40th Birthday Community Dinner A Stunning Success

August 20, 2024

On Saturday 17 August almost 600 old scholars, parents, current and former staff, volunteers and friends of Trinity gathered in the Adelaide Convention Centre for an uplifting community dinner to celebrate the College’s 40th Birthday.

Festivities kicked off with a medley of ABBA songs and a high energy dance performance by cast members of the 2024 Whole College Musical – Mamma Mia! The students set the tone for a fantastic celebration and were followed by international cabaret royalty and old scholar Libby O’Donovan (OAM) - an alumnus from the Class of 1993, who injected real energy into the party with her performance of the Tina Turner hit Simply the Best followed by the Cyndi Lauper classic Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! all while being ably supported by the band All Soul’d Out that also includes a number of old scholars. The energetic performance had guests on their feet and dancing within minutes.

Social media accounts had plenty of content thanks to a number of photo booths, with a 360-spin camera capturing much of the fun. Guests also had the opportunity to reminisce as they wondered through an archival photo display as well as enjoying (in keeping with the birthday theme) the talents of some roaming balloon artists.

A particular special highlight of the evening was the presentation of the inaugural winners of the Trinity College Old Scholar Lighthouse Award. Established this year, the award seeks to acknowledge and celebrate the diverse talents and achievements (both professional and personal) of our past students. The award recognises significant contributions made by old scholars in their local or global community within their field of work including entrepreneurial, business or academic achievement, in community service or for their ability to provide inspiration to current and future students.

Inaugural recipients are Glenn Docherty (Class of 2001) for impact in the field of local leadership, Sheree Sullivan (Class of 1995) for impact in the field of entrepreneurship at a state and national level, The Reverend David MacGillivray (Class of 1996) for impact through living their faith in the Trinity community and Libby O'Donovan OAM (Class of 1993) for impact through the arts at a national and international level. Read their full citations here.

Guests also had the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets to win one of seven donated prizes. Over $5,000 was raised through raffle sales, all of which will go towards supporting the Trinity College Foundation Spirit of Trinity Fund that supports students in a tangible way to continue their schooling at Trinity College.

The evening was a stunning success and we thank all in the Trinity College community who supported the event!