Kaleen 10th anniversary

20 July 2002

It has been ten years since Peter Wilson and Glen Campbell started the Kaleen branch of the Peter Morton Academy of Judo Jujitsu Karate. To celebrate this anniversary, past and present members were invited to a dinner at the Hotel Heritage in Narrabundah, ACT.

Several old photographs and items of memorabilia, showing some of the Kaleen branch and Academy history, were displayed in the foyer of the dining room.

During the night, home movies, supplied from Soke Morton’s personal collection, ran in the background. These movies were from the 1960s and showed rare footage of early Academy life.

Tributes and awards were handed out, speeches were made and jokes flowed. Then events took place that were to make this night extra special.

During the dinner celebrations, Soke Morton officially declared David Rowley as Principal and Edward Scharrer as Deputy Principal of the Academy.

Soke Morton declared that these two would have full control of the direction of the Academy’s development and that he would still be available as an advisor.

Not to be overshadowed, Peter Wilson’s night was made memorable when Frog announced his promotion to Yondan (4th Dan Black Belt). To top this off, Soke Morton also presented Peter with Shihan Valmet’s Yondan belt. Before his death, Shihan Valmet requested that Frog give his belt to someone worthy of it; someone who gives time and effort to the Academy as he himself had done. This was an emotional moment for Peter and that night will leave a lasting memory.