Henry Bodman may be, in his own words, “a bit flustered at the moment” as Brisbane planning hits the final furlong, but one of the many projects he’s working on looks like being a beauty. It's billed at present under the working title, ‘The Souvenir Program’, which, under a much sexier brand, will be sold to reunionistas for a modest price in order to cover production costs.

Amongst many other features, the program will include the full no-holds-barred story of how ASOPA came into being – a fascinating yarn of intrigue and outrage at the batch of civilians who, without any military experience, were made half Colonels in a unit that was one of the cushiest little numbers in World War 2.

Dr Dick Pearse, former ASOPA education lecturer, looks at the institution from a staff perspective; there’s a profile of Ken McKinnon’s splendid career from Oodnadatta school teacher to chairman of the Press Council via a little gig in PNG; ‘We came from far and wide’ looks at the many roads that led to Brisvegas tonight; ‘Ours was the year that was’ is seeking to provide a complete list for each ASOPA class (a wonderful and complex research project in itself) and, the real highlight, the story of each Class – as Henry puts it “a study in contrasting approaches”.

There will also be a full program of the night’s festivities. In all, a feast of reading for anyone who was at ASOPA or is interested in its era. Onya, Henry, yours is really a very significant project.