for the St Peter's College, Colombo, Scholarship Fund and that it was a big success was due to the generosity of the 300 plus guests, one in particular lending his heart and purse on more than one occasion.

Signed bats by Asustralian captain Ricky Ponting, a framed picture of the world record-breaking Test partnership of Sri Lanka 's Mahela Jaywardena and Kumar Sangakkara, reputed wines, hotel accommadation and an air ticket were among the items auctioned, all easily fetching more than the reserved price.

Old Peterites Club president Gerard Velyuthan, his hard-working committee and their families, could be well pleased with their efforts of the past several months, which translated into a thoroughly-enjoyable evening for members and their guests.

The long list of sponsors - many of whom provided 'take home' gifts at the table - could also be proud that their patronage was well appreciated and their reputation enhanced by this night of nights.

The unique idea of labelling the specially auctioned bottles of red and white wines 2007 Blue White and Gold Peterite Shiraz and Peterite Chardonnay was a stroke of genius and is a collecter's item.

It underlined the lengths these Old Peterites go to enhance a special evening for their guests and echoes the refrain from their college anthem sung so lustily by the boys at the end: Keep the flag on high. - Lawrence Machado