Circular No 662 Extra

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

Caracas, 15 of July 2014 No. 662 extra

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Dear Friends,

With this issue we have covered June.  Not all exchanges regarding the Reunion have been included, but sufficient to get an idea of the problems faced by the OB organizers.

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On Monday, June 30, 2014 6:26 AM,

Nigel Boos <nigelboos@yahoo.ca> wrote:

Thank you for your good work, Kaz, on behalf of all of us.  I know it's a thankless job, but love for the old Abbey School and the Mount and all the memories that the place inspires provides the strength to continue. 

I hope you're improving daily and that you continue to have the motivation to continue in all that you do.

God bless you.

Nigel

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On 2014-06-30, at 5:12 AM,

Kazim Abasali wrote:

A very good day to all of you.  Recently I took the opportunity to serve our Alumni Group of Boys even more with facilitating the Database that Nigel Boos created, and developed, for so long.  And I am now maintaining this MSB Database in his honour, as he stills find the time to keep me updated with new developments as pertains to the Database.  We wish him well with his family and other concerns.

And, I also thank you all again for giving me the opportunity to serve in other areas.  Right now I am facilitating our website, and our Facebook Group as well.  This work I do, because of the inspiration I get from Ladislao Kertesz, Don Mitchell, Nigel Boos, and the ongoing work of our Trinidad Alumni Executive and members.  So, I continue to support you in whatever ways we can best keep the Group moving forward.

To Ladislao, this is an honour to help support the long years of total dedication work you do.  And, Don's love for the Alumni is being said by his wanting a Grand Reunion for, and with us all, this year 2014.

Now, as we work as a Group in a harmonious way, I was contacted by Winston Ramsahai to help him facilitate a website he initiated, as he is now responsible for Promoting and Marketing this 2014 Alumni Reunion.  And I stand totally committed to helping in the best way possible.  And this means effectively and efficiently.

The reason I say to be effective with the least amount of energy expended is because I am giving you the benefit of my recently acquired wisdom.  I therefore do not wish for anyone to suffer the same fate as I have recently.  As you all may recall in June 2012, I suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of my body.  With the Grace of God I have made a recovery, thanks also to my wife, family and friends support, and most importantly my love for life and willingness to accomplish some more dreams in this life.  I really do not concentrate on myself, like feeling sorry for myself, or looking for sympathy.  However, this is very, very serious.  I do not want any one of you to experience what I experienced.  I continue to do therapy.  And, I am thinking positive, praying, and working towards total healing.

This labour of love work I am doing gives me great joy to serve you, and I am well able to do it.  So, let us work together to support one another in this project at hand – the 2014 Alumni Reunion in October.

Over the last month, I have embarked on a project on behalf of the MSB Boys.  I decided to redo our website that I facilitate to support Ladislao, Don, Nigel, and the Alumni Executive.  I am using WordPress as it is the best technology out there to do websites.  It is full-featured, and very professional, as opposed to others in the industry.  And, I am happy to share I developed our website with a refreshed look.  I finished it over the weekend, and I wanted to email you all sooner.  However, I felt I should complete the website before emailing you all.

Recently, Don shared his concern about scattering our efforts, and wanted us to use what we already have, that is, Ladislao's Circulars, Don's Blog, emails, our Website, and our Facebook Group, that are already well established and used, to continue to promote our 2014 Reunion.  And, since our Group of Boys, and I say this respectfully, are not all that computer literate as some of us are, we need more than ever to keep our efforts concentrated to the media and devices our “Old Boys” are well familiar with now.

So, I have developed the website, even more user-friendly than before, and whatever change in look and feel adds to a more satisfied and enjoyable experience.  You can use the same link to get to our website: www.msbaatt.com

I have included a new page for the latest updates and developments for the 2014 Reunion as it happens, and as you desire - what information and resources needs to be shared.  Anything you want the Boys to know, in whatever form, this new WordPress website can handle multiple tasks.  We can even make some areas private by supplying a key to view special pages, and so on.  WordPress is used by as an industry standard by the biggest corporations, as well as by non-profits. It can be simple or full-featured as you want it to be.

I now stand ready at your command, [I am more inclined to be always on the move], to serve you even more effectively and efficiently.  So give me the latest updates and developments and I will have it on the website, our Facebook Group as we work together as a unified team to make this a Grand Reunion for us all......

Kazim

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

Date: Jun 30, 2014 3:44 PM

Hi, Tony,

You have a bad case of disappointment.  I am not there yet. 

My analysis is that you are an entrepreneur who is accustomed to working with boards, thrashing out a problem, finding a solution, and executing.  Winston is an entrepreneur who is accustomed to quickly analysing a problem, taking the decision, and carrying it out to success without having to consult with anybody.  Fr Harold is accustomed to working with fractious community-based groups and facilitating a solution.  I am accustomed to all of the above :-)

Whatever they decide, I shall consider how best I can help to carry it out.  I want the Reunion to occur, whether this year or next.  I would prefer next year, even though this year is my 50th Anniversary of leaving Mount.  But, if they decide to do it this year, I am on board. It will just be more of a rush, and not guaranteed to be a success as it would be if you were still on board.

We’ll keep talking.  I’ll brief you as it goes if you don’t hear directly.

Keep well.

Don

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From: vcl28@aol.com

Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 3:16 PM

Don,

   Do you really think that, given the huge amount of damage done to our credibility as a result of bringing the OBs this far since last year at nearly this time, that we have any possible chance of telling them now that we will try again next year;  that the Regent, the CoE, the Boomerang Caterers, etc., will even speak to us seriously again?

  Or that the ASAA, timid as they are because of past disappointments, [which failed because of being badly organized but not recognized at being failures for that reason], will support a legitimate attempt to hold a one of a kind event which will be organized at the highest possible standards so as to be attractive to OBs and bring them to TT in numbers, instead of some cheap, uninspiring, boring event organized on sentiment and not pure logic, which can do neither.  Will that eventuality be advisable or even reasonable?

   Its over Don, this can never be taken seriously again, not with this ASAA committee of sceptics who are afraid of taking the plunge to something extraordinary because of wariness created by some badly organized failures in the past.

   I firmly believe that Winston is just an extreme example of the phenomenon.

It was nice working with Father Harold and you, Don.  But this reunion is off, and I think in the scope we visualized it, it’s off permanently.

Tony

-----Original Message------------------------------------------------------------

From: Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com>

Sent: Mon, Jun 30, 2014 12:28 pm

Hi, Fr Harold,

If there is a meeting planned, perhaps you could pass on my thoughts about postponing to next year when we can give adequate notice to the overseas alumni?

Thanks,

Don

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vcl28@aol.com

Jun 30

Thanks Gabe,

Its fluctuating all the time, day by day, but at the airport when I came in on 19th June the rate at the airport's Cambio was TT$6.31-US$1, but a rate of 6.35 would be acceptable to us.  It’s what I was using to calculate the exchange rate. You can keep the difference for your trouble.

Tony,

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Don Mitchell

Jun 30

Thank you, Gabe, yes, if you would receive and account for the Trinidad funds as well, that would be wonderful.

Don

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Gabefaria

Jun 29

Don,

Looks okay to me.

Do you also want to include the payment for TT$?.

Right now just let them issue a cheque as I don't have the swift info for my TT$ accounts. I don't do much electronic transactions from here as the cost is prohibitive.

I will send out a note to my bank asking them for the info later so should have an answer by tomorrow afternoon.

These are the acct #s

RBL:  440xxxx174xx

Scotia: 74815-13xxxx

They can do an electronic transfer from either Scotia or RBL but they have to send me an email so I can validate the transfer was completed properly.

Off course they can also write a cheque and drop it off at Carib brewery or my home in Westmoorings, 8 Regents Drive West. 

One thing, the exchange rate is really more than 6.40.  I use 6.45 when I am converting, but that's your call.

Rgds

GF

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Don Mitchell

 Jun 28

Hello, Gabe,

I am still working on the Registration Form.  I have now inserted your details for remitting funds.

Please let me know if it looks correct to you.

Thanks,

Don

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 On Sunday, June 29, 2014 6:37 AM,

Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:

Dear All,

I know it is Sunday, and we are all engaged in other activities, so I apologise for troubling you today.

But, when you get a chance, please will someone update me with where we are with (1) planning; and (2) organising?

We have Tony’s draft PowerPoint presentation to consider.

We have a draft Registration Form to consider.

There is in circulation a draft Register to keep track of who has sent in their Registration Form, and paid their Registration Fees.

Once the planning and organising of the Grand Luncheon is agreed by the Organising Committee we must consider whether we have given the overseas Old Boys sufficient time to put their travel plans in place.

We are almost in July.

In early September I have school restarting, and in mid-September I have a panel on Election Law to participate in for a major regional Bar Association Conference.  I am not going to be of much use to the Committee in August and September.

Keep well.

Don

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From: Father Harold Imamshah <frharold12@gmail.com>

Date: Sat, Jun 28, 2014 at 7:38 AM

Dear brothers, 

It would seem to me that the Seminary (+ Pax Guest House and the Monastery Retreat House) are coming back into view as a reminder for those who prefer to choose a less expensive alternative to the Regent Star and the Seminary Dining Rooms for the Sunday Lunch if our numbers are smaller.

That's my summary of what I've been reading.

With regard to Venezuelans staying at the Seminary, that is entirely in the hands of Winston to choose since he and a few others are their hosts, and they (the hosts) are free to choose the accommodations for the Venezuelans and themselves.

Whatever Reunion dates are decided, based now, on the availability of a particular venue (CoE 5th Oct or Seminary 19th Oct) for the Sunday Lunch will be a gamble based on whatever size of crowd is in the mind of us who gamble.

I think I have a clearer picture now of how Abbey alumni operate, either in Year Groups, North American Groups, other overseas based little groups, (including the Caribbean) and in Trinidad, some strong and decisive groups and others who wait to voice their approval/disapproval and precisely because cohesiveness is still growing after all of these years, there appears to me to be some degree of competitiveness, mistrust and even reluctance to commit.

The one admirable quality I have observed, is a loyalty to the Abbey School and I regret that the Monastic Staff did not, early in the life of the College, invite the initiative and assistance of an Alumni Association in the (continued) life of the School.( or maybe they did unknown to us?)

I urge and strongly encourage all of you who still possess such a love for your Alma Mater to use it yes in all of your Alumni activities, ie., when we only operate out of the horizontal (the horizontal being the inter-dependence of alumni with each other) without the vertical (the loyalty and School spirit and lessons learnt from Abbey School), the fruits will be discouragement, negativism, blaming, divisions, disunity and a lack of zeal to work together).

I pray through the intercession of St. Benedict, that our Reunion 2014 and the ASAA will work together, that all that has been inspired from the words of so many of the Abbey Staff will inspire us to move ahead, arm in arm, not locked in defiance or anger or division but in agreeing to disagree, working for the common good of Abbey Boys. Amen.

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Photos:

6003 East St. George Sports Event p16

58IF0013XXX, Farcheg

14GF000GAFWFE, Gabriel Faria and wife

14PD1049PDE, Paul Dewan