In 1978, I was the year coordinator for the senior year 12 cohort at the high school where I taught. I was responsible for all things related to the extracurricular activities which involved the senior students. This included the overseeing of the arrangements of the Senior Formal. This night was a celebration of their time together at high school. Our school was one of the first to introduce these nights in the mid-1970s. Formal occasion like this had gone out of vogue in the 1960s when schools often had a ball to end the school year.
This Senior Formal was to be the school’s third such occasion. It was my desire along with that of the principal to make the organisation of the formal the responsibility of an elected committee of students with me as an advisor. The venue was decided. It was a function room in a leafy environment overlooking a pool and the Brisbane River.
A student dress code was applied to the evening. The gentlemen were required to wear a coat while there was no real need to insist on a dress code for the young ladies as they liked to dress up at any time. The local venue was picked to make it easier for parents to deliver and pick up their children and take them to a post-formal party. These parties slowly began to occur after formals. In the late twentieth century, these formal moved to city venues with students arriving in limos and even helicopters trying to outdo each other. They are now lavish events.
But, let me get back to our simple 1970s event. The contentious issue for the students was the meat for the main course of the dinner and not how they were to get to the formal. Because there was a large number of guests (around 180), the caterers wanted only one meat, lamb or turkey.
The word got around the year twelve student body about this debate. All of a sudden, in the senior meeting room, lots of posters appeared to champion the cause of lamb or turkey. This caused much excitement among the whole school population, teachers included. As the days went by, the number of posters grew. There were always lots of students in breaks around the room reading the latest offerings.
Below, I offer you a large sample of what was on offer.
Grooble for some gobble and it will be your last grooble.
Turkey brained people eat turkey.
Viva la roast lamb
Keep Australia beautiful; scrub turkey; eat lamb.
You know what you are eating when you eat lamb.
You are what you eat; don’t eat turkey.
Don’t grooble, gobble, gobble lamb.
Turkeys are for the birds; vote lamb.
Turkeys are stuffed.
Don’t be like a sheep to the slaughter; vote T.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Be one of the flock; SLAM LAMB.
Be a sheep’s best friend, EAT T.
Lamb’s not for EWE.
Don’t follow the common sheep’
Lamb’s is for EWE not for US.
Cheap sheep.
Eat turkey goblets.
Don’t pull the wool over your eyes.
Don’t be sheepish.
Don’t be foul, vote 1 for lamb.
Picture of a stylised turkey is followed by this question.
Do you want to look this basic?
The debate went on for some time with lots of funny comments being made in and out of the class room. In the end, following a discussion with the caterers, they agreed to provide both lamb and turkey alternatively at each table allowing the senior students to swap meals if they wished to do so. It all worked out well in the end.
At class reunions the great lamb/turkey debate is always a source of great memories and conversation.
