Circular No 763

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

Caracas, 19 of June 2016 No. 763

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Dear Friends,

Here is the document that should be considered when analyzing the situation at Mount Saint Benedict.

As you can read the “The Incorporated Trustees of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery in Trinidad", consists of a group of people who are entrusted with maintaining control or oversight of the control and the wellbeing of the Monastery.

In 1927 when it was created, this group consisted in members of the Monastery, and now I am led to believe that this group is from outside of the Monastery because of the shortage of clergy and could be of maybe a dozen of persons.

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AN ORDINANCE for the incorporation of certain persons as Trustees of Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Trinidad. [29th December, 1927.] ·

WHEREAS the Monastery or Institution in the Ward of Tacarigua, in the County of St. George, in the Island of Trinidad, known as the Mount Saint Benedict Monastery and founded in this Colony by certain members of the Religious Community known as the Order of the Benedictines attached to the Belgian Congregation of that Order, is administered or governed by the Prior of the said Monastery elected by the Community according to the Statutes of that Order, assisted by a Council of at least two Fathers, one appointed by the Prior and the other elected by the members of the Community here;

And whereas at a special meeting of the entire aforementioned Benedictine Community held here on the twenty-third day of March, One thousand nine hundred and twenty seven and attended by all the members of the said Community including the members of the said Council and presided over by its present Prior the Revd. D. Hugh V.D. Sanden, O.S.B., the said Prior, the Revd. D. Odo v.D. Heydt, O.O.B., and the Revd. D. Sebastian Weber, O.S.B., were appointed to be the Trustees of the said Monastery and to hold all the property both real and personal of the Monastery for the uses and purposes of the said Monastery.

And whereas it is expedient that the said Trustees should be incorporated and should have power to hold land and other property in trust for the said Monastery;

Be it enacted by the Governor of Trinidad and Tobago with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof as follows :-

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the· Mount Saint Benedict Monastery Incorporation Ordinance, 1927.

2. The said Revd. D. Hugh V.D. Sanden, O.S.B., Revd. D. Odo V.D. Heydt, O.S.B., and Rev. D. Sebastian Weber, O.S.B.,. and their successors in office as such Trustees as aforesaid shall be and are hereby created a body corporate by the name of. "The Incorporated Trustees of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery in Trinidad" (hereinafter called the Incorporated Trustees) and by that name shall have perpetual succession and shall and may sue and be sued in all Courts of Justice in this Colony in that name and shall have and use a common seal, which may from time to time·be changed. Such seal shall only be used in the presence of at least two of the Trustees and shall not be changed. except by resolution of the Trustees at a meeting held for the purpose, such resolution to be published in the Royal Gazette as soon after such meeting as possible.

3. The Incorporated Trustees shall, subject to the rules, regulations and control of the said Council, have full power to acquire for the Monastery by purchase, transfer, exchange, donation, demise, gift, bequest or otherwise real and personal property in the Colony or any estate or interest therein, and also any money, securities for money, goods or chattels whatsoever and to take, hold and enjoy the same.

4. It shall be lawful for the Incorporated Trustees, subject to such rules, regulations and control as aforesaid from time to time by deed under their seal to sell, demise, grant, convey, exchange or otherwise dispose of any lands or other property which shall or may for the time being be or become vested in or which may hereafter be acquired or vested in them as aforesaid.

5. Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect or be deemed to affect the rights of His Majesty or of any bodies politic or corporate or of any other persons, except such as are mentioned or referred to in this Ordinance and those claiming by, through, from, or under them.

Passed in Council this tenth day of December, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven.

E. F. AANENSEN, Acting Clerk of the Council.

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From: winston <infowinston@yahoo.com>

Date: Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 12:18 AM

Hi Buddy.

Made contact with Edgar Moffie a few minutes ago his brother Eloy passed away in 2007 he was in our class.

Your comments are noted and a final official communication will be released by Joe after Sunday Retreat welcome some suggestions for the occasion 

Regards

Winston 

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On 16 Mar 2016, at 3:35 PM,

Kazim Abasali <empowerwithart@gmail.com> wrote:

Winston,

How are you? Happy to hear from you.

I have revised the Word document which is the copy I can work with, not the pdf.

I have updated the names and dates from the database. I am also sending you a copy of the latest database and the revised Memorial flyer.

In addition, there are other recent 'Boys' who have died like Delano De Castro and Michael Kenny, etc.

For Bernard Lange is from a longer time, unless you are earmarking special families.

In that case you need to change the wording of the flyer where it says 'recently died' or such words..

In addition, I do not have a copy of the logo, and that has been a bone of contention with the Abbot.

So, I do not want to be involved in the use of the property of the Mount without proper permission.

And lastly, is this event going to be shared with the overall Group, or just the Trinidad Boys?

Kindly let me know as I spoke with Glen to double-check some names on your list.

So, let me know your thoughts.

Blessings.......

Kazim

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On Wed, Mar 16, 2016 at 1:12 AM,

winston <infowinston@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi kazim

It's a long time buddy was shocking to hear of Bhopa passing.

May his soul RIP spoke to his sister earlier today . 

ASAA having a weekend retreat to finalize ASAA memorial mass scheduled for April 10 th 2016 at Abbey Church MDB 

Will send the draft invitation flyer for you to upscale with graphic including logo later 

Are you maintaining a healthy lifestyle    

Keep in touch

WR

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On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 3:59 PM,

Winston Ramsahai <infowinston@yahoo.com> wrote:

Kazim

Kindly confirm receipt have 4 email address popping up

Regards

Mr Winston C Ramsahai

Waste Management Co Ltd

774-4999 | 663-5913

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Ziggo Jan <jankoenraadt@casema.nl>

12/25/15 at 5:54 PM

Dear Ladislao,

Wishing you all the best for this Xmas season and the best of times for the coming year.

I follow the circulars regularly in the abbey school blogspot, enjoying the pictures and stories.

I was very surprised you spent one entire circular on my story alone about memories of the classes during my time.

I wish to express my gratitude for so much honour, I was just replying to a few boys like Attila Gyuris et al.

And you put my pictures of den building in France with scout ropes à la MSB-scouts.

Thank you very much.

We all use our MSB memories being on our own in the world, thanks to your efforts and others we can have that combined and read about each other. 

I saw pictures of you passing by in Spain and so on your travelling.

Just for fun for family and friends I put up pictures of renovating a farm in France.

We go there from February to October every year since 2008.

Of the spring, summer and autumn of every year I made albums sorted by time.

If you like to watch for the fun 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126031411@N06/sets 

It’s like a photoblog and Flickr gives 1 terabyte of free space, so you can go big in original camera resolution, already 6,999 pictures. 

All is too much, just pick and choose whatever you like. It’s all object oriented, hardly the person.

Underneath most pictures there is explanatory text but that is in Dutch and you have to click on the picture.

All much appreciated, have a good time and many thanks!

Jan Koenraadt

MSB ‘63-‘67

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SCOUTING AT ABBEY SCHOOL

Maybe it’s because we grew up in the post WWII era, a time when uniformed soldiers were on every movie screen and were great role-models for us young ones. Maybe it’s because we loved to parade in our khakis, black and gold scarf toggled at the neck, badges there to show as proof of achievement. Or maybe we all simply enjoyed the challenge and the fun associated with scouting. But for sure, Scouting at the Abbey School was a unique experience.

I believe it is true to say that we had more Queen Scouts than perhaps any other Scout Troop in the island. But what else would one expect than a fantastic record, with a Scout Master like Fr. Ildefonse in charge, a mighty man among men, followed after his resignation by the friendly, humble and caring Fr. Cuthbert, who had to learn everything about scouting from “scratch”, as the Canadians say.

Sunday morning band practice was something to which we looked forward, bringing with it, as it did, noise, music (of a type), discipline, and great efforts by our band to maintain a high quality of martial tempo. The trumpeters, who in my day included John Golding, Juan Marini, Pablo Figuera, Dennis Gurley, and others, led by Manuel Prada, set a wonderful, piercing tune, against the rat-tat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat-tat, ah-rat, ah-rat, ah-rat-tat-tat-tat beating of the side drums, played by (fill in the blanks, fellas, I can’t even remember the names), and backed by the Big Base Drum which was my job. (Wasn’t Stephen Clark my understudy? I know he was involved, but exactly in which capacity eludes me now.) Frankly, I had the easiest job, as all I had to do was to hit the thing hard and keep time with everyone else. We marched around the School a few times, much to the annoyance of the volleyballers who had to pause in their game as we ducked under the net, and it was a blessed relief to everyone when, finally, we set off down the hill and along the roadway to entertain / annoy the rest of Trinidad and the monks of MSB. It was always a highlight of the parade when Mike Howard was invited to step out in front of the band, with his silver baton (a thing with a heavy wooden ball at the top end). Tall as he was, Mike led the parade from the front and inspired us with his wonderful, fancy marching style and handling of his baton.

Camping with the 1^st Mount St. Benedict Scout Troop was an experience never to be forgotten. Fr. Ildefonse would choose his camping ground, after much consultation with the Scout Commissioner, local landowners, and I suppose, our Troop Leader, Gerard Pampellone, and plans would be made. Each Patrol Leader (mine was “Woodpeckers”) was responsible for ensuring that an adequate number of pots, pans, skillets, mugs, plates, cutlery, tents, poles, pegs, mallets, shovels, ropes, semaphore flags, etc. were packed into our “Patrol Boxes” and readied for departure. On the big day, we’d board the bus and accompanying cars in our uniforms and head out for a few days of glorious adventure.

On site, the routine began, with unloading, unpacking, distributing, checking, choosing Patrol sites, pitching tents, cutting bamboo, building trestle tables, making gadgets, cooking, inspections, hiking, mealtimes, camp-fires, games and of course, sleeping. Each day began with a “Wake-Up” call, followed in short order by Holy Mass, from the back of Fr. Ildefonse’s / Fr. Cuthbert’s Volkswagen van. The back of the van was set up as an altar, and (these were pre-Vatican II days, so the priest had his back to us, facing into the van) we stood around respectfully as the holy sacrifice was offered, in Latin.

We camped at a number of memorable sites all over Trinidad and Tobago, and I vividly recall one camp in Tobago, in 1961. I think, when Mr. Bishop invited us to come to Tobago as guests of the Tobago Scout Association. The land chosen for us was a concave basin, and we were positioned at the very base of the basin. Mr. Bishop brought over the largest “grass-cutter” I’d ever seen (which he probably used to cut the bush between his coconut trees), a huge apparatus pulled behind his tractor. In no time at all, the area was cleared and we began to set up camp, pitching tents randomly around the inside of the basin. We cooked supper and were preparing for bed when the heavens opened up. Rain fell bucket a drop for the entire night and the water rose inch by inch inside of the tents. Everything was soaked, in fact, everything was underwater, and we were cold and miserable. An SOS call was sent out, presumably by Fr. Cuthbert, and in the middle of the night, cars began to arrive to extricate us from the bog which our campsite had become. We were taken to a local school-house and offered accommodation in a few of the classrooms, which thankfully were dry. We slept blissfully into the morning, all semblance of order having temporarily disappeared. But not for long.. . . . . . . as soon as we had woken up and cooked breakfast, back we went to the campsite to salvage everything, travelling back and forth in Mr. Bishop’s tractor-trailer unit to a new campsite chosen for us, a lovely spot right on the water’s edge, with a beautiful view of sea and sand as only those who know and love Tobago can understand. A very memorable camp indeed.

And so the years have flown. We graduated from Abbey School and moved on with our lives. Some of us went on to Form 6 at St. Mary’s, others attended Canadian, American, British and Venezuelan Universities, among others, and settled down, some with families, others not, but all retaining somewhere, in the backs of their minds, distant, lingering memories of those happy days of our youth, when we were ready to take on the world.

Ladislao Kertesz has been asking for someone to write something about Scouting at Mount, for the benefit of us all, and I have tried to fulfil his request. I knew that somewhere among my albums I still had a small collection of photographs which I had taken with my box camera and I’ve dug them up. Hopefully, some of you guys will recognize yourselves. Hopefully, these pictures will remind you of where we’ve been together. Perhaps some of you may feel inspired to write about your own memories of MSB and the Abbey School.

At any rate, here they are, for your enjoyment. I recognize a number of the guys from these photos, but perhaps not everyone, so help me out, if you will:

Best regards,

Nigel

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz

Send information to: 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.

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Photos:

13KA3268KABMHC, Kazim Abasali and Michael How Chung

04JK0010JKPWFE, Jan Koendraadt and wife Berty

16WR0001WRAGRP, The latest in Mayaro

15DA0002DAL, Damian Ali