Circular No 725

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

Caracas, 26 September 2015 No. 725

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Dear Friends, 

Here is an issue dedicated to Terrence Ferreira, athlete and photographer.

Boyhood Memories, Boyhood's Treasures - Terrence Ferreira 1960

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FROM: Nigel Boos  

Saturday, August 27, 2011 3:47 PM

I'm sure many of us still have, hidden beneath our socks where no-one else can see them, those little memories of our days at school, when we first proved to ourselves that we were good at sports, able to compete, able to outdo our peers and to win! 

They are and always will be, our boyhood treasures. 

They instantly recall a moment in time when we met a challenge, participated to the best of our ability and succeeded.

They provide a reason for personal satisfaction, a level of pride in achievement and a memory of friends and classmates of long ago.

They represent an individual achievement, a target met and conquered, an objective realized.

They give us, every few years or so, when we unexpectedly run across them under our better socks, a sudden shock, as faces, names and events quickly run across our minds, and we smile again, wondering whatever happened to each of our friends of years long gone.

They're really not much.

Just little blocks of wood, painted black or brown, affixed to which are small circular tinned olive wreaths silvered or bronzed, and in the centre of which are little circular medallions depicting athletes in one or other sport, running, jumping, throwing a javelin, hurdling or playing tennis.

Others depict the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Family and they each carry a little plaque inscribed "ABBEY SCHOOL, TRINIDAD".

No! They're not much, really. They don't cost much.

They're weathered and worn, tired emblems, memories of our past victories.

No one else but ourselves will ever understand how we worked for them, practiced hard, sweated and trained

How we worried about our competition, how immune we felt as we stood at the starting line, and finally, our sense of elation as we breasted the tape ahead of the field.

(Personal Note: I never breasted the tape ahead of anyone else. I was a hopeless athlete). 

But they are our individual boyhood treasures.

I think I still have one or two (not for athletics) under my socks.

At our June 2006 Reunion at Rotilicious Restaurant in Ajax, Ontario, Terrence Ferreira presented a box containing his own boyhood treasures, memories of life at the Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict.

We had heard that there was a plan afoot to utilize a small room at the Mount, perhaps in the original "Pax" honey factory, to place items collected from or donated by the Old Boys to form a sort of Museum of our life at the school, for visitors to admire.

It has always been my intention to ship these treasures down to Trinidad, to the ASAA management, for inclusion in the proposed Museum.

But nothing more has ever been heard about the project and I can assume only that it's now on the back-burner, unless and until "things change" and it becomes a reality.

Terrence's treasures also include a wonderful collection of loose medals proclaiming his personal athletic prowess. 

He had, as a little fellow, witnessed the Athletics Champion of 1960, Richard "Turtle Back" Galt, winning the Senior Victor Ludorum, as he stood directly behind him among the Abbey School boys.

A few moments later, he himself won the Midget Division Victor Ludorum.

Five years after his Victor Ludorum win, Terrence, now in Form 5, captained the MSB Touring Team to Guyana, where his dad dutifully kept clippings of the team's successes and Terrence's own achievements.

Since we're talking here about Boyhood Treasures, aren't these the kinds of memories one would keep tucked away in privacy, to remind us of the fact that one day . . . . long ago . . .we actually did these things.

But thanks to Mr. Ferreira (T's dad) we have these little memories to make us too, feel proud.

Terrence's Treasures also include his scout shirt, his scarf, his scout belt, his arm patches, his First Class Scout Badges, and his Catholic Scout Prayer Book.

Ps. The photos that accompanied the letter cannot be sent due to the low resolution, please rescan at a 500kb per item, EDITOR

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By Tom Naughton

Mercer County Community College New Jersey

Terry Ferreira grew up working at his family’s bicycle shop in New Amsterdam, near his country’s psychiatric hospital.

No one could have predicted the events that followed:

that almost a half a century later he would return to Guyana, with a bicycle, and proceed on a journey through the Americas, the States, and finally Canada, to help end the stigma of mental illness.

Terry’s journey began on a back porch in New Jersey, where a friend told him about his daughter’s struggle with bipolar illness. …..

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Another of the family:  Stephen Ferreira

Field Consultant

Personal Information:                                   Education:

Date of Birth: 1953                                      Mechanical Engineer Diploma

Industrial Training:

·  WHMIS

·  H2S Alive - PITS

·  Second Line BOP Ticket - PITS

·  Transportation of Hazardous goods

·  Drilling Information Management System

·  St. John's Ambulance First Aid

·  Camco Safety Valve Training

·  OSCO Well Control

·  Offshore Survival Certificate

Employment History:

1989 - Present Ayers Resource Consultants Ltd.

Position: Wellsite Supervisor

1991 - 1992                                                  Camco Ltd.

Position: Completion Specialist

1978 - 1990                                                  Amoco Trinidad Oil Company.

Position: Drilling Supervisor

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Roti night

Nigel P. Boos <nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca>

Saturday, February 14, 2009 4:35:30 PM

To:oats@rogers.com,

OK. We'll try again, when you get back.

Do give Vince my best regards.

And do take some pictures while you're with him, for the record.

Thanks. We'll miss you.

Nigel

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On 14-Feb-09, at 3:35 PM, Ron Ferreira wrote:

Hi Nigel,

            Thanks for the invite.

I am in Orlando for the next few months trying to escape the deep freeze.

Will try and visit Brother Vincent since we were close for the short time he was there after I arrived.

Hope everything is fine with you & yours.

Ron

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

Subject: Roti night

To: "Ferreira Ron" <oats@rogers.com>

Received: Saturday, February 14, 2009, 4:08 AM

Hello, Ron,

Would you like to join a few of us in Ajax for a roti on Friday evening,February 20th?

We'd love to have you join us, and hope you can make it.

If you can come, I’ll give you the location and time.

(Terrence is coming, so perhaps you can come together???)

Nigel Boos

MSB Class of '60

95 Warwick Ave.,

Ajax, ON L1Z 1L5

CANADA

Ph: (905) 426-8999

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From :  "David E. Bratt MD, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies" <dbratt@trinidad.net>

Subject :  Brother "Vincent"

Date :  Sun, 22 Sep 2002 17:58:53 -0400

Ladislao,

Thanks for the memories of one of the nicest men I have ever met. 

I will never forget what he did for me my first day at Mount.

As I recall it was a cool breezy Saturday night, school had opened the week before but I had arrived late because of the "Asian flu".

Old boys will remember the lonliness of their first night. 

I was standing on the curb just outside the Prep A classroom, facing the volley ball court.

For some reason there was no movie that night.

Everyone and their brother, and how many brother pairs have there been at Mount, was running around and having a great time.

"Brother Vincent", as usual surrounded by a gaggle of talking, laughing boys, was sitting down opposite me when he looked up and noticed I was alone (and about to bus' a cry).

He called out to me to come over.

I did not move, I was so intimidated by all of those happy, smiling faces.

He then told someone, I think it was Edmund Lange, to go over to me and bring me over to the group.

As I came over he moved aside, smiled and I can still see that smile, and motioned to me to sit down at his side.

I can't recall joining in with the old talk but every now and then he would turn and include me in the conversation.

The loneliness subsided for a little while.

What he did was pure kindness.

Nothing else.

He didn't have to do it.

He could just have smiled across the court and gone about his business and that would have been plenty.

He took the extra step and I have never forgotten that.

David

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz  Kertesz11@yahoo.com

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Photos:

Bandit p44 The Early Times

99HD0001HDEGRP, De Cambra and friends

99HD0002HDEGRP, De Cambra and friends

60TF0010TFEPODIUM, Terrence Ferreira receiving trophy

60RG0010RGAPODIUM, Richard Galt receiving trophy