2018 Annual General Meeting

Upholding member and community accountability

As always, all friends of Oxford University are welcome at our Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The formal part of our AGM is relatively brief, but maintains our critical accountability to our members and to the community at large, as we will: present our financial accounts for public scrutiny; elect our new officers; and discuss our programme of events for 2018-2019.  The informal part of our AGM is the no less important: an opportunity to catch up and to enjoy one another’s company over dinner.

Date: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Time: 18h00
Place: Gezellig Restaurant, 337 Richmond Road, Westboro
Directions: Google; MapQuest; Bing Maps

We especially encourage recent graduates and prospective members to attend, to become involved and help shape our future activities.

2018 Croquet and Garden Party

Flamingoes not required

We will end our 2017-2018 season with our traditional croquet tournament and garden party.  The croquet is always characterised by more enthusiasm than skill, and there is usually little risk of a Queen of Hearts ordering anyone to be beheaded.  Guests and all friends of Oxford are welcome.

Date: Thursday, 06 September 2018 (rain or shine)
Time: 17h00 to 19h30 (croquet begins at 17h45)
Place: 15 Nesbitt Street, Ottawa
Directions: Google Maps; MapQuest; Bing Maps

We are grateful to Mike and Maria Stott for their ongoing generosity, as they once again open their home as the venue for the event.

We will provide sandwiches and traditional refreshments.  Accordingly, it would help us to have an advance sense of the number of attendees.  Please let us know if you plan to join us, by sending an e-mail to our Secretary Harry Corrin at ous.ottawa@gmail.com.

You should make cheques ($20.00 per person) payable to “Oxford Society, Ottawa”, and either mail them to our Treasurer Michael Stott (15 Nesbitt St, Ottawa ON  K2H 8C4) or hand them in at the registration table on the day.

Sunshine and Fellowship

A beautiful setting and a glorious day for our 2018 Garden Party

We could not have hoped for a more beautiful setting, better weather, or warmer camaraderie for our Garden Party, held at Earnscliffe, official residence of the UK High Commissioner to Canada.

With one-hundred sixty guests — including many alumni from our fellow British universities — this was easily our largest event in memory.

As our President David Sacks noted in his remarks, it was an extraordinarily cosmopolitan gathering.  The alumni present were drawn from the four corners of the globe, and were drawn together by a shared affection for our University and a shared sense of identity as its graduates.

We are enormously grateful to High Commissioner Susan Jane le Jeune d’Allegeershecque and her staff for their hospitality and kindness.

We hope she will consider welcoming us back to Earnscliffe next year, despite the improbably large quantities of Pimm’s we collectively consumed!

Garden Party at Earnscliffe

Our annual summer event returns to the grounds of the British High Commission

We are immensely excited that our annual Garden Party is returning to the beautiful grounds of Earnscliffe, official residence of the British High Commissioner to Canada.  We are grateful to the High Commissioner, Susan Jane le Jeune d’Allegeershecque, for hosting the event and for opening the gardens to us.

Earnscliffe is an official National Historic Site of Canada, and was home to our first Prime Minister, John A Macdonald.

We are especially pleased that the capacity of the grounds means that we are able to open our Garden Party to other British universities’ alumni in the National Capital Region.

Date: Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Time: from 17h30 to 19h30
Place: Earnscliffe, 140 Sussex Drive, Ottawa
Directions: Google Maps; MapQuest; Bing Maps

Cost: $25 per person
Dress: Business attire
Registration: Download form

Earnscliffe is one of Ottawa’s most storied sites.  However, as an active diplomatic establishment, its security measures are unavoidably strict, so it is not generally open to the public.  This year’s Garden Party will, therefore, be a rare setting for the alumni community to meet, to renew old friendships, and to make new ones.

The modest cost of the event will enable us to provide everyone with canapés, Pimms, and other refreshments.

Please note that no parking is available in the immediate area; attendees will need to make arrangements either to be dropped off or to park elsewhere and to walk to the site.  Friends and family of alumni are, as always, welcome.

To reserve places, please download, complete, and mail us a copy of the registration form, to reach us no later than 12 July 2018.

Address by the UK High Commissioner

Susan Jane le Jeune d’Allegeershecque spoke to a full house

We were delighted to welcome Susan Jane le Jeune d’Allegeershecque, the UK’s High Commissioner to Canada, to address our 2018 Annual Dinner.  Our venue at the Navy Officers’ Mess was filled to capacity for her speech.

Mrs le Jeune d’Allegeershecque traced how diplomacy has evolved over the centuries, from the balletic nineteenth century Congress of Vienna to the rough-and-tumble of the modern twenty-four hour news cycle.  Yet, she also discussed how radical changes to international affairs has reinforced rather than weakened the need for the human touch, to foster mutual understanding across cultures.

We are grateful to her for taking time to speak with our members, and for sharing her insights into contemporary diplomacy.

While we were of course very pleased by the enthusiasm of the response to our dinner, we regret having to disappoint late applicants.  We will do our best to increase the number of places at next year’s dinner.

Our Annual Dinner

Britain’s High Commissioner to Canada will address our annual dinner

Our winter dinner is far and away the largest annual gathering of Oxonians in the National Capital Region.  We are delighted that the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Canada, Susan Jane le Jeune d’Allegeershecque, will be our guest speaker for our January 2018 dinner.  She will discuss “the British situation”.

Date: Thursday, 11 January 2018
Time: 18h30 for 19h00
Place: Navy Officers’ Mess, 78 Lisgar Street, Ottawa
Directions: Google Maps; MapQuest; Bing Maps

The dinner is a lovely opportunity for recent graduates and long-time members to meet, to break bread together, and to celebrate our shared bond through our affection for Oxford.  Traditionally, most of our attendees have preferred to wear black tie for the evening, but this is entirely optional.

The cost of the dinner is $65 per person.  To reserve places, please download, complete, and mail us a copy of the registration form.  Please send an e-mail to Harry Corrin by 8 January 2018, to let him know that your registration is on the way.

We very much hope to see you there.

Annual General Meeting

A relaxed gathering over dinner

Our Annual General Meeting is a more relaxed gathering than the name might suggest.

Part of the meeting is to conduct essential organisational activities to maintain accountability to our members: receiving and scrutinising our financial statements for the past year; electing our officers for the new year; and setting our plans for upcoming activities.  However, the meeting is also an opportunity for us to sit down with one another over dinner, to meet and to welcome new members, and to catch up with returning members.

Date: Monday, 27 November 2017
Time: 18h00
Place: Arturo’s Restaurant, 94 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa
Directions: Google Maps; MapQuest; Bing Maps

We would be delighted to see any of our existing or prospective members at the meeting.

Annual Garden Party

On 8 September 2017

Our 2016-2017 season will end in spirited Oxonian style with our Annual Garden Party.  Pimms and other refreshments will be provided.  As always, guests and anyone interested in our group are welcome to attend.

Date: Friday, 8 September 2017 (rain or shine)
Time: 16h30 to 19h30 (croquet begins at 17h30)
Place: 15 Nesbitt Street, Ottawa
Directions: Google Maps; MapQuest; Bing Maps

We thank Mike and Maria Stott for their generosity in hosting this event at their home.

For catering purposes, we need to know the number of people attending, so please let us know if you plan to join us by sending an e-mail to our Secretary Harry Corrin at ous.ottawa@gmail.com.

You can make cheques ($15.00 for each person) payable to “Oxford Society, Ottawa”, and either mail it to our Treasurer Michael Stott (at 15 Nesbitt St, Ottawa ON  K2H 8C4) or hand it in at the registration table at the Annual Garden Party.

We look forward to seeing you at this festive end-of-summer event.

Boat Race Dinner

Celebrating the race with Cambridge

We were delighted to join our friends at the Cambridge Society of Ottawa at their annual Boat Race Dinner.

The first varsity Boat Race was rowed in 1829; it became an annual fixture between the two Universities in 1856, interrupted only by the First and Second World Wars.  The Women’s Boat Race was first rowed in 1927; it became an annual fixture in 1964.

This year, Oxford prevailed in the men’s race, and Cambridge in the women’s race.

Welcome!

Launch of our new web site

Welcome to our new home on the web!  It is a modest start, but we hope our web site will help more Oxonians and friends of Oxford University to become part of OUS Ottawa’s activities.  We are especially keen to welcome recent graduates and new arrivals to Canada’s National Capital Region.

If you are interested in joining OUS Ottawa, or just finding out more about our group, please feel free to contact us.