"School Leavers" Dinner Down Under

[YellowRose]

Lex ~ lexdownunder, sent me this information and a couple of pix of this event. This is something that perhaps many in this country might want to start as a way of introducing youngsters to classic cars and Tbirds. Who knows the interest this could spark in young people in classic cars and Tbirds in particular. I gather that "School Leavers" would equate to our High School graduation. Here is what Lex said and a couple of pix.

"Just a couple of pics that I took this week of the TBird taking two couples to the School Leavers Dinner in Tassie. (On two separate nights) The dinner is a real big deal for the young school leavers & the idea is to be taken to the dinner in a classic car or hot rod. There were literally dozens of cars involved & all meet up on the river foreshore for photos etc. then all leave in a convoy to the school dinner. The convoy was awesome!!! Each car is photographed on arrival & the couples walk the red carpet to the dinner. I don't have the arrival photos yet....just a couple that I took myself."

Note that is Lex's beautiful Black Raven '59 Tbird in the pictures, the 2015 Squarebirds Calendar selection for the month of September!

[lexdownunder]

Ray, you were spot on about School Leavers. The Leavers Dinner marks the end of their high school years. Some schools in Tassie are 3 year high (year 10) & some 5 year high (year 12).
The lucky students are those at a 3 year high because they have a Leavers Dinner at the end of their third year then transfer to a 5 year high for the next two years & then have another Leavers Dinner at completion of their fifth year.
Year 10 students are 15 years old, year 12 students 17 years old.

In my two photos, the young girl Grace in red is year 12 so is 17.
Young Koby in blue is year 10 so is 15 years old.
I'm sure girls didn't look like that when I was at high school!!!!!

I found the amount of interest shown by the girls as well as the boys in classic cars outstanding. There was much more interest in classic cars & hot rods. There were the usual hotted up modern cars like in Fast & The Furious but not a lot of interest shown in them.

I found the whole Leavers Dinner experience amazing.
I think that it would be a big success wherever it is held.

Cheers
Lex

[YellowRose]

"School Leavers" Dinner Down Under

Lex, thank you for the explanation. It was as I figured. We, in this country, would be wise to borrow your "School Leavers" program from Down Under and institute it across our country and the world, for that matter. I see that it is not only the guys who have an interest but also the girls. There are a lot of women into classic cars and hot rods in this country. It would serve us well to take this idea and run with it! Thanks for telling me about it, Lex and the great pictures. If you get more, we can add to this.

BTW, I just put another order in for more Calendars. I should have them on Monday.

[lexdownunder]

"School Leavers" Dinner Down Under

The way the School Leavers works in Tasmania is that it is up to the student or parent to source out a classic car or hot rod. I believe they contact car clubs, friends with classics or place newspaper ads. I guess that car clubs could probably advise schools of what cars are available but I'm thinking it would be more fun for the students to do the "leg work" & source a car themselves.

How I became involved was merely by having my Tbird at a local garage for a small transmission job to be done. Apparently both the girls I took to the Leavers Dinner had heard about the Tbird from a friend of theirs that worked at the garage. When I went to pick up the Tbird after two days, they had left their contact phone numbers with the garage receptionist. It all just unfolded from there.
The whole Leavers thing is an awesome fun time!!!

Cheers
Lex