Saturday, 11 August 2012

Circular No 562





Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 11 August 2012 No.562
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Dear Friends,
Again a little push for the 100th year Anniversary celebration.
What do you think old boys should do during the week before and after??
Maybe only Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Fwd: FW: ABBEY SCHOOL AND "OUR" MSB CURRENT STATE 1
FROM: HUDSONMCKOY@aol.com
Friday, July 27, 2012 5:55 AM
THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION FOR DISCUSSION:
1) I believe: We need to create something monumental to remember us forever
2) Possibly: A brass plaque with the names of the boys who attended the Abbey School
3) Also: An accompanying prayer e.g. The Sermon On The Mount
4) It could be: Placed on a prominent wall e.g. the Basketball Court Wall in perpetuity
5) We will need: Permission from all the surviving students, staff, affiliates, the Abbot
6) We will need funding: From donations, fundraising, sponsors, churches, etc...
7) Finally: We will need to discuss the feasibility and strategy of such a project.
I'm open for your thoughts, positive feedback, constructive criticism and prayers.
Your Mount Brother,
Hudson McKoy 1969-1974
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My Dear George,
After reading this I would think the worst, however I know that this is not the end.
I do look forward to hearing from Mr. Ladislao in a Circular in due course on our status.
1) The physical state is dead and that was not our doing, it was the church decision.
2) The spiritual state is still alive yes and is growing in a different way, are you aware that some of our children, are in contact with each other?  Some are even married to each other?  Many work together?  Well these are some small connections that have been made amongst our membership. This is the direction I see where more work must be done, we have been writing at different times, of accomplishments of our brothers, children and grandchildren, this is different for the Club and I do encourage more of this, in this realm our Spiritual state may never really die.
3) The social state, well it depends on the individual, some of us wanted to know everyone on the mount, that's just some people, outgoing and like connecting with others, some people were very quiet, shy, kept to themselves, some just hated being there, some had only a couple of friends and never did socialize much on the mount, these brothers who kept to themselves and did not mingle, I do not expect them to want to make this connection now, anyhow the day boys do not share the same passion that boarders who lived up there do. Well if about 2000 boys went to the school, we can account for only about 200 to 300 dead or alive, these are the facts the rest is history.
4) The emotional state, this is the only thing that can break what we have, and a few have been trying hard to do same for years. These are the few who really hated the mount but will keep in contact to disrupt, by always making negative remarks, even calling other names, their only objective is to break something that is good, and they don`t like seeing anything that is positive about the mount. Some brothers just wanted to say HELLO to an old friend not to read about someone else insecurity, this is when you read, please delete me from your list I do not have time to argue about something that happened 30-40 years ago, and they are right.
Thank you George for your quest to understand, in this quest you will find pain and joy.
Many of us who are still here saw this what you wrote a long time ago, however we continue to try to keep the faith of what we have, it is so easy to turn our back and walk away from it all, well I wanted to walk away a few times, thanks to Ladislao and a few other brothers, they made this impossible for me to do, ha! ha!
Cheers my brothers, we have something special here and I wish we could share this with the whole Alumni, but we don`t live in a perfect world so I remain segregated to only those I can trust
Welcome to the Club Mi Amigos, Long live our Realm, long live the Mount, Long live the Club, 
yours Faithfully Glen McKoy.
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From: amickiew@att.net
Subject: ABBEY SCHOOL AND "OUR" MSB CURRENT STATE
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 06:57:51 -0500
My take and interpretation from the responses that I received to my recent note to y’all:
1. THE PHYSICAL STATE IS DEAD AND CANNOT BE RESURRECTED
2. THE SPIRITUAL STATE IS STILL ALIVE AMONG THE ALUMNI BUT ON A PATH OF EVENTUAL, UNPREVENTABLE DEMISE AND FINAL DEATH
3. THE SOCIAL STATE VARIES DRASTICALLY FROM “I WANT TO KNOW AND KEEP ME POSTED” TO “DELETE ME FROM YOUR FUTURE E-MAILS AS I AM NOT INTERESTED ANYMORE IN THE ABBEY SCHOOL NOR THE MOUNT ”
4. THE EMOTIONAL STATE RANGES FROM EXCITEMENT TO NON-EXISTENT
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, reflections and answers.
Pax Vobiscum,
George
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FROM: Cornel de Freitas
Saturday, August 11, 2012 9:12 AM
Dear Bandit, George, Kazim (hope you are progressing wonderfully) and other MSB Brothers and you too my brother Glen ...
First, I wholeheartedly agree with what you've said. (and,)
Secondly; I seek to offend no one, but would like to put in my 'six-pence' worth...
... and thank you to all of my other brothers that have had the 'brazen' to voice their opinions ...
As I sit on the illusive sidelines, reading all of the various letters flying back and forth, I find it difficult to understand why some felt the need to use harsh words, which are probably the result/caused by total frustration.
We are each of us entitled to our opinion, and through all of this try to find some common ground and (with all these heads/very brilliant minds) try to come up with a reasonable and viable solution.
As I've seen it mentioned; 'we' did not 'attend' the 'Monastery', we helped support it, but it is The Abbey School Mount St. Benedict that helped us and nurtured us and brought us forward through good times, bad times happy times, rough times, and sometimes made us feel proud.
Not just because we went there, but through our participation in every aspect of our school life, each one of us brought a kind of 'Glory' to that establishment.
Sure there are some 'bad' memories for some of us - okay ~ maybe each of us had some bad memories.
But everything, all of it played a part in moulding us into the individuals we are today.
One should try to remind oneself, gentlemen, that we have all been privileged (in my opinion) to have attended at The Abbey School.
I know my parents sent me there with the best intentions, and it was not an easy choice to send their son so far from home (in my case and I am sure others)
Our parents thought it necessary to send us there and for reasons I am sure, to get a well rounded education and have had to pay a considerable amount of money to support us and the school.
I am sure it wasn't 'cheap.
For whatever reasons Our beloved Abbey School was closed.
But I can't help but feel - to myself -That was My School ...!
I paid my dues as did all of us.
Having stated how "I" feel, there is one other after thought.
To the best of my knowledge, "The Abbey School" already had a school ring with the school crest on it, the same as the one on our school blazers (Jackets).
A gold ring bearing the school crest.
I remember ordering one but don't remember ever receiving it.
Isn't there a way to inquire around and find out who owns one (it looked like the badge issued to the 'Prefects')
That would be a start...?
I am just a little curious about something .... can you indulge me for a second or two ...
All those photographs used in this so called book for the 100th.Anniversary.
Do they belong to the Monastery - the Abbot.
All of those pictures that father Benedict took of us over the years.
Were not many of them of us?
School pictures, Class pictures, pictures of all kinds of events in our lives there?
Pictures of plays, Sports day pictures of us marching on the sports field: St. Lawrence [Green and White] (my house), St. Anthony [Red and White] and St. Francis - Black, Gold and White.
Do I (we) have the right to ask for copies?
...like I said, I am just curious.
An Abbey School Boy Forever,
Sincerely,
Cornel A. G. de Freitas
Class of 1964
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Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 09:48:03 -0600
Dear Brother Vincent:
With my brother Christian, we’ve been attempting to locate you for sometime now.
Fortunately, both Salvador Coscarart and Nigel Boos had your coordinates and kindly passed them on to us.
I just wanted to say hello and tell you that after all these years, we still remember your kindness and all your help during our stay at Mount Saint Benedict.
As you remember, some students like, Nigel, Csaba, Urbano, my brothers, Salvador and Ladislao called it the “jail on the hill”.
Because, I was such a well behaved, great student, I considered the place more like a “lovely country club”.
As a bajan would say, “You all know, I’m only makin sport”.
What I remember most is all those sports events you organized for us.
Belonging to St. Francis team with Urbano was a great experience, especially because we were the best at football, cricket, swimming, track, and volley ball and always beat up on those other lesser teams like St. Anthony and St. Lawrence that my brothers Christian and Brian belonged to.
One of these days on my way to Miami to visit my daughter, I would like to make a turn through Tampa and visit you.
Perhaps, if Christian is free I’ll bring him with me.
All the best,
Don G
Donald A. Goddard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
225.578.4538 (office)
225.975.0222 (cellular)
dgodda1@lsu.edu
(Unfortunately Bro. Vincent has been unavailable by the Circular all these years, the editor)
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On 2012-03-05, at 12:18 PM, Don Goddard wrote:
Father Harold:
All my children and 90% of friends are on Facebook. I prefer to stay off. If someone wants to know about me, I just tell them to google “Donald A. Goddard”. My shipwreck booklet is enjoyable to read, especially if you have insomnia.
Because you were a monk at Mount, perhaps you’ll want to get to know a few of the infamous “mount boys,” including my two brothers, I’ve copied here. The only thing is that these guys are much older by about 10 to 15 years than you are. The person I’ve been searching for and who was one of the most admired and respected persons at Mount during my time, was Brother Vincent. The last I heard, he was living in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Don maintains that very enjoyable Mount website. http://abbeyschoolmtstbenedict2012circulars.blogspot.com/
I look forward to your visit to Baton Rouge.
All the best,
Don G.
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Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
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Photos:
12LK5796PMOGRP, Peter Morvay, Kenrick Allum and Winston Cabello
59LK0010LKEJAV, Ladislao Kertesz Javelin certificate
12LK6313TWRGRP, Robert Date, Ladislao Kertesz and Don Mitchell
56RB0002e6SPORTSFIELD, Sports field








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