Newsletter for alumni of The
Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas,
26 September 2012 No.568 extra, extra
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MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS OF
ABBEY SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION,
TOGETHER WITH
INVITED ALUMNI
HELD ON THE 21ST MAY, 2012
AT THE OFFICES OF J.D. SELLIER + CO.
AT 129/131 ABERCROMBY STREET,
PORT-OF-SPAIN
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PRESENT: Joseph
Berment-McDowald
Christopher Knowles
Dennis Adrian Gurley
Ladislao Kertesz
ALSO PRESENT: Peter Sammy – Treasurer
Gary Matthews
Enrique
Bonaparte
Joseph
Habib
Michael
D’Ornellas
Winston
Kerry
REGRETS: James
Samaroo - Secretary
1. The Convenor of the meeting,
Dennis Gurley, called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. and gave a brief
introduction of the Association, in particular that it was a non-profit association
incorporated on the 22nd March, 2010 under the Companies Act and
that the Directors were himself, Joseph Berment-McDowald, Ladislao Kertesz and
Christopher Knowles, who were the first members of the Association. He then invited Joseph Berment-McDowald, as
President of the Association, to chair the meeting and Mr. Berment-McDowald took
the chair.
2. Mr. Berment-McDowald pointed out
that Mr. Samaroo, Secretary of the Association, had sent his regrets and that
Mr. Peter Sammy was the Treasurer. He
informed the meeting that the purpose of this meeting was to put some flesh on
the skeleton structure of the Association which was a statutory structure under
the Companies Act. In particular,
although the Articles of Incorporation stated the objects, which were all
charitable in nature, it was a question of what activities the association
would become involved in as there was a general feeling (righty so) that the Association
was doing nothing. Mr. Berment-McDowald
gave a history of the attempts made by past students to become involved in
various activities and to assist. The
general feeling was that the Abbot was likely to object to the Association
“interfering” and that it might be necessary to establish some goodwill with
the Abbot before attempting to get involved in any project or matter.
3. Michael “Specks” D’Ornellas
reported that some years ago Gary Matthews had suggested the establishment of a
museum and he (Michael) was quite excited about the idea and felt that it was
not likely to be considered controversial by the Abbot and it might give the Association
an opportunity to do something useful in preserving the artifacts of the
Benedictine Order at Mount St. Benedict and perhaps also providing an archive
for matters of interest to the Alumni of the Abbey School, but that the
experience of the Benedictine monks (several
examples of which were provided by Mr. Berment-McDowald) have been such that
the Order was apprehensive about partnering with third parties.
Indeed, reference was made to the attempts
made by the Abbot to block the use of the words “Abbey School” in the name of
the Association. Mr. Peter Sammy read a
letter from the Abbot to J.D. Sellier + Co. which was copied to the Registrar
General objecting to the use of the name.
4. Various potential activities were
discussed and in particular the rehabilitation of the tennis courts and pool,
however, it was pointed out that this matter was subject to some controversy
involving the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago which was the subject of an
enquiry/audit. Joseph Habib indicated
that he was friendly with someone (Bob) at the Sports Company and he could make
an enquiry as to the status of that audit and the possibility of advancing the
renovation and rehabilitation. .
After some discussion it was agreed that Gary
Matthews and Michael D’Ornellas would pursue this matter, co-opting such other
members as they may think fit. They would develop a plan of action for the
organising/set-up of the museum and propose the plan to the Abbot. Considering
that 2012 is the 100 anniversary of the Monastery, this project would be timely
5. It was agreed that it was
necessary to inject new life into the association and as such Joseph Habib was invited to join the Board
(he being a representative of the 1975-1980 era). Considering also that James Samaroo operated
a betting pool business and had little time to devote to the Association, his
retirement would be accepted and Gary Matthews would be appointed Secretary in
his place.
6. Ladislao Kertesz expressed some
measure of frustration in the operation of the Association and endorsed the
need to breathe new life into it. He
felt that it was critical that the Association should have a live web page
where people could interact with each other and the Association, and that there
should be representatives of the different age groups in order that the Association
might be considered relevant to all. He
suggested that there should be a contact person for each grouping, whether by
age, nationality or otherwise.
7. Enrique Bonaparte indicated that
he knew someone who develops web pages and that he would pursue this matter but
he needed to be supplied with information with regard to the content of the web
page.
8. Ladislao Kertesz also suggested
that there should be a “wall” where the Alumni would have their names (and
dates) engraved in commemoration of the time spent at the Abbey School.
9. Peter Sammy expressed concern that
he was the sole repository of the funds of the Association and suggested that a
bank account should be established. He would provide an account of the funds
held.
10. There being no further business,
the Chairman called the meeting to a close at 6:30 p.m.
………………………..
Confirmed……………………..
Recording
Secretary Chairman
Date : ,
2012
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