Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School,
Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 21 November 2015 No. 733
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Dear
Friends,
Emails follow.
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Glen Mckoy <mckoy43glen@hotmail.com>
Oct 12 at 2:38 AM
My Brother & Friend, Sir Joe Berment, (Chairman: Abbey School
Alumni, Trinidad).
Thank you for sharing this email with us.
So glad to see, some movements are happening again on our dear
Mount St. Benedict.
It is so wonderful, to read this news from the Fr. Abbot.
We are at his mercy, as he remains the protector & keeper
of our Castle.
We look forward to hearing more, of this positive and future
development.
It is also good to see the young people who are taking pride in
the area.
Sports, is where we all
developed on the Mount.
A good place to start. Cheers.
Please Thank & let Fr. Abbot know, that he has our entire
Alumni behind him, just waiting to be accessed in whatever way, we can be of
assistance, within our means. Time is limited & precious, united we
stand. God bless you my brother, keep the fire burning.
Best Regards
Glen.
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Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2015 01:06:36 +0000
From: bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com
Gentlemen,
I say that we must congratulate the Abbot and community on his
incredible persuasiveness in accomplishing what I know Fr. Cuthbert and Fr. Odo
(deceased) had tried to with the water supply for at least 40 years and also
their insightful generous sense of neighbourliness in formally making the
football field accessible to the people of the village.
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Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2015 00:10:08 -0700
18 October 02:40
The
sound of silence. An Invisible Tribe - Thank you for seeking, Cheers Glen.
14 October 05:50
Forgot
it
14 October 03:12
Sir
George why the silence ?
10 October 04:39
Sir
George, a few had the exact same dream. Sir Arthur Knaggs, Sir Nigel Boos, Sir Ladislao Kertesz, Sir David Decastro, Sir Jon Golding, ID Mitch Sir Don, the writers of the knights, many
others, the real silent knights, Sir Kazim, myself, no one ever asked any of
us, to do what we do, did you know that, we all had a dream, and we knew what
to do, seriously, no one ever talked about it before, until you asked, the
past, present & future my brother, the dreamer, read the story again, it
was written many moons ago. Sir Trevor Evelyn, he is a great dreamer also & Sir Phil.
They always pray for our Collective Peace. The First Circle. Cheers Glen.
8 October 01:59
Keep
on dreaming Sir George, that's what start me writing a few years ago, but ah eh
getting no more dreams, Cheers Glen.
7 October 18:08
...."dream"...
7 October 15:33
AB/MSB
- Do you ever dream about the mount in the past, present or future? Last night
had one set sometime in the future about some kind of celebration...could not
recognize anyone.
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Nov 18 at 2:53 PM
Nigel
Good question. I wonder too. I can’t remember experiencing any
discrimination against others who weren’t Catholic, but perhaps I was too blind
to see. Maybe others can correct me on this.
At the same time, I too have a question:
Does anyone remember ever having a Catechism Class?
Was the Catechism of the day (I think it was called the “Penny
Catechism”) even on the required book list for us students?
In fact, does anyone remember ever attending a Spiritual Retreat?
If so, when? Where?
I do remember attending one retreat; actually, I guess it was
when I was in Form 5 in 1960, when Fr. Peter Nicholson C.S.Sp. presented it to
us?
5 years at MSB. One (1) retreat!
Poor record, I’d say. (If anyone can correct this impression, I’d
appreciate it, and I’ll swallow my words.)
Nigel
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Nov 18 at 3:57 PM
Yeah, good question.
I cannot remember any non-catholics at Mount, quite homogenous.
I think even the personnel were catholic and all teachers.
At home we would play with a few Protestants.
After Mount I attended a public boy-girl school with mainly
non-catholic, Hernhutter, Protestant, Luther, maybe some Jews.
But we were not confronted with religion at that school.
On my first job, feminist women and headons, no religion.
Oh boy, did I miss you guys then. I think I am not the only one
with lack of preparation for this non-religious environment?
Catechism? Yes I got it in prep school in Surinam.
Why are you on earth?
I am on earth to serve God and therefore go to heaven.
First time I saw retreat was when some brother stayed in the bush
at MSB for some weeks.
They said he had doubts for his future at the monastery, so he
did it for soul-searching.
That was new for me. Now I see popular feminists do it. Ha ha.
Have fun you guys.
Lots of bad stuff going on in France.
Getting close bye, watching tv all day.
The website of Daily Mail give a lot of good pictures/video.
Or Live Leak with stuff not shown on news.
Best wishes
Jan Koenraadt.
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gyuris <gyuris@yahoo.com>
Good question
I suspect not too many, ...if any...
I would think being a baptized Catholic was a requirement to
attend a Catholic boarding school run by a strict monastic order, wasn't it?
Also it would be best in order to avoid any potential problems
and /or allegations of discrimination.
Religious homogeneity is always one way to avoid those kinds of
issues.
Perhaps it was voluntarily relaxed (or legally mandated?) later
on in the interest of enrolling more students?
Anybody know?
Attila Gyuris
Old boy 1964-1969
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From: GEORGE MICKIEWICZ [mailto:amickiew@att.net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 7:41 AM
Subject: I Wonder...How Many Non-Catholics
Attended Our School?
This question came to mind in lieu of all the religious related
wars that have occurred in the past and are taking place now……Never personally
experienced any religious related animosities nor other negative issues while
at the Mount from 1956 till 1962.
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Something
from Circular No. 62 the first of year 2003
Remember, those with check books, it is 2003!!!. Those who do not
write checks, no problem, cash is accepted everywhere and the date is not a
matter of importance except those going to or in Europe. Those with no cash
in/out of the bank should not bother with the above warning.
Just as I did last year I am going to try to recall one of the
yearly events that happened at the Mount, I recall the large grasshoppers that
arrived in the evening during January every year; these were green with orange
coloured, size of a hand. We used to kick them once they settled on the ground
and run to avoid being jumped. I always found them rather disgusting because
you never knew where they would land. There were those that would try to hold
them by the hind legs (Goddards?) and in the process get cut with the sharp leg
barbs. It is interesting that they would arrive by nightfall and next day they
would disappear, I suppose they looked for the lights. The invasion lasted
about three days.
Maybe someone else has observed these creatures and would
confirm???.
In my last Circular I included my Terminal Report of December
1955, and from your answers, no one had a better one!!!. Now I am including the
Receipts for that period, maybe this would satisfy those that wanted to know
the cost of tuition at the most expensive school of the island. The Receipt
consisted of three pieces of paper, so here they are.
In those days the USD was 4.00 Bolivars to the USD and 2.00
Bolivars to the TT dollar. So doing calculus, Fr. Paul would have been proud;
the TT Dollar was 2.00 to the USD.
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Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Nov 13 at 12:08 PM
Good luck, George.
I handed over my bit about a year ago to Kazim, and I presume
he’s maintaining it. I wish you well with your effort to transfer
responsibility, but I’m not sure that the younger crowd have that kind of love
and pride in the Mount which we had developed in the earlier years. As I said,
good luck
I’m forwarding your note too, to Arthur Knaggs, who was the
Original Mover of the action such as you contemplate. I know that Laz has done
a fab job over the years, but I feel that the political situation in Venezuela
must be causing him worry and demanding much valuable time, which might be in
short supply for him. We should all remember our friends in Venezuela in our
prayers, as times are rough for them all.
Thanks for keeping me in the loop.
Nigel
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Azizul Mohammed <salo00011@hotmail.com>
Dec 6 at 3:26 PM
Hey Don,
I just bought your book on Amazon I promise to start reading in
the New Year.
Stay healthy my brother.
Azizul Kenny
Mohammed
Realtor/REO/Pre-foreclosure Sales
Property Valuations
O#(201)984-2443
C#(201)401-3133
Realtor/REO/Pre-foreclosure Sales
Property Valuations
O#(201)984-2443
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From: idmitch@anguillanet.com
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 20:05:02 -0400
Hi, Bandit,
I was not bowing out by that message!! I was only telling Ladislao,
from whom we have not heard for over a month, that I would understand if he was
leaving future communications to the young “Old Boys” to continue the
correspondence on Facebook, etc, and if he no longer had any emails to share
with us in a circular. He has replied to explain that he is okay, but a bit
stressed out with the situation in Venezuela. He is off to Colombia to try to
shake up a bit of work, and promises to send me another Circular or two when he
gets back.
I have promised that whenever he sends me one, I’ll post it.
I may have sounded a bit mordant, but that is just the style of
an elderly gent facing the inevitable. I am sure we are all there, or
approaching there, even though I know you have a decade or two more to go.
Hope you get the meds and insurance sorted out. Maggie and I pay
US$8,000.00 per year for our health insurance. It is killing me to have to pay
that much. On top of that is an extra US500.00 for the air ambulance to take me
off to Puerto Rico when I am dying. Needless to say, I have no intention of
ever using the service. However, it keeps Maggie happy, so I bear it all and
smile while signing the cheque.
Keep well.
Don
PS: Did you know that the psychiatrists have long ago reported
that moving house is as stressful, ulcer inducing, and heart attack causing, as
a divorce or a death in the family? Why would you do such a dangerous
thing as relocate?
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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz
Kertesz11@yahoo.com
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Photos:
Bandit p56x p57 The Early Times
School receipt 1955, 1,2,3,
13LK4443FBACH, Alan Chandler
62WB0023WVB, Wayne Vincent Brown
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