Circular No 503

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 25 June 2011 No.503
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Dear Friends,

I wonder what has happened to Sarkis Farchak? We have lost track of him.
Hope he is well.
Can you help the Circular ??? Can you contact him and give us news?.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 20 April 2002. Circular No.23
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Dear Friends,
Accompany me in my birthday with the traditional lines, Happy birthday LADISLAO!!!!.
The following lines came from Rafael Echeveria:
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Norman Smith and myself .. together with my brother Gustavo and a Venezuelan friend Enrique Gomez .. formed a rock band in Mount (it was The Beatle's era) ... the band was called "Chains". There was also another band called "The Interpreters" with which I played for some time ... I played the bass-guitar ... as a matter of fact I still do ... I combine my professional practice as a lawyer (International Contracting Law in Oil Industry) with music and running ... I have already ran the New York Marathon TWICE ... the last time in November 2000... can you believe it ? ...
Now I have five children (My second granddaughter is due April 18th). Claudia my eldest daughter (the married one) and my son Rafael live in Florida . I have been a lawyer for 27 years now ... and I have met so many people around the world thanks to my professional practice. And I have lived a wonderful life !!! .... I have a beautiful wife and five great kids ... My profession has reached very satisfactory levels and I feel proud of my work in life ... now ... at 54 !!! ... I am now getting ready for some big business opportunities ... it is time to meet your old friends !!! ... they can be your best partners !!!! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you must have guessed I sent the wrong article from the Mount, so here is last week´s article on the demolition issue.

As to last week´s article it is good to know that the installations for the beauty pageant were at our old School. The class of 1960 did not have the privilege to use the installations of the new dinning hall and the theatre area. If I am not mistaken class of 1962 inaugurated the building. Maybe some one can clarify this????.
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Here I am continuing the who is where, thanks to Roger Henderson:
12. Jeffrey Gransaull is a pilot/captain with BWIA.
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Roger must be very accurate as there has not been any requested changes on his one/two liners, but at the same time we cannot ascertain that these oldboys exist as there has been no report from any of them or any e-mail address forthcoming. Maybe someone can be so kind and confirm with a telephone number or even tell these oldboys about our Web site.
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Here is some information on Calypso in Canada
Pre-OCPA Calypso in Toronto: A Personal Memoir

Here is an axiom that Pythagoras and his mathematical colleagues could never have conceived: “Wherever there are people of Trinidad and Tobago in the Diaspora, there will always be Calypso.”
The History of Calypso in Toronto did not begin with the birth of OCPA in 1980, in the same way as the History of Canada did not begin with the arrival of Europeans to Canada in 1643. The existence of several incarnations and manifestations of calypso in Toronto in the fifties and sixties may indeed have spawned the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes. The calypsonians in Toronto in the fifties and sixties were mainly calypso singers. The majority of them sang songs composed and made popular by calypsonians in Trinidad and Tobago like the Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener and Lord Melody. Very few wrote and sang original songs before the advent of Dave Martins and the Tradewinds. They performed at local nightclubs, West Indian dances and the odd Canadian event that wanted a Caribbean flavour. There were also large shows featuring the Mighty Sparrow, and Harry Belafonte whom Canadians revered as the quintessential calypsonian.

Three hours after my arrival in Canada on a chilly night in September 1960, I went to a night-club in Montreal called The Venus de Milo. There Eddie Edgehill and Dave De Castro were blurting out the lyrics of Jean and Dinah, Mae Mae, P.A.Y.E., and Benwood Dick to a packed audience of Trinbagonians, mainly students who were hungry for a taste of their homeland. They were accompanied by their French-Canadian girlfriends. Meanwhile in Toronto, there were groups like the “Latins” later called “The Debonairs” headed by Eric Minns from The Bahamas. The Tradewinds was headed by Dave Martins from Guyana. The Delmas and the Mahon Brothers had a band which played at the Little Trinidad Club on Yonge Street. Charles Roach was an erstwhile calypso singer. Sello Gomes and his band sang and played at the Calypso Club. Bing Serrao and the Ramblers from Guyana were also part of the calypso scene. Night-clubs such as the Tropics, WE Place, the WIF club used to be hopping with pulsating calypso sounds. In February of 1962, on Carnival Friday night, I went with a steel band to play at a dance at the Lions Club in Timmins, a city about 550 kilometres north of Toronto. It was a snowy, freezing night. In the midst of that arctic desert there were four young men called King Karib and the Calypso Bandits from Trinidad and Tobago belting out calypso lyrics. I am sure Jean and Dinah never thought they would have made it so far north. Many of the bands mentioned above sang and played at the Caribana Festival in 1967.
The first Calypso Competition was held in 1969 at the Maple Leaf Gardens. It was a Caribana-sponsored event. There were about 3000 people at the event, more than I have ever seen at any Calypso Competition in Toronto. There was a “Dimanche Gras” atmosphere at the Gardens. In the competition there were seven contestants. Each contestant sang one song. All the songs were original compositions. The music band was led by Sello Gomes. Contestant Number 5 was Dave De Castro with the sobriquet of “The Bandit”. He came out dressed up in a bandit costume, with a decorated Mexican hat and two cap guns smoking. He was totally inebriated, drunk like the fish he was going to play in the Caribana Parade the next day. He sang a song that he composed himself. It was titled “Caribana, The Big Fete”. The Bandit literally “mash up de place”. Even before the final two contestants performed, the large crowd was chanting in unison, “The Bandit win, the white fellow win”. After the last contestant performed, the judges took a long time to make their decision. The crowd was very restless, all the while chanting, “The Bandit win, the white boy win”. Finally, the judges confirmed what the crowd was chanting. The Bandit was crowned the first Calypso King in Toronto. He was crowned with a gold silk crown made out of cardboard. He was also awarded a prize of $250. When I was leaving the Gardens I heard a guy say, “Ah never see nothing like dat in my life, a white fellow win Calypso King”.
Throughout the seventies the calypso singers and other pretenders dominated the calypso scene in Toronto. There were no more calypso competitions until the organization that is now known as OCPA was formed. The organization was registered as the Calypso Association of Canada in 1982. It was renamed and registered as OCPA in 1991. In 1980 Lord Smokey was crowned the first Calypso King of the incipient organization. Since that time many calypsonians were born, not just from Trinidad and Tobago, but from other Caribbean islands. There is a vigorous, sustainable calypso industry in Toronto with excellent lyricists, musicians, arrangers and singers, both male and female, who have distinguished themselves here, in the United States, in the Caribbean and even in China and Japan. The current list is voluminous. Their compositions are original. Many of them are producing high quality CDs. The calypso tents are thriving. There have been other groups promoting Calypso such as the Kaiso Breakfast Lime and the Calypso College. Calypso is alive and well in Toronto.
Lennox Borel
Toronto 2011.
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From: mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 21:52:06 +0000
Dear Clive,
My brother, a long time ago, when I was a younger man, having a drink at Scarlet Ibis, a little hotel in Trinidad, in the late 70's,
A boy who was starting his first year at the Abbey remembered me in my last year on the mount.
He came over and introduced himself, and we shared some memories, laughs, and a couple of drinks.
He then leaned closer and asked me, who are the Knights of White Stones?
I said to him, it’s an alter-reality, it’s another Realm, a beautiful Legend, a secret, sacred circle, The Club, where a boy becomes a Man.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB MI AMIGOS / JUNE/2011. Long Live the Knights -
Have a good day - Glen McKoy
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From: mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Subject: FW: Remembering Gerald Kenny
Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 13:05:01 +0000
Dear Prada,
Thank you for your kind words, will pass on to Jon, a true friend and brother to Kenny, my heart goes out to him and all the brothers of Kenny's circle.
Have a good day mi amigo.
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From: manjosepra@hotmail.es
Subject: RE: Remembering Gerald Kenny
Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2011 07:21:30 -0400
Hola: Shocking news.
Remember him well when last in TT.
May he rest in peace.
Death is the only sure outcome in our short lives and many times we are not prepared for it i.e. why I firmly believe in the Samurai´s code of life...live this day as it were the last day of your life...
The our father implicitly states the same.
God bless Mount and each and everyone that in one way or another lived, studied or had anything to do with that noble institution.
Prada
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From: mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Subject: Remembering Gerald Kenny
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 14:12:16 +0000
Dear Nigel,
It’s sad to read this, as another brother leaves us.
I remember reading an email from Jon, it seemed helpless at the time, where only pray was left, we all come from our own little circles, that makes this great Club.
All I ever read about Gerald, was good, a true gentleman may God bless our brother.
As the Eagles, flies over "white Stones" today, so does his spirit into the Light.
May God Bless us all, Long Live the Mount,
Best regards,
Glen McKoy.
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2011/6/1 Gerald Kenny <ggkenny@gmail.com>
I regret to inform that Gerald Kenny lost his battle to Glioblastoma Multiforme on Wednesday May 11th, 2011.
Thank you for deleting his e.mail ggkenny@gmail.com from the group.
Best regards
Ysaely Godoy-Kenny
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Remembering Gerald Kenny
From: Nigel Boos nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca
That's Gerald for you, Che Che.
A real gentleman, always ready to listen, to empathize, to chat and to welcome you into his circle of friends.
A great friend has gone home now.
We'll miss him.
May his soul rest in peace.
Nigel
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On 2011-06-02, at 12:11 PM, Rafael Echeverría wrote:
Dear Ysaely,
It was September 2007 and - after 40 years - I went up to Mount with Gerald Kenny and Dennis Gurley.
My camera's battery died out.
So Gerald gave me his and took his photos with his Cell.
He told me not to worry, that I could even keep the battery so that I could take my pictures to share them with my family back home I remember feeling "what a kind and great guy this man is".
OK ... it was a small gesture of human sharing that meant a GREAT gesture of kindness towards me.
After 40 years.
We were just Mount Boys meeting again.
We shared our thoughts and experiences about music and he ended up giving me a couple of calypso cd's which I have treasured since then.
I am so shocked and saddened.
But I do want you to know that in that September of 2007 Gerald Kenny was a good friend to me and that I will always have him in my memories and prayers.
God Bless you all !!!
Un Abrazo a Todos !!! .... Siempre Amigo !!!
Rafael / CheChe
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Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
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Photos:
Mount Inside No. 10 page 23
11PQ0001PQU, Paul Quesnel
10RD0001RDA, Ronald D´Ábadie
08UN1515CKNGMI, Christopher Knowles and Gordon Mitchell

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Circular No 502

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 18 June 2011 No.502
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Dear Friends

The latest from Dave De Castro, thanks “Bandit”

http://www.myspace.com/calypsobandit/music

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

Caracas, 13 of April 2002. Circular No.22
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Dear Friends,

Due to our country’s undetermined situation, this circular is sent late.

Here is another account of the Man of all Seasons, by Don Mitchell.
Hi Ladislao,

I do remember the play. It was "A Man for All Seasons" written by the British playwright Robert Bolt. I do not remember all the roles or details. The year must have been 1962 or 1963. I believe that I played the part of the Duke of Norfolk, some sort of a judge at the trial of Moore, but it has been a long time and, though years later I saw the movie, I cannot remember for certain. M.J. de Verteuil played Moore with gusto and conviction, and Robert Azar, I believe, played the cowardly Richard Rich. Michael, I believe, played his competitor as Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey. I cannot recall who played Henry VIII or Roper, the son in law, or the other parts.

For me, the most memorable thing about the play was that two lovely young women, a Fanfan and a Myling, played Moore's wife and daughter. I do not recall the school ever before having allowed girls to act in a school play. The two ladies were so lovely, I recall, that each evening when practice finished, all the windows of the school were stuffed with young male faces peering out for a glimpse of them as they got into the cars that came to collect them. They came from a convent in St Augustine to practice for several evenings after school. It must have been a terrifying experience for the two of them, but they carried it off with style and panache. I knew then and for all time that women were superior beings to men.

Don

I am including additional information on the demolition of the old Abbey

Last days of old.doc attached.

I hope you remember this part of the Monastery.
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Here I am continuing the who is where, thanks to Roger Henderson:

11. Gregory (not Geoffrey) Farfan is a leading insurance executive

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Also here is some more information
LADISLAO--CIRCULAR 494 JUST JOGGED MY MEMORY

david decastro to me, ladislao
17 Jun (9 days ago)
ANOTHER STORY ABOUT MOUNT [the golden years} BY DAVE DE CASTRO--"THE BANDIT"
In 1947 when DOM ADELBERT VAN DUIN was made Abbot of Mount Saint Benedict I was 11 years old.
Father Dom Adelbert was also a teacher in a class.
One day I guess I was interrupting his class with my stupid antics and he called me out and said De Castro you are interrupting my class and you will write 1000 times:

THE WAY OF THE TRANSGRESSOR IS EXTREMELY HARD INDEED-INDEED-INDEED.

And you will give it to me in 2 weeks.
I said under my breath this s.o.b is mad no ass.1000 lines nobody ever got that.
The most in those days was about 50 lines.-- remember 11 years old.
The 1000 lines was now the talk of the school and that this new Abbot was mad no ass.
I said to the other boys well**** him I am not doing that he is crazy.
After fuming-- fussing-- and cussing for a day I decided to take my case to the headmaster Father Benedict.—
let’s see what BOBO will say, and what do you think that IDIOT said ????
THE SOONER YOU START WRITING IT --THE SOONER YOU WILL FINISH IT.
You talk about cuss--ah cuss every priest and everybody in that school to the boys.
But it took every spare minute of my time for 2 weeks to write the dam thing.
EVEN UP TO TODAY AT 75 YEARS OF AGE EVERY TIME I REMEMBER THAT INCIDENT AH STILL CUSSING.
SOME PEOPLE JUST HAVE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY AND THAT WAS HOW IT WAS IN THOSE DAYS.
PEACE AND LOVE "BANDIT"
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Article by Dr. David Bratt in the Newspaper Guardian (courtesy DB)

Would you like to take a walk with David??
I spent most of Wednesday morning at the Licensing Office on Wrightson Road and an experience it was.
The place offers splendid opportunities for the Tourism Development Company, what with being just down the road from the Hyatt and all.
I want to suggest that walking tours from the Hyatt and Crown Plaza be offered.
This could be a money-maker akin to walking in old San Juan or the Via Veneto.
The theme of the walk could be “The Descent” or “To Hell and Back (without Audie Murphy).
One leaves the Hyatt Hotel, the epitome of modern Trini elegance, albeit cloaked in European and PNM ideals, and gradually moves upstream, past the old post office on the left.
Halfway there one comes upon the most important small park in Woodbrook, now converted to a walkway and a car park in honour of the Motor Vehicle Association of Cobeau Town and on the left, fire brigade headquarters, where you can spot some of the oldest fire brigade engines, dating from the building of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, and probably abandoned here by the Americans when, in that petit spasm of fury and intellectual dishonesty, our valiant forefathers retook, in that famous march in the rain (imagine Trinis walking in the rain), the property that had been taken from small-time farmers and returned, not to them, but to the State, for cultivation, years later, by Cuban farmers who, in their country, “cah make” but brought here to Trinidad and Tobago to teach locals, with hundreds of years of farming in their blood and one of the best agricultural schools in the world, how to plant bodi.
There a stop can be made to look at imaginary videos of farmers’ crops being bulldozed by another non-imaginative government, put into power by those selfsame farmers, who rashly believed in the words of politicians and who believe that politicians are really concerned about them.
Continuing our walk, we successively pass on the left, the right hand side being given over to old-time Woodbrook houses with fretted window work and hanging gables, ripe for destruction and conversion into insurance agencies, the most ramshackle police station in town and what used to be the best calypso tent before Americanisation and PNMisation took over and calypsonians “had was to sing” for the freshwater Trini and their political masters, all in the cause of racial equality, let it be immediately said.
Past the former MAD outlet, where Benbow pool used to refresh young men (and not a few young women) and the Licensing Office is upon us.
You can detect its presence any morning by the line of cars illegally parked in front of it and causing a massive traffic jam.
There the tourists, after handing over their jewellery, wallets, car licences and sundry other personal effects, can spend the next several hours eating bad food and Trini-watching.
Now let me say right away that I am not talking about the people who actually work in the Licensing Office.
Apart from the obvious problem of having only one cashier (poor cashier!) about which the entire population comments, the service we received was good.
Not first class because you cannot talk first class when the facilities themselves are at the level of a pig sty, but we were very satisfied with the job that was being done in very difficult circumstances by the Licensing Office workers.
No, it was the environment and the Trini public in that environment that would engage the attention of my tourist.
The parking lot, which surrounds a number of ramshackle, colonial-type, one-floor office buildings, some made for waiting with heavy wooden benches built specially for the natives, open to the air, rain and general filth of the area, constitutes most of the immense area and, by 8 am is filled with every type, shape and age of car.
To the east of the buildings are three or four, it’s difficult to say, they seem to blend into each other, like drunks supporting themselves, little food shacks, made of plywood and two sheets of galvanise where, from the mouths of the men surrounding them, sweet drinks, pies, sweeties and cigarettes are sold.
Not a doubles vendor in sight!
The area has obviously not been cleaned for decades and is littered with piles of dirt, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, old newspapers, cigarette stubs, rotting leaves and pothounds.
Even they have attitude.
The pregnant bitch refused half of my homemade cheese sandwich.
Under a low overcast sky, the morning humid and sticky without a trace of breeze at 7.30 am, a multitude of middle-aged, coarse, vicious looking, hoarse-voiced men and women, dressed in tight pants and faded jerseys or blouses, fat overflowing front and sides, feet carelessly stuffed into worn-down sandals or narrow, pointed shoes, wander about the huge, dirty compound, smoking and aggressively shouting at each other.
They look like characters out of one of Dante’s levels of hell.
Where have all of these ugly Trinis come from?
It wasn’t so 30 years ago.
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FW: Donald & Christian with his sons
From: dgodda1@lsu.edu
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:30:39 -0500
Mis panas:
Aquí unas fotos tomados durante un fin de semana de descanso en un bosque de pinos en Texas donde "Little Chris" (como llamamos al hijo enano de Christian) jugando en un torneo profesional de Disc Golf (o frisbee).
"Porcia" no se han dado cuenta, los gordos son los viejos y los flacos son los jóvenes.
Un abrazo para todos,
Donald

Donald A. Goddard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
225.578.4538 skype 225.578.4538 (office) 225.975.0222 skype 225.975.0222 (cellular)
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Re: Old MSB - Contact
From: kazim abasali <kazim.asaatt@gmail.com>
Hi Jerry,
Nice to hear from you.
I am forwarding your emails and info to Ladislao, Nigel, and Don who have been facilitating the boys so faithfully over the years.
Thanks to the inspiration and the perseverance of Ladislao over the many year.
Please visit the newsletter that Ladislao does in the blog that is put together by Don, and Nigel will include your contact info in the database.
Please make sure and get in contact with them.
The newsletter and blogs will have more and better photos.
And you can update Ladislao with your journey since you left school to share with the boys.
Blessings to you brother.
Take care......Kazim
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On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 3:24 PM, Jeremy de Barry <tobagojo@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Kazim (& Don),
[Wow, I'm so out of it at this time!]

Kazim,
Was having a browse around and discovered that you're the webmaster for (The Abbey School) Mount St. Benedict Alumni Association of Trinidad & Tobago - site.
I don't know (or can't remember) you as an old Abbey School boy, however, thanks ever so for doing a lovely job and keeping us informed as you do.

Can somebody email me some larger size version of the 'Class' and 'Scout' pictures that you have on this site (with the name notes attached somewhere); as I'd like another stab at putting some names to some faces. One (or two) of the 'scout' pictures look like the 'Coura Camp' of XXXXX (at this time) that I attended.
And A Lindsy Moffat + Charles(? - Or something) Moffat from St Lucia appeared unnamed;
things like that I'd like to check. (If not already done by others.)
----------------------Now this next comment is probably 'Old Hat'; You do recall that 'Vush' or Father Benedict had his photo lab under the old dormitory (next to the 'Seniors' room); out back.
Has anyone managed to get all his negatives?
That's an historic MSB gold mine!

PS is 'Vush' still alive?
---------------------Nice.
What qualifies as Alumni?
See there is a list = Mount Old Boys (1945 - 1955); on the site.
Well it also did 1956 to some time in the early 1970's; when it all crashed out.
Can we do this list of the next lot for this site?

-----------Look forward to a comment or two.
Very best regards
Jerry

Jeremy de Barry - EEEng (MSB 1961 - 1967) DOB20110111

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Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
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Photos:
Mount Inside No. 10 page 22
08UN1510JBEGRP, Photo from the reunion 2008
60LK0002GCE, GCE Model Answers in Mathematics.
73LM0001LME, Luciano Mellone

Circular No 501

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 11 June 2011 No.501
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Dear Friends,
Another request for news, this time I would like some news on the Gransaull kids, Jeffrey and Richard.
Neither has given sign of being active, so please help the circular with news.
I wonder if Jeffrey really got to be a certified pilot of a Cessna 182?
And Richard took his insurance licence?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 6 of April 2002. Circular No.21
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Dear Friends,
Here is the sad story taken from a clipping in the Trinidad Express given to me by Gordon Mitchell. Those living in Trinidad must have read the news, but I know that those living overseas would like to know.

A Short note by Gordon Mitchell

Hi, Ladislao
I thought this would be of interest to the rest of the ex school mates.
Gordon

A Short note by Don Mitchell

Hi, Gordon
Thanks for the clippings. Now, if only I had 2 million to spare!!”
Don

I would like you to comment on the photos that I send as there might be a story on all of them, write a line and be part of the news!!!!
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Here I am continuing the who is where, thanks to Roger Henderson:

11. Gregory (not Geoffrey) Farfan is a leading insurance executive

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Ian Gome/The All Fours Group / Trinidad‏
From: Glen Mckoy (mckoy43glen@hotmail.com)
Sent: Sun 4/06/08 4:31 PM
My Dear Brothers,
Thank you Ian, for your comments, this has given me a little more insight, of what started with the best intentions, but did not quite materialize.
So good to hear, that the guys did attempt to organise, the intentions of, starting back the school, a little too grand, helping the monks, why??
They have chosen this life, we can, do a lot for the monks, but the abbot could take it all, for the church, good intentions, without much thought, going into it.
Like giving Fr.Cuthbert a Laptop computer, might be a good gift, so he can read all the good things, that has been happening, hoping that the abbot don't like it, and take it , Ha! Ha! just kidding.
Getting acquainted at the beginning informally is a start.
Your, playing all Fours seems to be the only organized thing, I have read, in your comments, probably we need more all fours players, to form this ,club, ???
As I said before, these are real people with real feelings.
This is not a business club, and some members may only know how to run a business.
And running it, like a business will only run members away, and could become boring.
Listen, probably only a few, should have a formal meeting, and elect a representative, or representatives.
Only invite others for the socials.
Some people don't have time for meetings, and this should only be the choice of the member.
Kieron, I remember him being such a gentleman, when he met my wife, and me at the Holiday Inn.
So long ago when we got together for drinks.
Milton, I remember Milton my only competition running the mile.
And, if you remember, when Francis, the drummer of Raymond McCartney band parent died, Milton stepped in, and played drums.
Puggy, always will attend, any old boys event, and a true supporter ever since, but don't say much, openly.
Jaggy, must be chilled out, and sounds to me like a nice person, now.
Wayne Chang, a very good buddy of mines, and no reunion would be the same without him, however, whoever is in charge, should be able to bring to attention, all, and in order to do that, must also have the respect of all, we have some strong characters, with some big mouths, but all ah that, is mass, and that is what, makes this challenge, so wonderful and crazy.
However, in the agenda, one hour or so, should be made to discuss, serious concerns of the group, and after that, the fete, continues, with all fours etc.
We , on the committee, don't really have any leadership, however, we do have respect, for our senior members, we try to accommodate and represent all four groups , the emails I send, have about 50, or more brothers on line reading, so don't ever, think you guys are in the dark.
We are here and ready to help, in any way, we can, for the Trinidad Group.
This is how things look, at present: -
The Canadian Group is a little more reserved, and are making arrangements ,on how to conduct the financial settings, for the Kitty Fund & other projects. and are well connected and are well formed, by Nigel Boos.
There is also a selected committee of four, from our best brothers in the field of finance, for all international dealings.
I cannot disclose their names, at present, for anything with money.
Will remain very confident, until all arrangements are in place, for the best of all.
USA group are active and looking to start some action, like the Musical Jam etc.
The Kitty fund and Plaques.
The Venezuelan group are strong with their presents, and you can ask Aziz and CheChe about the Roll call.
And of course the Circular, another Venezuelan, taking leadership, by the Godfather Mr. Ladislao Kertesz and helpers like Nigel Boos, Don Mitchell and Jon Golding, and these four guys have been doing this, since the beginning, when some of us, were still little boys.
I suppose, we have grown up now; I believe and expect to hear, some more grown up decisions.
The Trinidad group?? Well, we are waiting for you guys, to get your house in order.
All four, becomes, One, and for all four we stand.
This is only, one committee member opinion, and I do not speak, for my other committee members or members.
Thanking you in advance, for your swift reply, Ian, and for your candid opinion, and as we approach this, brother to brother, I can already feel, things are looking better, for the future.
Your friend always, in any way, and any time, you may call upon me, with a true and sincere love to all my brothers, as we take, this journey thru Life.
Best regards to all,
Glen Mckoy.
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Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2008 04:41:00 -070
From: gomesian@yahoo.comGlen,
Boy things down here in getting a group organised is problems.
There were old boys from 1944 to the closure of the school at MSB present in November 2007 when a large group got together up mount.
Joe Berment, Specs (Michael D'ornellas) and Joe Habib tried to have a formal sort of meeting to appoint chairman, secretary etc. and had as a primary item on the agenda the helping of the monks financially and the possible starting back of the school.
Most attendees (like myself) just wanted to talk to boys we did not see in years so the meeting never really got off the ground and everything turned ole mass when Wayne Chang arrived in his farmer brown with a cooler of cold beers on his shoulder around 2.00pm.
Then, Garth, Milton , Kieron, Jaggie, Jimmy samaroo, Myself, Puggy etc. started Wayne up and he is the same old LOUD guy.
He had us rolling. Some folks did not appreciate that though.
say what. Keith (puggy), Jaggie, Kieron, Milton and I still get together usually on Public Holidays to play all fours from about 2.00 pm till 9.00 pm at times at one of our houses.
The last one was at my home and I cooked a fish broth which frigging disappeared very quickly.
Boy Kieron has not changed when it comes to food.
He has a memory like an elephant.
He always has the rest of us laughing.
Say What Joe Berment ( your partner in school) should be the head of organising an old boys club.
He has to understand though that formalities must be limited.
Ian
---------------------------------------------.
Yeah
When I was in form 2 & 3. The last night was always an experience.
Neville & Co. always made a list of guys to get lix on the last night before end of term on the Blackboard of the Form 4 rec room.
Always Johnny Garcia, Stephen Aboud, Mario Gangoo and Ian Gomes would head the list.
We always gave Neville hell.
He was the head of a group of bigger boys that always shared lix.
I played football for the college with that dude.
Winston Copeland never had mercy.
I would love to see these dudes again.
I never had any hard feelings against them and consider all mount boys my brothers.
They taught me to be tough and you had to develop a great deal of common sense & negotiating skills to avoid a cut arse.
That bond from boarding school is strong and we should all look out for each other.
Ian
--------------------------------------------------------------.
Welcome, Ian Gomes
Nigel P. Boos <nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca>
Friday, April 4, 2008 7:43:11 AM
Dear Ian,
Thank you for getting in touch with us. It's great to have you on board.
You have called names and this helps to place you in a certain year- group. But it would sure help if you could give me a little more info, for the database I'm developing, of all the Old Boys of the Abbey School. (I'm the unofficial database guy.)

1. What years were you and Nigel students at MSB?
2. Do either of you play any musical instruments?
3. There's a "Summer Jam" being prepared for the Old Boys somewhere in Florida. More info available eventually, if you'd like to be there.
(Bring your chac-chac.)
4. Would you like to let me have your telephone number?
5. The class pictures you sent - we've never had these before, as far as I know.
What year were they taken? (I've guessed 1969, but I most likely am wrong.)
Can you go through the pics and identify everyone you remember?
(This goes for everyone else to whom this email is being copied - please help me out here.)
Keep well, guys, and remember to say your prayers.
Nigel
---------------------------------------------------------------.
FW: Old Mount Boys/ A big welcome for Mr. Ian Gomes.
Glen Mckoy <mckoy43glen@hotmail.com>
Friday, April 4, 2008 4:59:31 AM
Hello Ian,
Remember you so well; in later years as we matured we became better friends.
Good to hear from you and all the bothers that a making it, there right to come forward and be acknowledged.
Say Hello to Nigel for me, take care, please write to me, when you get back.
Glen McKoy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------.
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 15:19:07 -0700
From: gomesian@yahoo.com
Subject: Old Mount Boys
I decided to send an email to all you crosses who went to school with me.
Firstly, this is addressed to Skippy (Glen Schaefer. You old dog How you going?
The last time I saw you was when you came home by me with Puggy.
Embarrassed then as I did not recognise this big body individual.
Knew the face could not remember the name.
That shit won't happen again.
Tim Healy (Trini name "Smokey" if I recall correctly.
Good to get an email address will keep all of you posted on the old boys activities here if you are interested.
Glen Mc Koy - Spoke to Hudson when he was here. John Gioanetti took a few pics of that carnival lime. That boy still has not sent them to me. How you going man?
Henri Mendoza - I know the name but can't put a face to it. definitely know you were at mount during my time.
Azizul I sent an email to but got no response.
Winston I see occasionally.
Neil Charles - I remember the name. I believe you were in Nigel's class.
Jimmy I have your email address now.
When next Joe & co plan something I hope you take enough time off for that job to lime a little more.
Salvadore Coscarart - I believe the pic attached you're in it with some of the other addressees of this email.
Glen Evelyn - I used to hear about you from Richard De Gannes (a close friend) But now he in Nigeria and you all over de place in Oil.
Wayne Hackett - Boy you still beating pan. Phase II win dis year.
By now you done have de tune down pat.
Yeow Rennie

I will be in B'dos from Monday 7, 2008 for 2 weeks (Work) but send your emails any way don't expect a reply right away.
Ian Gomes

Ps. pic of me attached. Shit I old boy.
2 pics of my brother Nigel and classmates Nigel, My mother and I in Bequia (Island in the Grenadines. Nigel lives there now. He's as bald as ass HEE!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photos:
Mount Inside No. 10 page 21
5UN0002CLASS1968, corrections made to the names
09LK0041CROSSROADS, on the road to TOCO
09LK0048BELLPOST, Somewhere in the Monastery

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Circular No 500

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

Caracas, 4 June 2011 No.500

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Dear Friends,

We have reached the magic number of 500, who would have imagined it?

This has been rough but fun, you have made it possible.

I would like to invite those that helped it to happen to send in a short note answering the following question, “ Was the weather reasonable good??” jajajaj

------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Caracas, 30 of March 2002. Circular No.20

Dear Friends,

Before all let me apologize to Michael D´Ornellas for not mention his catalytic part in my circular, No.18. He has kindly given us access to the nice photos used.

Here is another account of the “A Man of all Seasons”, by Rafael Echeverria.

Yes Ladislao !!! Thank you for the photograph which I'll treasure ... I had seen this photo .. but time and distance does it job ... I had lost it !!!

I was thrilled to see the photo again and remember some Mount faces ... I particularly remember Richard Clerk, a great individual ... Michael Azar .. a great guy !!! .. tough and generous ! .. Don Mitchell .. he was always "cool" ... Michael de Verteuil, always a true gentleman !!! ... and yes I remember King Henry VIII .. played by the Paul Zeven .. the Dutch blond haired guy .... I remember Baby Joe in his character of "The Common Man" .. he was just great ...among the girls the oriental girl Myling Achong .. . she performed great acting as "Margaret" .. Thomas Moore's daughter ... I still remember her lines regarding the confrontation with her Father ...Sir Thomas would not surrender to the approval of King Henry's divorce and follow "his Church" and renounce to his Catholic Faith ... Margaret was making a great effort to save his Father from his own "stubbornness". One of the most dramatic scenes from the play.

The Second Photograph is also a very important scene .. I remember .. I think it was the moment Sir Thomas is submitted to trial ... and condemned ... The Common Man (Baby Joe) reads the Death Sentence ....

I played the Spanish Ambassador (Signor Chapüìs) and my "assistant" (he always walked two steps behind me on stage) ... his name was Norman Smith .. he was from Cali, Colombia, but his father was an American...

I remember well "my heated discussion" with Chancellor Cromwell (Michael Azar) in the presence of Richard Clerk (I don't remember his part .. but he was an excellent person .. a great sportsman .. a good soccer player and a good friend). Signor Chapüìs was desperately trying to save Sir Thomas´s life through diplomatic efforts from the Spanish Queen ... My last line in the play .. after I left King Henry's Palace and holding an audience with Cromwell was "... This man is utterly unreliable !!!" ... and everybody laughed in the audience .. I was supposed (by instructions from Brother Oswald) ... to "stress" my Spanish accent even more ... as I left the stage in my last appearance.

I remember Don Mitchell (although we were not that close in Mount.) He was a good guy. He played a great role as The Duke of Norfolk. I believe he was chosen because he was always so naturally "distinguished".. Please Ladislao .. send my BEST REGARDS to all my fellow actors in "A Man For All Seasons" !!! ... and YES .. it was THE FIRST TIME girls were allowed to act in Mount's Season Play. I don't recall that there was a third woman apart from the two girls (who portrayed Margaret and Elizabeth,-Sir Thomas Moore's Daughter & Wife ... respectively). Not only were they both beautiful girls but their acting was SUPERB !!!! ...

Thank You Ladislao .. please give my regards to ALL ....give them my phone numbers and e-mail ... I would really love to meet them all again ... that is just a great way to enrich life !!!!

Please make these comments part of your next Report !!!!

Blessings to ALL

Rafael Echeverría

Here I am continuing the who is who, thanks to Roger Henderson:

10 Michael Farah works in Trinidad

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On The Galts¨Richard and Randall

Neither has been a prolific writer, or maybe their computer has been down, you name it.

As you know, or may not know, Angie has been unwell for a while now with Spinal Stenosis and another disease which was misdiagnosed as Essential Tremors for the past two and a half years.

She recently had back surgery for her Spinal Stenosis in Cuba.

This was a success, but the essential tremors have now been diagnosed, and confirmed to be Parkinson's disease.

She is recovering well from the back surgery, but still needs rehabilitation and treatment for this and Parkinson's disease.

Medical treatment can be very expensive and has put a financial strain on the family.

This fund raiser is an attempt to raise money to cover the expenses related to Angie's ongoing treatment and recent surgery.

We hope that you will be able to come out to this event, and we continue to thank those of you who have been a constant support over the last two and a half years.

--------------------------------------------------------.

This news was from 2009, any updates???

----------------------------------------------------------.

As to Richard Galt, nothing has been heard from him and the Circular would like to have a friend or family member help us to give us sign of his wellbeing, otherwise we must place him in the suspected or deceased list.

It is interesting that the only photos that we have in the internet are those published by the Circular.

Is it possible that there is a change of identity issue??

----------------------------------------------------------------------.

Re. Circular No. 401, The Abbey School MSB

Sunday, July 26, 2009 3:38 PM

From: "Shaun" <scg1@tstt.net.tt>

The class photo labelled 1972 is an inaccurate date. I say this because I was there from 1974-79 and I recognize a few faces.

The Chandler Twins (#28 & 33 one is Adrian)

#30 is Gary Lamkin, #26 is Wayne Hackett #23 James Samaroo

Perhaps you can contact them

Regards,

Shaun Gianetti

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RE: Circular No. 351, The Abbey School MSB

Friday, September 12, 2008 3:46 PM

From: "Roger Gillezeau" <roger.gillezeau@ansamcal.com>

Dear Ladislao

I’m not sure if you still have not received clarification on students in the 2 photos sent.

Nevertheless, here's my input:

photo #1 (Prep A 1963): #1 Peter "Smiley" Boland (deceased), #9 Wally Gillezeau (deceased)

photo #2 (Form 2(?) 1965) same class; my brother Wally is correctly identified but our name has been misspelt.

#23 is Christian Gurley, not Dennis, who was older. #25 was Fergus Young.

Kind regards

Roger Gillezeau

63-67

65UN0002CLASS1968, 63UN0001CLASS1968

---------------------------------------------------------------------.

From: "Brent Gonsalves" <bregon@tstt.net.tt>

Date: 23 May 07:40 (PDT)

Ladislao,

Let us remain in contact.

The circulars about Abbey School are quite large and take a long time to download on my computer.

This is the only reason for taking me off the mailing list.

Brent

Welcome back to the Circular, I have been told that you have a new computer and that the internet services have improved in speed. Ladislao

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.

guildner@comcast.net

19 Aug

Dear Ladislao;

There were two lay teachers –

Mrs. Shoop (I don't know if that is the spelling. but it is the pronunciation.)

The other was male.

He liked to throw blackboard erasers and cut a couple of boys' foreheads with the wood that the eraser was glued to.

Any one remember them?

Harry G,

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,

Photos:

Mount Inside No. 10 page 20

70UN0001CLASS1972, please check out the graduation date

09RG0001RGAWFE, Randall Galt and wife

63UN0001CLASS1968, Please check out the names.