Newsletter
for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and
Tobago, W.I.
Caracas,
14 July 2012 No.558
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Dear
Friends,
Again
a little push for the 100th year Anniversary celebration.
Also,
I have to inform you that I am having a little trouble with the files
so please bear with me if I send duplicate information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Limin'
and Dinin' in Trinidad
FROM:
Nigel Boos
Tuesday,
May 1, 2012 4:00 AM
Thanks
for the response, Roger.
So
glad that you enjoyed the video.
I
think it was great myself.
We're
having a mini-reunion in Ajax on May 4th with a number of the OB's
from MSB. Roti and Carib are the items of the day.
Wanna
come? Bring the family!
Details
available. Call me.
(By
the way, if you can do so, please send me the email address for
Christopher, your brother.) Thanks.
Nigel
(905)
426-8999
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On
2012-04-30, at 9:14 PM, Jean Chenault wrote:
Hi
Nigel,
Thanks
for sending "Limin' and Dinin' in Trinidad; I have been enjoying
it and also the other Trini links.
Absolutely
love the "Chinee" lady Wendy Siung.
Forwarded
it to my sister in Florida who forwarded it to her grandson in
Arizona who is doing a school report on Trinidad.
Never
did like Indian food very much but like the others.
My
sister described Callaloo as looking like pond scum and I have to
agree with her, but it sure tastes great.
Recently
discovered that a couple of Canadian O'Connor descendants (U. Des &
A. Yvonne) are living in our area and have had them over for family
gatherings.
A
whole bunch of them will be here in June when Erin (Dunbar) gets her
MD.
My
wife and I and our two sons are going to a wedding in Tobago this
July with a stopover in Trinidad.
I
am going to stay on a few more days at Asa Wright as I really enjoyed
my stay there the last time. Peter O'Connor's son Ryan is getting
married. I'm looking forward to it and seeing relatives that I
haven't seen in years.
I'm
sort of retired-work three days a week-that's enough to keep me out
of trouble.
My
wife retires at the end of this school year so I will be losing by
days at home by myself.
Attached
photo shows the four of us at a wedding last year –
Andrew,
Me, Geoffrey, Jean.
Best
to all.
Roger
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FW:
" O N E H U N D R E D Y E A R S "
Date:
10 January 2012 05:37
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
On
Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 6:28 PM,
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 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From:
mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Date:
Sun, 8 Jan 2012 20:56:23 +0000
My
Dear Brother Cornel, (A member of the circle/ Writers of the
Knights),
Thank
you for your positive reply on this matter, even though this is just
an idea, and must be approved by the upper circles of our group, I am
not in contact with the association in Trinidad, I can only rely on
Ladislao or Nigel with regards to this local chapter.
This
is where I stated peace amongst all brothers, we have been cut off
from many events,
1)
Because we do not live there?
2)
Sometimes I felt like no one cared for the boys who left the island,
thank God to Ladislao for allowing the Phoenix to once again rise
from the ashes, in the form of a Circular.
Many
of the guys in the association are my good friends.
Now
this year we must put aside all differences and work together as one
body, and not as individual groups, which we have been operating as,
for so many years.
At
this moment I can only wait to see, what the Greater Circle of the
Circular have to say, Ladislao, Nigel, Jon, Don, Art, Trevor, Bandit,
George, Clive, the upper circle is so big, I don't even know them
all, and of course Fr. Cuthbert, Fr. Odo & Fr. Augustine.
Then
again we have the choice to do nothing.
At
this point I would like to extend on behalf of the Club, our warm
wishes to the new management of the Association, and looking forward
to an open door relationship.
As
stated in a previous circular, Ladislao in now an honorary member of
the Abbey School Alumni Association of Trinidad, please keep him
informed, of what is happening in Trinidad for this 2012
Celebrations, did we get an invitation??
Are
there going to be representives of the Alumni present??
Only
though Ladislao, can we on the outside proceed to work hand in hand
on this joint mutual venture.
Wishing
all my brothers all the best of the new year.
Long
live the Realm, Long live our Secret, Sacred Circle, The Club.
Long
live the Mount.
Yours
faithfully, Glen McKoy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Date:
Sun, 8 Jan 2012 08:49:11 -0500
...
Once again an
"EXCELLENT
IDEA"
surfaces
...
According
to the Good Book (and it would be nice) "...
give and you will receive a thousandfold ..." I'm probably
misquoting some verse or another...
I
am sure the Good Sheppard at the Abbey on Mount St. Benedict could
use an injection of funds.
But
as a good return Gesture, we could receive access to that "Illusive
Archive of Photographs"
of "A
Lifetime of Memories"
of ALL
of the Alumni, in photographs, taken by our beloved Father Benedict,
at all events, sports and activities that took place at "The
Abbey School, Mount St. Benedict",
that WE
were ALL
part of.
I
don't know, maybe I am using the 'wrong' words, maybe, there are the
'correct' words
But:
"A Journey Begins with the First Step..."
How
I wish now I only purchased more and not just the ones of myself and
those of friends ..........AND, I also believe/feel, that a Plaque is
a great idea to mark an anniversary of "ONE
HUNDRED YEARS".
I
can see no reason, or should I say "No Reasonable Reason",
why "We", the Fruits" of The Abbey School Mount St
Benedict, could be denied this.
But
I am no authority on these matters, maybe our learned "Brother
Lawyers" may be able to shed some light, and possibly, find a
path that would lead to this?
I
Love you All, my Brothers, Have a Great New Year, Packed with
Beautiful Memories and Good Health.
Cornel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
From:
mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Date:
Thu, 5 Jan 2012 14:07:58 +0000
Sarkis,
Mi Hermano,
What
a collection of history. I knew many of the faces, but many I don't
know. Some of the older brothers may know all the faces??, Thank
you,
Funny
eh!, how we can get almost anything, anywhere in this world, and we
still can't get one single photo album from the Abbey School, of all
the great events the students took part in. I could remember Voosh,
always taking lots of photos and for so many years. I do hope one
day, that these collections will appear thru the proper channels.
I
believe that with the 100th year Celebrations coming up in just a few
months, we must officially part take, in some form or the other, just
out of respect if you need a reason.
Now
what I am suggesting is just an idea, in order to receive we must
give.
This
is the perfect year as an Entire Alumni, to make an offering to the
Church. In making this offering we will have to have a private
meeting with the Father Abbot.
In
this meeting, we can only hope, some of our questions will be
addressed, as we make our humble donation of whatever we can collect.
I will give US$100, for the cause, the celebration. If others can
give only $10, there are so many of us, our donations should be well
received. This is our year to make peace with all our brothers. Glen
Evelyn, had an idea of a Plaque, which could be placed on the Castle,
or down by the church. Still a good idea, but the only way, any of
these ideas will happen, is thru the good Father on the hill. Our
roads lead to him. I hope all are reading the Circular, this is my
feedback.
Best
regards, have a good year, mi amigos,
Adios,
Glen McKoy.
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Photos:
12LK0001RCHFAM,
Chenault family
12LK6301TWRGRP,
Union Tower Lunch
12LK6299TWRGRP,
Union
Tower Lunch
12LK4200AFR,
Andres Freytez
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