Circular No 557

INTRODUCTION TO BOARDING SCHOOL - By Nigel Boos

I was enrolled as a boarder at the Abbey School, Mount Saint Benedict, in 1955. This was a mountain-topped Benedictine School attached to the famous Benedictine Monastery in the Northern Range of Hills in Trinidad.

 

My brother, Anthony, had to travel with my parents to England to have an operation when he was about 8 years of age. Not knowing what to do with me, as there was no-one in the island with whom I could be left, my folks decided to send me to the Mount, to continue my education during their 3-month absence from Trinidad.

On arrival, I ran into a cousin of mine, Chris Date, who I had last seen some years before when his family lived "down South", and who, having left, existed then only in my memory. He approached me and I instantly recognized him. 

"Eh, eh, boy! So you comin' to Mount now?"

"Yeah. But I don't think I know anyone here, so I'm not sure what I should do".

"So, what class you goin' into?"

"I dunno. They 'ent tell me yet"

"Well, let me ask you for myself. How much mathematics have you done?"

Now, I had just left Presentation College in San Fernando, after only one term in Form 1, and I wasn't too sure what I'd done, to tell the truth. Most of my time in 1B had been spent studying History, Geography, some English, Spanish and Woodworking, where, as I remember now, all I ever did was to try to form huge letters of the alphabet, to the same size and with equal curves, much like the fonts we use today and which are universally accessible on any computer. Thus, I learned how to carefully write: :

A A A  B B B  C C C  D D D

and so on. But I really didn't have a clue what Chris was asking me. 

View of the Abbey at Mt St Benedict from the Abbey School, 2003

"Have you done fractions?"

"Of course I have."

And decimals?"

"Eh heh", I responded, in a low whisper, fingers crossed, as I was trying for my guardian angels not to hear my lie.

View of St. Augustine from Mt St. Benedict’s Abbey School

"And what about quadratics?", he then asked, using a word I had never heard, and which, I supposed, recognized the superior mathematical talents of a Chartered Accountant.

"Yeah, we started those last term." I gulped as I lied through my teeth.

"Well, man, I think you should be in my class, Form 3, and I'm going to tell Bobo about you." (Bobo turned out to be our loved and feared Fr. Bernard, as I was to come to learn.) And off he went to find the Principal. All I can remember thinking as Christopher disappeared into a ground floor office was that, somehow, by the grace of Almighty God, I had jumped two years of College, and that, instead of continuing in Form 1, as I should have done, ministering spirits had descended upon Mt. St. Benedict, and that the Archangel Christopher had been sent to relieve me of 2 extra years of study. I would leave the Mount, in due course, 2 years ahead of the normal age.

(“Bobo” suffered from a strange twist in the middle of his body, which caused him to sort of stand forward at the belly while he leaned backward at the shoulders. He had a long neck and looked very much like a typical Trinidadian “clean-necked fowl”. Bobo was a good headmaster, and he was also known to paddle many a backside that needed to be disciplined.)

Fantastic!

So said, so done!

I found myself, the following day, as the youngest boy in Form 3, in the imposing company of intellectual giants like George ("Pud") Laquis and Kristof de Marothy, and for the next 3 years, through Forms 3, 4 and 5, I struggled to keep up with the pack.

Serves me right, I guess.

I lied my way into 3 years of trouble.

When the 1959 "O" Level results were published in the Trinidad Guardian, as was to be expected, Laquis and de Marothy topped the list with First Class Certificates. and I, together with a few more of the guys, managed to collect a Second Class Certificate. 

Here is the Class of 1959:

Nigel P Boos Ronald Charles Christopher W. Date

C. De Marothy Alex De Verteuil Ronald Gokool (R.I.P.)

Harry A. Guildner Michael C. Herrera Bernard L. Johnson

Claude J. L. Johnson George Laquis Gerald J. Pampellone

Owen M. Serrette

I spent 5 years at MSB, very happy and very fulfilling years they were too. I made many friends and I grew up as a young man, becoming quite independent and self-assertive along the way.

My involvement with the Abbey School 1^st Trinidad Scout Troop was an important milestone in my life. I began to appreciate the value of togetherness and the need to offer oneself in service to others, for a higher purpose. Really, deep down, I began to consider whether I had a vocation to the Catholic priesthood.

My Form 5 Class in 1960 : 1. Louis Lacour, 2. Jeff Golding, 3. Matias von Fedak,

4. Christopher Knowles, 5. David Pampellone, 6. Michael King (R.I.P.)

7, Anthony Johnson, 8. Richard Galt, 9, Ladislao Kertesz, et al.

I was very much influenced by the mere presence of so many priests, who religiously attended to our many needs vis-à-vis education, sports, family life, adventure, Scouting, woodwork crafts, etc. I suppose the feeling slowly grew on me that I should perhaps consider the priesthood,

Fr. “Scrootz” Ildefons, our Scout Master was a wonderful chap. Tall, rugged and very practical, with that broad Dutch accent, he became a father figure to many of us, and we were proud to be numbered among his Scouts. He taught woodwork as well as Latin, and perhaps a few more subjects, but his relationship with the boys was superb. We enjoyed marching around the School on a Sunday morning after Mass, all decked out in our uniforms, with no place to go but round the College and perhaps down the hill to the Monastery, much to the surprise of the pilgrims who regularly ventured up the hill to get their cars blessed or to seek spiritual guidance from the many priests who lived there.

Fr. Ildefons and the 2^nd Mt. St. Benedict Scout Troop, 1956

 Fr. Cuthbert at Mass, during a Scout Camp 1959

Fr. Adelbert van Duin was Abbot in my day, but there were many others who played a part in our physical, intellectual and spiritual formation - Fr. Augustine (“Rughead” as we called him, Fr. Eugene (“Mozart”), Fr. Benedict (“”Voosh” to us boys), Br. Bruno who tended the chickens and had some wonderful dogs, Bro. John, the tailor who had a caged pet canary, which he taught to whistle (he also helped me to sew my semaphore flags for my First Class Semaphore Badge); Bro. Camillus (“Swa”) who looked after the honeybees, Br. Vincent, who hung out with us boys and was the resident Sports Master. And so on. Wonderful men, all of them, and a great inspiration to us boys.

Fr. Abbot blessing a new car (1956)

 

  Fr. Augustine O.S.B. (2001)

a.k.a. "Rughead"

 

Bro. Vincent O.S.B. (1957)

a.k.a. "BruhVince"

        

                                                         

Fr. Benedict was a different sort of character altogether.

I first met Fr. Benedict when I was 12 years of age, and I was immediately captivated. Practically every Priest I’d ever met had been a Dutchman – so much so, that I considered Holland merely as a place from which every Priest in the world must have come. And of course, they were all celibate, so that, it came as a minor shock to my system some years later when I actually met a Dutch WOMAN to realize that they must have known about the birds and the bees as well.

But here was this Dutchman whose whole being seemed to be centered on entertaining us boys with tales of the fantastic. To him, nature seemed to present continuous opportunities to marvel and to believe in the power of the Almighty. “The heavens declare your greatness, O God…” But his enthusiasm was catching. His entire body was caught up in the delight of the moment, as he spoke to us about the latest experiment in which he was involved. For us Form 3 boys, Fr. Benedict was unique, without doubt. He would throw up his hands in the air as he described how one of his plans was developing, and with eyes twinkling with the enjoyment of sharing, carry us with him into the realms of his vivid imagination.

I have no idea where he got the nickname “Voosh”. But Voosh he was. Never “Fr. Benedict”. We all understood and recognized nicknames at the Mount. This art of finding just the right mix of words to describe one’s friends was supremely met and never equaled to such a degree as at Mt. St. Benedict’s Abbey School. The names run through my head now, and in spite of age and generally failing capacities, I wonder whatever became of “Turtle-Back”, “Swami”, “Nylon”, “Mac”, “Flat-Top”, “Gabby”, “Koki-Joe”, “Box-Head”, “Small Box-Head”, “Pampy”, “Pupsy”, and so on and so on. The good Fathers weren’t immune from the name calling either, as those who remember “Bobo”, “Rughead”, “Duck” and “Mozart” would verify. It was with pleasure therefore, when I recently heard from Ladislao Kertesz asking me whether I was the same Nigel Boos with whom he had gone to school at MSB. Ahhh - the wonders of technology! Aaahhh, the wonders of e-mail! Now I’m beginning to pick up traces of friends and classmates lost in the mists of years and the destruction of time. 

                       

 

1954

2001 

 

2006

Images of Fr. Benedict (“Voosh”)

But back to Voosh. He opened our young minds up to the possibilities of science and exposed us to the limitations of only our minds. No project was too difficult to him. No idea too stupid. He would conceive of projects quite ridiculous to some, but fascinating in the extreme, and so the legends have developed as to what this good Priest had done in his time.

Fr. Gregory O.S.B. (1960) a.k.a. “Duck” would supervise the refectory. Once he clouted me for showing the boys on my table what I’d found when slicing a loaf of bread – a dental fitting with false teeth attached. He threw me out of the “Ref” and I promptly walked over to the baker to show him, false teeth in hand. ‘Eh, eh”, said he, “Ah so glad yuh fin’ it, oui. Ah din’ know whey ah put it. Buh t’anks anyway.” And, handing me a brand new loaf of bread, he departed with, “Look, take dis bread fuh yuhself.”

A very different man was Br. Bruno. Quiet, reserved, and prayerful, he never sought our attention, never seemed to be involved with us boys. But he was always friendly and helpful, if we sought his help. He looked after the chickens, as well as a few dogs, and I believe, was also involved with the bottling of the famous Mt. St. Benedict “PAX” honey.

Bro. Bruno O.S.B. (1956) raised chickens and their wonderful eggs for our breakfast table. He was a quiet man, who didn’t interact much with us boys. He also raised a few good-looking Alsatian dogs.

A tall, very dark-skinned man, with a tough external appearance, Brother Camillus (“Swa”) was the beekeeper. He looked after a number of hives, which sat, one alongside the rest, about 50 in all, along two metal pipes, overlooking the lush St. Augustine valley and the Central Plain of Trinidad. We never rook any interest in Bro. Swa’s work, mainly because we feared him, because we feared the bees, and because we loved the mangoes for which he was also responsible.

Mt. St. Benedict boasted a number of mango trees, and had some varieties we had never seen before in Trinidad. One in particular was called “Mango Bellyful”, because of its very large size. But there were others as well, and although their names elude me now, yet their juices and sugary succulence still remain fond memories of those days, so long ago.

Br. Camillus O.S.B. (1959), and his beehives, the source of “PAX” honey.

I once had a most unusual experience (related elsewhere) with these hives.

But woe betide any boy caught stealing a mango! You’d better run, because it was rumoured that “Swa” could outrun any boy and that he’d promptly lead the offender into “Bobo”s” office for a caning. In spite of these rumors, I personally do not recall this ever happening, at any time.

The Benedictine community at Mt. St. Benedict had slowly dwindled,

by 2004, to a mere shadow of its former size.

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Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 7 July 2012 No.557

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Dear Friends,

Again, a little push for the 100th year Anniversary celebration.

Sorry folks, but I did not succeed in getting you a program for the celebration.

It is in the hand of a committee that runs the Monastery, that is the answer that Fr. Abbot gave us during my visit together with Winston Ramsahai to MSB.

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FROM: kazim abasali

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 6:19 PM

To all my Mount Brothers,

Just some thoughts to share with you in celebration of our 100th year anniversary of Mount Saint Benedict Trinidad.

This is a personal reflection of the road I have travelled and what purpose it has served me. And where does this leave me in the overall scheme of things.

So here goes. First of all, as someone who feels much affection for our Mount Boys fraternity, I am so very happy to serve the group in whatever ways I can with my skills.

I have sought to build on the mammoth work that Ladislao Kertesz, Don Mitchell, Nigel Boos, Arthur Knaggs, Jon Golding, Glen McKoy and all the past and present Executive of the Alumni have done for us.

It is a very humbling experience to witness the years of commitment you all have afforded the group with your precious time, resources, and dedication.

It inspires me to do what I do to support the group, for I am standing on the shoulders of you giants.

So my contributing is a way of saying thank you to my “hero brothers” who have kept the Mount Flag flying high.

You make us proud and my heartfelt appreciation to all of you.

This year 2012 I will like to celebrate with you and your families in whatever ways we can.

We are now at a time in our lives where we are witness to two generations growing up – our children and grandchildren.

We are leaving our legacy to coming generations.

What will be written of us? Mount Boys what is our overall legacy as a group? And what is our own personal legacy to our family and to ourselves?

My suggestions for 2012 - our Mount Saint Benedict 100th year Anniversary - is to do what we can in our own unique ways to commemorate this occasion.

Wherever we are in the world, let us gather together our Mount Brothers, especially with our families, and continue the trend of reuniting and getting together as we have been doing over the years.

Bringing together family is significant, for the coming generations are the ones we sacrificed for with our life’s work, who we helped nurtured, as we now pass over the baton.

Recently, I was successful in acquiring my US citizenship.

I will be sworn in as a US citizen in mid May, and I immediately apply for my US passport paying extra fees to expedite the process.

I am going to Toronto, Canada in mid June to do some creative work with a musical act there, as well as work on a documentary.

It would love for us all Mount Boys up there to get together and have a 100th year Mount Saint Benedict Reunion of our own:

An event for us and our families to enjoy in a relaxed atmosphere.

In addition, Ladislao is visiting Trinidad (from Friday 18th May to Wednesday 23rd May) while Don is there.

Again it would be nice to see how many of the Boys and their families can do a get-together.

We do not have to make it formal.

Just find a place, invite everyone, and who can contribute in any way to make the event memorable is what it is all about.

And my friend Jon Golding shared with me that he will be visiting Trinidad in October.

So, I feel another reuniting and get-together could be organized, for that is the month that the monks came to Trinidad and took up residence, (what I read on the Mount website).

Concerning the idea of a Church Mass, we can ask the Mount priests to give a mass on our behalf to celebrate the occasion.

We can pay for the Mass to be held, as is done all the time when someone wants a Mass for any reason once the date is reserved.

And once we have the date to hold the Mass, we can then invite all the Mount Boys and their families to attend, and even have a family day.

Everyone can bring food and drinks and have a picnic together.

Lastly, what a fitting tribute as our legacy to the coming generations, we could set up a Foundation to support our Mount Boys who have emergency needs, and for any charities to which we want to contribute.

The funding of the Foundation can be done with fundraisers, whether it is barbeques, raffles, concerts, whatever we can do to build a fund.

And then we can look to our financial professionals in our group (like Jon Golding and Shaun Gianetti) to have the money – this capital - be wisely invested and managed.

This Foundation is going to be in our name and will be a fitting legacy.

We may not be able to do something sizeable on our own, however, as a group, we can surely make a huge impact together with all our fundraising efforts.

These are my thoughts of celebrating 100 years of Mount Saint Benedict in 2012, by getting together all over the world wherever we are, especially with family:

For we are leaving our legacy to the coming generations – our children and grandchildren.

With much love to you all……Kazim Abasali

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From: Nigel Boos <nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca>

Date: 10 January 2012 14:09

Subject: O N E H U N D R E D Y E A R S

Laz,

I am addressing this email to you, because I'm not too sure who else to send it to, after the "recent" changes in the administration of the ASAA. Please send it on to whoever is now in charge.

2012 marks, as I understand it, 100 years of history of Mt. St. Benedict, and I'm sure that all the Old Boys of the Abbey School would like to know what is being planned to mark the occasion.

I have had a number of Canada-based Old Boys calling me to find out what they can do to help, and I'm merely passing on their question.

Since nothing has been announced, so far, may I suggest that each of us Old Boys should write a few thoughts as to what we can / should do to mark the 100th Anniversary.

Here are a few thoughts on the subject, which have so far crossed my desk.

1. The Abbey School has existed as an important outreach of the Benedictine Abbey, between 1944 - 1985. Some 1300+ boys have passed through the doors of the Abbey School and, according to our records, 110 have died. We are spread across a number of countries and many have made significant contributions to society.

2. In recognition of this landmark year, and to memorialize the occasion, can we agree to follow an agenda which can be set up by the local administration? Such an agenda could be developed in discussion with Fr. Abbott, and we can respectfully request to be included in the plans being set in place by the monks themselves. (Who is our local administration anyway?)

3. In addition, perhaps we can define one day this year, where we can all try to get together in the countries where we now live, with our families and other Old Boys of the Abbey School, for an Old Boys Reunion? Photographs of each occasion can be sent through to you, as a central point of contact. It would also be nice if a document could be prepared to be signed by each participant of the various Reunion Parties, and these can be submitted to Fr. Abbott, to be either buried or perhaps to be enclosed in a vault somewhere at MSB, as a time capsule.

4. There has already been some discussion between ourselves, as to the possibility of accessing the archived photographs of Fr. Benedict (R.I.P.) and publishing them in a booklet, which can be offered for sale at the Mount, for the benefit of the monastery. What a great idea this is! In this connection, may I recommend the services of www.blurb.com in developing a number of books of photographs? I anticipate a cost of about $USD 40.00 per book and an eventual selling price of perhaps USD $120.00. Books should be ordered in advance and paid for up-front. There will still be a need for someone of us to actually prepare the pictures and submitting them to blurb-com for printing. (Perhaps Kazim Abasali might help with this?)

5. A memorial plaque can be set up as a historical mark, at the monastery itself. Perhaps we can contribute towards the cost of that.

6. Sometime this year, on a date selected by the Benedictines, a Memorial Mass should be held at MSB, to which we should all be invited, and in this respect, a newspaper advertisement could be prepared by an established advertising agency.

7. How about making a donation towards a collection of new Mass vestments for the Benedictines? This idea can be offered to Fr. Abbott, and he can decide whether he would appreciate an effort such as this, from us all. I would be happy to look into costs at this end.

8. At each and every occasion whenever we as a group get together, I would ask that someone accept the responsibility to gather and forward to me the contact information of each participant, for the sake of updating our "Old Boy" database. Such information should include Name, Mailing Address, email address, telephone number, the last year of attendance at the Abbey School and a recent photograph of each Old Boy.

That's it for now, Laz.

Best wishes fr 2012.

Nigel

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On 2012-01-09, at 11:37 PM, kazim abasali wrote:

Hi Cornel,

Blessings of Peace, Love, Joy, Prosperity and Harmony for the New Year 2012 to you my friend and all the "Boys" and their families.

What a wonderful group we belong to, that share and make the journey of life a lot more enjoyable.

You know reading of one another's life pursuits and milestones in their lives is such an inspiration to me personally. And having Ladislao, Nigel, Don and all who contribute, even in the smallest ways, all add to make this experience much more enriching for us all.

So I thank you for your inclusion in the group. And I appreciate all of your contributions to the group as a whole. What you bring to the group is important and keeps the dialogue and the memories alive.

For sure I know Ladislao is thankful for all the contribution by us all. And it keeps us united as a group as we share our life's experience. I love serving the "Boys" and feel that all of us who do so feel the love of the time we once shared on the Mount as school boys. And the kid in us all is still living that experience of brotherhood that we developed as children.

Having shared this, I would like to know of any plans we have for our beloved Mount this year. What are we looking towards doing as a Celebration and a Reunion? And when exactly is this Event being planned for? Giving us a date and time-frame to develop our ideas, and to contribute in whatever ways we can as a group. This is very exciting for us and we look forward to indeed a very successful outcome.

So, I am sending my thoughts and prayers to the group, the Executive, and the event organizers for harmonious relations and involvement that continues to bring us closer together as we have grown to become.

Blessings to all...............

Kazim

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On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 6:28 PM,

Cornel de Freitas <corneldefreitas@hotmail.com> wrote:

My dear Brother Kazim,

One Thousand pardons for not including you, a keen and most important member of an "Elite" group of brothers.

Please forgive my oversight.

I went back and checked and realized (sadly) that I did not include you in my e~mail sent to most of the other brothers on my list, that I forwarded the message titled: "ONE HUNDRED YEARS".

It was indeed an oversight on my part, and I humbly ask your forgiveness...

I 'Strongly' believe that WE ARE a 'Very Special Group' of Brothers, to the exclusion of none.

Many years ago, when I first came to Canada, I was engaged in a conversation at a function with a group of people, many of whom were from the islands, and amongst that group were a number from Trinidad and Tobago.

Of course, my 'english accent' made me sound very much like a Trinidadian, and I was asked: " Where did you go to school?"

I, very proudly proclaimed: "I attended The Abbey School, Mount St. Benedict."

The response was immediate: "Oh, you went to the school of the 'Elite'!"

I paused, and thought about that response, and realized that we all dressed the same on our regular school days. On special feast days we wore our dress uniform, Burgundy Blazer and White long pants (later upgraded to 'Charcoal Grey - a great improvement).

Whenever we had to make a trip into Port of Spain for 'whatever' reason, we had to wear white shirt and white pants, and people in the street would ask us if we dropped into a pail of milk).

But, we were all equal, we were all 'like brothers' and behaved in many ways like a large family of brothers ...!

I, myself, ( and I would Like to believe that most of us) we would look out for our 'new little brothers', when they started coming to The Abbey School, joining our ever growing Family of Brothers.

I remember a telephone conversation I was having, speaking to one of my 'Old Boy Brothers', (this was after Ladislao 'found me') and while engaged in that conversation, the person (another 'old Brother') was telling me about times and experiences while he attended The Abbey School.

He wanted to share a particular story with me.

He said to me: "I remember, when I was just a little boy, I returned to school after visiting with my family in St. Lucia, I would go looking for one of the older boys.

I was so very sad and I missed my Mom and Dad so much.

When I found him, I would sit next to him, I would tell him how sad I was feeling and I would cry.

He would put his arm around me and comfort me and he made me feel safe.

I could trust him, he was like a big brother to me. "(This Old Boy's name is Patrick Deveaux)

He continued to tell me that the only thing he could remember about that older boy was that he wore thick glasses and was from Aruba.

I remembered him, and I then said to him:

"Patrick, that was me, I am the older boy you speak of, the one that comforted you when you returned to school after a trip home to visit your family."

By that time he had me in tears... because I remembered that scared little boy.

You see, I used to be scared too!

After Ladislao Kertesz sent me that first E~mail, ( I was quite surprised) it read:

"Cornel, thank GOD we've found you!"

At first I didn't realize what a profound effect this e~mail would have on me.

You see, the day I left The Abbey School, a door was closed in my life.

I left The Abbey School to return home for the last time, and I remember thinking that I would never be in contact with those who had been a very important part of my life, would be lost for ever.

There are no words that could ever express my deep sadness for many months.

My brothers had found me and that door that I thought closed and ended that part of my life was reopened and it was a very happy day for me.

I guess one could say I was reborn again.

You see, Kazim, we were all part of something really special, as that person said to me, we are an Elite group of boys, we attended an Elite school for boys.

The Abbey School, Mount St. Benedict, Tunapuna, Trinidad, W.I..

Below is the letter/e~mail I sent out, which I missed sending to you...

GOD bless,

Cornel.

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Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,

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Photos:

12LK6291UNIONGRP,Don Mitchell and group

12LK6292UNIONGRP, Michael D´ornellas and Anthony Lucky

12LK6293UNIONGRP, Union lunch and group

1955+INTRO+TO+BOARD+SCHOOL,Nigel Boos