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.
---------------------------------------------------------------.
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
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.
yours Faithfully Glen McKoy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------.
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------.
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
From:
dgodda1@lsu.edu
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)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------.
Ladislao
Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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
