Clare and Dan Garland
The paths of Dan Garland and Clare Taylor first crossed during a tutorial for a history unit at UNE in 2005. On the Crusades, as Dan recalls.
“Then, I didn’t see Clare again until the following year, when we were doing a European history unit together,” says Dan. “And by the end of that unit we were going out.”
Clare was a “townie” studying Arts/Law. Dan was a resident of Robb College undertaking a Bachelor of Arts. The pair had developed a habit of meeting regularly in Dixson Library, working together and talking.
“We both worked pretty hard,” Clare says. “My first real memory of Dan is in that European history unit, when we had to do presentations to the tutorial group.”
By the time Dan graduated with his Bachelor’s degree and a Graduate Diploma of Education in 2007, the couple were talking not of the past but the future. And Clare remembers them casually discussing how lovely a wedding reception venue Booloominbah would be during Dan’s graduation dinner in its hallowed halls.
“It’s obviously a beautiful place, where a lot of special things had happened for us at university,” says Clare. “One of my first ever fresher events was at Bool – a party and cinema night.”
Dan remembers the annual Carols by Candelight and a Robb College South Court dinner held in Booloominbah.
After graduation, he accepted a teaching position in his hometown of Scone, NSW, and the couple became engaged. Celebrating their union back where they first met, and in Clare’s hometown, seemed only fitting.
“I remember when we came back to Armidale to organise the wedding and book the venue; it was July 2008,” says Dan. “It was a really cold day, and we were talking to the coordinator inside Bool, and all of a sudden it started snowing. Beyond the windows was a fairyland.”
It was decidedly different on their wedding day in November 2009.
“It was a heatwave, one of the hottest November days on record,” says Clare. Still, the occasion brought together many of their college and university friends for a wonderful celebration.
“UNE has been a big part of our lives,” says Dan, who recently visited UNE’s Armidale campus for a careers summit. He and Clare took the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and to introduce UNE to their daughter Audrey, 14, and son Renwick, 12.
Image: L-R: Renwick, Clare, Dan and Audrey Garland.
“It’s a lot quieter than it was 20 years ago, but it felt very nostalgic coming back,” says Clare.
“We showed the kids where we studied, where we met and all the key places. It was really nice,” says Dan. “Our daughter said she’d quite like to study at UNE when she finishes school.”
Until then, Dan will be promoting the merits of UNE to students of Scone Grammar School, where he now works as a careers advisor. “Hopefully I can convince some of our kids to consider studying at UNE. It provides the more intimate rural study experience in a city with great cultural and sporting opportunities. It certainly worked out well for us.”
