Circular 660 Extra, Extra

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

Caracas, 2 of July 2014 No. 660 extra extra

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Dear Friends,

Even with the “extra circulars”, I am overwhelmed with the emails on the subject of the REUNION.  So I have created an “extra extra circular”

This special one would take care of the period 14 to 20 June

There is an opinion that old news is not news, but we must let the OBs know that all their efforts and opinions will be recorded.  It is only fair.

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Subject: Re: Meeting Rescheduled for 1:00 pm tomorrow in Port of Spain..

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:59:51 +0000

Gary,

How soon can we have detailed minutes of yesterday's meeting with responsibilities and deadlines clearly delineated?

Sincerely,

Joe

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From: G <travellingcompanion@hotmail.com>

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 17:44:37 +0000

Hi Don,

At the meeting yesterday at Dennis Gurley's office the question as to what effect, if any, would postponing the reunion have on those who are interested in coming to the reunion scheduled in October arose.

Can you forward this question to the relevant persons in your e-mail listing?

Many thanks.

Gary

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Don Mitchell

Jun 17

Dear all,

We discussed name tags with Mrs Mohammed at our first meeting with her. I do not recall seeing the item come up again.

Howard reminds us how essential this will be.

Name and “graduating or Form V year” may be all that is necessary.

Don

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From: Howard Ho

Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2014 5:59 PM

Wow, can you believe it!... We'll all need nametags for recognition!... See you soon

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Don Mitchell

Jun 17

Wonderful, Howard.

It has been 50 years at least!

Don

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From: Howard Ho

Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2014 5:29 PM

Thanks!... Will make plans to be there, Howard.

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From: Don Mitchell

Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2014 5:19 PM

Dear Alumni,

We are in the process of making arrangements for a new Events Organiser. Arrangements with the last one fell through.

We are shortly to inform everyone of (1) the bank account for you to send your registration fee to; and (2) the address to which to confirm your registration.

We are also shortly to send out a confirmed programme of activities.

We are arranging for group discounts, so please note up your diary now.

The Members of the Organising Committee, besides myself, are as listed above, in case you have a question for any one of us.

Keep well.

Don

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Don Mitchell

Jun 17

Oh, dear, Fr Harold.

Everything that has happened up to now has been the result of the most deliberate decision making on our part. Everything is going as well as can be expected given our scattered residences.

There is no need to cancel the arrangements with the printers.  There is simply no money to pay them at present, and there won’t be until the Registration Fees start to come in.

To get money in the kitty, we need to put in place two accounts.  One, in Trinidad to receive the local registrations.  I am not sure, but I believe Joe’s office will help.  Gabe Faria will handle the overseas accounts, but he is on holiday and travelling at the moment.  Once we have his directions, I will inform the overseas alumni, and their registrations will start to come in.

I don’t understand the cold feet on the part of so many.

Sincerely,

Don

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From: Father Harold Imamshah

Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2014 2:58 PM

My brothers all, 

I shall use this email as my own last effort to reach out to those of you on this list or organizers, well-wishers and interested persons in the Reunion 2014. I understand and empathize with Joe, but need to hear from all as a reply to all of either their commitment at this stage or their current opinion on the next step. If I have not heard from anyone else by the end of today, I too will exclude myself from any further consulting on our Reunion 2014 and will cancel my arrangement with my Printer for the Banners. I look forward, however to Thursday's Lunch with Joe and to future Lunches or Coffees, because I have enjoyed many one on one times with one Alumnus or other and strongly believe in continued Abbey School connections, be they planned or spontaneous.

Fr. Harold

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On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 2:44 PM,

Joe bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com wrote:

Dear Don,

For the reasons given previously, I will no longer be directly participating in or contributing to the arrangements for the 2014 reunion. I can't see how this can progress without your most active continued involvement at every stage and much wider alumni ownership.

I would be cancelling the meeting that I convened for Thursday, later today, unless you have some better ideas.

Sincerely,

Joe

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Joe

Jun 14

I am under tremendous pressure from several directions and this is not a time of my choosing. I don't even have time to get enough sleep. I will support but my circumstances do not allow me any time to take initiatives. 

I hope that you are able to regroup with Anthony's help. 

There is someone working out of my office. She is an A level graduate and former law clerk with Caribbean Law Chambers and worked with Dennis Gurley's law chambers in her earlier life. We can bill her time @ $100 per hour plus costs in blocks of a minimum of 30 hours. I can supervise her no charge. This is the best that I can do at the present time.

Possibly someone else can do a better job: I don't want anyone to presume that it would benefit me or that I am promoting my self-interest. 

Our firm has new hires, major contract and safety credential renewals at this time. I will be leaving on an unavoidable and absolutely essential foreign trip shortly. 

I can't do (arrange to have done) what has not been done for three months in hours, days or a few short weeks. 

Sincerely,

Joe

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Father Harold Imamshah

Jun 14

Gentlemen, there are enough OB's locally who might like to take the reins of leadership and pull a team together and make this Reunion work/happen. I encourage anyone who has been on the team and anyone else who has not been on the team to see the importance of salvaging this Reunion by coming to Thursday's Meeting.

No one has yet given me the address of Dennis Gurley's Office, in case I can get away from our Corpus Christi's hectic Day's Celebrations and activities.

Fr. Harold

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Don Mitchell

Jun 14

Dear all,

Assuming we have not received Mrs Mohammed’s proposal on how she will charge for her services by start of work on Monday morning, I propose to discontinue the services of her firm that morning. If I hear nothing against this step from any of you, I shall take it I am authorised to do so.

Keep well.

Don

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vcl28@aol.com

Jun 14

Don,

I believe that it's certainly something we must consider now, before we get into this deeper.  Remember that at this stage we're only costing the event.  When we make decisions based on those costing, we are going to have to rely on these people to do the actual organization on the ground!!!  We have to look that far ahead and ask ourselves, if they can’t help us to cost the event, how the hell will they be able to make all final arrangements on the ground?

Tony

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From: vcl28@aol.com

Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 17:51:53 -0400 (EDT)

Cheers Guys,

In view of our circumstances it is something we must consider. And I consider it a great offer. With our guidance I am sure that we can do better than now.  The only problem is that these organizers NORMALLY have information which we do not have, [I don't know what is wrong with these organizers since they are hopeless] but the people in this profession know who are the best [economical/quality] caterers, where to get tables, chairs, food drinks etc. for the events. So it’s better to deal with a knowledgeable professional.

You have made a fine offer Joe, and when we meet if we can speak to her to decide on the aptitude for this sort of thing, we can see if it is workable and agreeable.

We don't know each other but I am a good manager.  Guys, I have always been, and I need very little supervision, especially if you give me the clear principles under which you want me to operate.  Not only have I been a general manager of a sugar estate with 2000 employees, not only did I pioneer the first TV station in Guyana, not only did I get selected to go to Parliament, but I was the chairman of the economics services committee and a past director of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union.  I currently own a Real Estate Limited liability Corporation in the US.  So, I am far from retired, and I now hold a US H1B visa since I have been assessed by the US state department as having [in experience] the equivalent of a masters in business administration.

Tony

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From: "Don Mitchell" <idmitch@anguillanet.com>

Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:23:21 -0400

Dear all,

I don’t know about you. But, to me this below is an unacceptable response.

I would suggest terminating them now, and selecting someone else at the Thursday meeting. You will need a few days before the meeting to make inquiries and to line up someone with more experience and professionalism.

Please advise in due course if you would like me to do anything about it.

Don

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From: Justine Low

Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2014 2:57 PM

Hi Don,

I apologize, as I am still working on this information. I have not forgotten you I promise.

Justine

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On Jun 14, 2014, at 1:00 PM,

Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:

Dear Shira and Justine,

We are urgently awaiting word from you on how you will charge our committee for helping us to organise the event. We have asked for this information repeatedly over the past weeks, but only received silence. We are wondering if you still want to enter into an arrangement with us, or whether you are having second thoughts.

Now, I have today received the questions below from one of the alumni. I don’t know how to answer him.

If you are still working with us on this, some of this information on costs, I had assumed, was information that resided in your files, and could be pulled instantly.  Please let us know what the hold-up is, and what the answers are.

Sincerely,

Don

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Photos:

6003 East St. George Sports Event p11

06WK0058REUNION2006

1511762LK14FB, Neil Charles medal

59UN0001FOOTBALL, Chris Date added