Circular No 857

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

Caracas, 7 of April 2018 No. 857

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

Dear Friends,

Emails below.

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

Apr 6 at 11:59 AM

Hi Roger Chenault

Glad to know you’re still around and not yet pushing’ up daisies. I must say you’re still living an active life, touring here, hearing there, and so on. Jean’s a brick to be able to keep up with you.

I’m forwarding this email to your old compadres, wherever they are, just in case anyone would like to re-connect with you.  

Love to Jean.

Nigel

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

On Apr 5, 2018, at 4:21 PM,

Roger R Chenault <jrchenault@msn.com> wrote:

Hi Nigel,

I’m still here - just made a very short to Trinidad a couple of weeks ago staying at the Asa Wright Nature Center. Not many of my generation left and got to see only one cousin (Peter O’Connor) while there. Trinidad still looks chaotic and beautiful at the same time. Came home covered with chigger bites for foolishly hiking thru the “bush” - never remembered this happening while living there.

Jean and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary last year with a special mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York and got to shake hands with Cardinal Dolan. He is quite the politician; the cathedral was packed. Followed up with a celebratory dinner at our daughter-in-law’s restaurant on the upper East Side.

Jean is enjoying her retirement and I still work 3 days a week. Since her retirement we have been on several tours - Australia and New Zealand, Japan (I was stationed there in the Army 1959-1960), and last year to Africa which I enjoyed very much - loved the animals.

My brother Christopher lives in Georgia and got to see him last year to celebrate his 80th. Finally got to meet his grands - 2 boys, 2 girls. His older daughter flies an Airbus for American Airlines. Earle Kayne and I exchange emails couple of times a year to get caught up on what is going on  in our lives.

Do you  still have the .jpg of the two pictures from 1949 of the student body; mine have disappeared into cyberspace. I would like to have prints made so that I can continue to embarrass our sons with stories from those days. I periodically browse thru the old circulars; don’t know many of you younger guys but enjoy reading about life after MSB.

Couple of pictures from last year that you might enjoy.

Best to all.

Roger

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

GEORGE MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net>

Apr 5 at 4:01 PM

Hi Brothers

Happy to report that yesterday I received the first donation for the October disbursement.

$20US from my brother-in-law; equivalent to 5308940 bolivares today per the information in DOLARTODAY per this link:  https://dolartoday.com/

We have 6 months to collect $??????US to continue to help our Venezuelan brothers-in-need and their families. Suggest that ASAA establish a US dollar goal so we can all start seeking donations/assistance per the different options that we discussed in our ASAA meeting last week. 

This is most recent information shared by Joe Berment-McDowald yesterday which can be used as a baseline point.

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

Dear George et. al.

Just a minor correction. 

We sent food in December and it turned out that the authorities took the position that it was contraband and sized much of it. Since then we haven't sent any food although there is a possibility that we can do so in the future (funds allowing if we can be more successful in fund raising) if each recipient presents himself to the authorities at the same time that the person transporting it arrives and is possibly willing to "share" a bit with the general "public".

The value of the last " package" including medicines was $4,400 US, not including incidental local expenses and transport. This will last until the end of September and will serve 14 families.

I will hope that we will do at least at much for early October.

God's blessings to you all. We hope that you will all keep our work in our hearts, pray for our success and find a way to support our efforts.

In advance, thanks for your personal efforts and contributions for this charitable mission,

George

PS – please share with others as appropriate.

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

Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com>

Apr 14 at 3:28 PM

Hello, George,

I’ll circulate Donald’s email to my mailing list.

So, some of you will get this message from me twice.

Best,

Don

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

From: ANTONI MICKIEWICZ

Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2018 7:20 AM

Subject: Re: 2018 Dates & Place for the Mount Boy Reunion -St Petersburg, Florida

Thanks, Donald, for making and communicating these arrangements.

Dear Oldboys....please help us in:

Forwarding this invitation to your friends that are not listed in the distribution list of this note 

Creating "buzz", enthusiasm and excitement for this get together

Consider the reunion as an opportunity for a longer vacation with the myriad of different opportunities available in Florida.

Looking forward to seeing each one of you there in October,

George

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

On Friday, April 13, 2018 12:44 PM,

Donald A Goddard <dgodda1@lsu.edu> wrote:

Gentlemen:

We must make sure Lionel (Br. Vincent) and his wife Merlene, are on board with the reunion dates we’ve selected.

Thanks to invaluable help from Neil and George (yury), we have decided on a date and place for our reunion. Neil’s knowledge of the area (climate and location) and Georges contacts regarding hotels and my own have helped with the decision. October was chosen because of the good climate and lower hotel costs.

Here are the dates chosen in October: Sunday 14, Monday  15 and Tuesday 16 ; Arrival is on Sunday afternoon at the hotel and we can meet that evening. On Monday we’ll make plans to gather with Lionel and his wife Merlene. You can spend Tuesday in St Pete as well and head out on Wednesday 17. The choice of how many days to stay is individual because each attendee will be booking his own room at the hotel.

After checking out a few hotels on St. Petersburg beach we found them to be quite expensive. Therefore, we’ve settled on the following one: It’s called Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove (see attachment). The rooms cost $99 + tax that comes to a total of $112 per night. Please book at least three months in advance if you plan to attend.

They have meeting rooms they charge $300 per day for. This cost we can split among ourselves. They will do a banquet dinner but will charge for a minimum of 35 people. If the number is less, we can still do it but they’ll charge for the minimum. This is tentative and before the reunion we’ll decide on a group dinner.

The list so far has seven people. Please place your name on the list if you plan to attend the reunion. 

All suggestions are welcome.

Donald Goddard

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

From: Donald A Goddard 

Sent: Friday, April 06, 2018 1:31 PM

Gentlemen:

I’ve attached a list of those who plan to show–up. Those of you who can make it, please add your name to the list. We’ll continue to work on a precise date.

Thanks

Donald G.

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

From: Joseph Berment-McDowald [mailto:bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2018 11:20 AM
Whenever it is, I'll be there.

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

On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 at 12:18 p.m., Joseph Berment-McDowald

<bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com> wrote:

I am sure that a sizeable contingent from Trinidad will attended especially if the date doesn't collide with the times of the year when it is likely when flights are expensive or family responsibilities are highest. Like Easter, August School vacation or Christmas. Possibly Carnival may be the best time for most, and a welcome reprieve, given the insecurity problem in Trinidad.

Sincerely,

JBM

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

On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 at 11:48 a.m., ANTONI MICKIEWICZ

<amickiew@att.net> wrote:

Hey Don

Any other responses so far......or......the usual and typical "deadly silence".

Heard from Merlene Roberts, Lionel's wife, that both of them are very excited and looking forward to the get together.

Per my count of yeses as of today: you and me so far

Have added 16 more oldboys to this invitation....database shows them as living in USA. 

Those joining us for the first time, please read email thread below to get a sense of what we are talking about and the proposed upcoming reunion in St Petes, FL, in January 2019 being organized by Don Goddard..  The new additions are the last 16 names in the distribution list.

Come on bros, get excited, join us,

Antoni/George/Jorge/Yury/Shish  (AB MSB 1956-1962)

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

On Tuesday, April 3, 2018 2:06 PM, Donald A Goddard <dgodda1@lsu.edu> wrote:

George/Gentlemen:

With this email on the topic of a Mount Boy Reunion, here is a preliminary suggestion. I have even better news. Brother Vincent doesn’t live in Sarasota but in St. Petersburg, Florida which is even easier to get to.

I have no problem organizing the event for the North American guys (USA and Canada). The fewer the organizers the better. It’s quite easy. I’ve organized many technical conferences and doing this reunion in St. Petersburg is even easier.  For the rest of those in other parts of the world, all that’s needed is to send out the hotel location and each can book his room at the hotel. The only problem with the faraway people is to get a precise number beforehand for planning for food and drinks.  For those living in Cubazuela, it’s not an easy project and hopefully a few can come. 

There’s an excellent hotel near Br. Vincent’s Blessed Trinity Catholic Church)(15 minute drive) and near where he lives in St. Petersburg (see attachment).

Here are the main elements to take into consideration:

1)      Check to see if there’s some agreement among the Mount gang about the St. Petersburg, Florida location.

2)      We’ll need to know if Brother Vincent (Lionel Roberts) and his wife agree and will be present for the chosen date.

3)      Pick a suitable date say in early 2019 (January for the Canadians).

4)      Get the  number of possible attendees (If we can get 20 conscripts or more that should be enough). The cut off-point for the reunion to be successful should be around 20 people.

5)      Contact the hotel to check availability and guarantee a certain number of rooms. Each attendee will book his own room (about $145 per night). We may get a discount if there’s a large number.

6)      We can do the reunion at the hotel; meeting room, food, drinks, etc.  We’ll know the cost beforehand and get the attendees to send their equal share to the hotel. 

7)      We can do the reunion at Brother Vincent’s Church (we’ll need to check with Brother Vincent, but I presume drinking alcohol and getting drunk will be an issue). If allowed, we could cater the food and drinks and this may be cheaper than the hotel’s service.  Based on the amount of attendees, we’ll have the cost of the catering beforehand.

As you can see, organizing such a reunion is not difficult.   Getting enough people to commit and to show up is the difficult part. If one of you has Br. Vincent’s email, please forward this on to him to see if he agrees with this plan.

Thanks,

Don Goddard

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

EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.

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

Photos:

98UN0002MSBNEWS,

57RB0001a4

87UN0016JUBILEUM p28, Last of the series

80UN0001MSBBAND, need names and the real year