A huge question mark hangs over St. Joseph's College's 75th anniversary celebration because of the four-year sporting ban says the President of the Marist Brothers Old Pupil's Association Aumua Ming Leung Wai.

He said the event is the next big thing on their calendar but no decision has been made whether to hold celebrations or not.

"Next year is St Joseph’s College 75^th Anniversary. But with the four-year ban from all sports, I am not sure if we should have a celebration. But that depends on what MBOPA and the College decide," he said.

The ban has to do with the schools rugby final when St. Joseph's College students started a brawl and threw stones at the winning finalists bus.

Aumua said for the Marist centennial celebration, things could not have turned out better.

"We were happy the celebration went well and is finally over. Organising 18 different activities all taking place within one week is quite ambitious. Especially when all our members are volunteers who have their own full time job. So before the celebration, we committed everything to God by fasting. 

"God says that if we honour Him, He will honour us. God also says that unity commands the blessings. So we put our faith in God and worked together to ensure that all activities were carried out as per our implementation plans. Whilst there were hiccups, overall we were happy and returned all the glory to God."

The amount collected throughout their centennial celebration will go towards building two halls for Saint Joseph's College, Alafua and Marist Brothers Primary School at Mulivai.

"We praise God that the centennial was a resounding success in terms of strengthening our Marist Spirit, good attendance and amount of money raised. The attendance, especially by our members from overseas was overwhelming," he said. 

"We posed the question last year to them as to their preferred dates, hence the reason why had the celebration in July. We also waited until after Avele College concluded its centennial. As for funds raised, our treasurer is working with his team to finalise the financial report.

"A final number is yet to be determined but the number will be significant when compared to previous anniversaries. As stated from the outset, with the launch last year of our $100-A-Marist Registration to kickstart the centennial, funds will be applied to renovate the halls at both St Joseph’s College and Marist Brothers School, Mulivai. Any excess will be to help with salaries of our teachers."

Aumua's most touching moment of the celebration, not only for him but the Marist association was when Laauli Leuatea stood up from his table to congratulate Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who was getting a Marist Excellence Service Award. Laauli embraced Tuilaepa and gave him his ula. That gesture of love and reconciliation reflected the true essence of the Marist Spirit.

"I was also humbled by the selfless service displayed by our members. They did everything for our Marist Family without expecting any reward or recognition. Our Organising Committee worked tirelessly right through out. They were our waiters, security guards, cleaners, etc," he said.

"For those who performed at our music festival – they performed free of charge. They also paid their airfares to get here, like DJ Dave. I am just so humbled by it all. And I know that God will bless those who worked selflessly for the centennial."

He also wants to extended his gratitude to all their sponsors, especially their platinum sponsor Vodafone, gold sponsors (Taula, TV1, Pacific Ezy and SSAB) and other sponsors for the support.