Good things come in the tide
Local
The oldest member of Brighton Catholic parish community, Milton Howard, will turn 102 next month – making him older than the parish which will celebrate its centenary in March next year.
A resident of Calvary Oaklands, Milton receives weekly communion from parish volunteers and attends Mass celebrated by Fr Michael Musyoka Kyumu at the aged care home every second month.
The former media executive and journalist is still sharp as a tack and when he heard the Brighton parish was celebrating its centenary in 2025, it prompted him to write about memories of his family’s involvement in the seaside church school and Mercy convent in the 1950s.
“For our family, good things seemed to come in the tide at Brighton,” Milton wrote.
“When our young family, with four children, came home to Brighton, we felt like migrants landing back where we left. After nine years of living in four states, for the perfect place to live, work and play – we had found it!
“The cosy little church school seemed the place for a new start for us.
“We felt welcome on Good Friday morning when I was handed a spade and rake and told I was helping the Sisters clean up the place for Easter, as was the parish custom. At about 11 o’clock a group of young nuns came out with coffee and hot cross buns.
“In the afternoon the parish priest Fr (William) Collins presented a simple devotional Easter service with the sea muttering thanks through the trees.
“We’d found a little house to live in at Marion, I found a new job in television, inherited my boss’ old car and we started a new life there. We were living like kings but we were still broke from our travels.
“The school community was like heaven brought down to earth, less ritual, more informal, fun and learning about other people. The small population enabled closer contact with the teachers and it was like a country school.”
Milton recalled the school growing as migrants came into the area and he was full of praise for the Mercy Sisters and their teaching methods, although he admitted that some of their long names had to be simplified to ‘Sr Black Elastic or Sr Mutterer’.
“Those young nuns were ahead of their time,” he wrote.
“The head Sister (we called her the Flying Nun because she was always buzzing around Adelaide) had no qualms about borrowing a council tractor to grade the rough paddock in the school yard, her vestments and wooden rosary beads flapping in the sea breeze.
“As one of my sophisticated sons reported, some of those nuns were ‘pretty switched on cookies’.
“Most of them were country girls and were learning from life at St Teresa’s.
“The pride and joy of my new life was when they asked me to coach the school baseball team, sponsored by the Glenelg Baseball Club. I took the part of the old-time ball player and bullied them in big league style. We had a lot of fun and won the premiership two years straight.
“The Detroit Tigers team sent a box of baseballs, gloves, caps and year books for the boys. We were in the big league!”
Milton said working bees and fundraising events were common as the church school was “pretty run down”.
“Weatherboard buildings served faithfully as local church and school…it was very simple, like a glorified barn.
“But they were special days because of the friendly atmosphere, the little convent and the social interaction.”
Brighton parish will celebrate its centenary Mass on Sunday March 16.
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