Newsletter for alumni of The
Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 16 of August 2014 No. 667
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Dear Friends,
Here is an article that I am
sure you would like reading.
This was Sport at Mount.
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Sweet talk and lasting memories
Hugh
Henderson
Published: 12 Apr 2010
Two weeks
ago my long-time school friend Joe Azar organised a luncheon for some Mount St
Benedict old boys to meet a popular past student Neil Woon Sam, whom we had not
seen for 55 years. Talk was sweet, old
photos were examined, stories were plentiful and it was a beautiful experience
proving once again what friends are all about. Neil was one of my best friends at school as
we played on all the school teams and it was a dream fulfilled to see him
again. As I drove home, our discussions
caused me to reflect on how schoolboy sport had changed over the last 50 plus
years.
For
example: As students at a boarding
school we lived in a disciplined atmosphere where we bonded together for the
entire school year and most of us played all sports — cricket, football,
tennis, volleyball, ping pong and athletics. We also sang in the choir, acted in plays and
belonged to the scout troop — such an active, healthy and balanced life. It was a given that every afternoon we went
down to the playing field and then had to rush back up the hill to shower and
get ready for hours of evening study. Today, you are lucky if a student plays one
sport or even knows what a scout looks like. We had big name coaches. I was coached by Test spinner Ellis “Puss” Achong
and Elias Constantine (Sir Learie’s brother and national player) in cricket; Jimmy Hill (Fulham and England footballer) and
Alan Joseph (national football captain) in football; and PG Wilson, perhaps the best known athletic
coach at the time.
We also
found ourselves playing against established players. At 16 years, I was privileged to play against
national player Carl Furlonge, and Test bowlers Charran Singh, Jaswick Taylor
and Charlie Stayers of Guyana. We grew
up fast, playing as 15 and 16-year-olds in the East St. George cricket league
against men twice our age and not afraid to “let us have it”. We all remember a left-arm quickie named Prime
who inflicted many a black and blue on our bodies. There is the famous story of Prime hitting
“Michael” on his unprotected thigh four times in a row and having the umpire
turn down each appeal for LBW. In the
next over, by which time Michael’s leg was almost paralysed, Prime appealed
again, at which point Michael informed the umpire “out or not out, I am going!”
When it
came to football season, playing at the ground in St Joseph, it was no
different facing the brutal tackles of huge men who could care less how young
we were. Of course, we did not travel
with doctors, coaches, psychologists and trainers like today but rubbed our
wounds on the sidelines and faced the world as real men, not pampered babies. Equipment was something else, both for cricket
and football! It is hard to imagine that
none of us ever heard of an arm guard, a chest pad, a thigh pad, a face mask or
a batting helmet. Today’s batting gloves
look like boxing gloves, while ours were made of light cotton with a few rubber
pimples along the top of the fingers for so-called protection. Yet we all survived with few injuries. We used to rub our precious bats with linseed
oil, another “unknown” today.
The
footballs of today take off like a plane no matter who kicks them. We had to deal with leaden leather balls,
thick with dubbin and threatening laces ready to scar your forehead for life if
you dared to head a corner. Of course if
the field was wet and the ball weighed a ton, you had to have the strength of
Samson and Hercules combined to kick the ball more than a few feet. Tennis racquets today are unrecognisable to
what we played with, and in our day no-one except the professional Pancho
Segura used a two handed backhand. No
schoolboys played golf in the 50’s, now seemingly hundreds do. Today we have the Soca Princesses in every age
group but 50 years ago, no girl could kick a ball. In 1965 I invited a very pretty and
intelligent girl to come to the Oval to see two English teams play. She had never seen a football match and proved
it when she asked: “When are they going to move those big posts that are in the
way?” (the goalposts!!).
Even my
precious wife, having been to school in USA, when I took her to White Hart Lane
to see the great Jimmy Greaves play for Tottenham Hotspurs, floored me when she
asked what “college” he played for! Perhaps
the biggest change is the mode of travel. All our youth teams today seem to do nothing
but fly all over the world for warm up games, trials, major tournaments et al,
living in regal style. It is difficult
to keep up with who is where and when. In
1955, our 14-member school team toured Guyana to play cricket, football and
athletics against St Stanislaus College, and we travelled on a bauxite ship,
sleeping on the open deck, the more fortunate ones having the thick, winding
anchor rope as a pillow. And you know
what? We thought we were the luckiest
boys in the world, privileged to play in “foreign.” How many 16-year-olds can claim to have played
at Bourda and faced soon to be Test fast bowler, Charlie Stayers?
The
following year, another Mount team travelled to Guyana on SS Mabiri, the
oldest, slowest boat ever to float. Apart
from most boys nearly dying from sea-sickness, the trip took nearly three days
instead of the expected one. When Roger
my brother woke up on the first morning and optimistically declared he could
see Guyana, he soon learned that what he was actually seeing was San Fernando
in the distance! It is said that the
most famous over in cricket history was bowled by Holding against Boycott in
1981. Mount old boys beg to disagree as
we all remember “Joe”, a nippy opening bowler, who bowled the first over in a
league game against a visiting team. The
first two balls were edged through the slips for four. The third ball was dropped by second slip, the
fourth was again edged for four and the fifth was dropped in the gully. This was too much for “Joe” to bear, so he
went back fuming to his mark, dropped on his knees, raised the ball like a
chalice to the heavens and called out in pain “Lord, Lord, what to bowl?”
We were
all on edge as “Joe,” divinely inspired, roared in with his final ball, only to
have the batsman take a mighty swing and hit him into the bamboo for six! Beat that Mikey Holding! Thank you guys for a fantastic occasion. The
food was excellent, the company even better and the memories will last
forever—after all, we are now in our seventies so “forever” is not really so
long!
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From:
Glen Mckoy <mckoy43glen@hotmail.com>
Date: 7 June 2014 14:09
Thank you,
Sir Bandit, for re-educating us again on the Mount Boys, we knew so little
about. This is another hero from our
tribe. Please read, gentlemen, all I can
add to this.
I am so
proud to be a Mount Boy.
The
eagles took our brother Sir John Felix, into the light, we will always treasure
the fond memories of all our classmates until the end.
Long live
this reunion of lifetime friends.
Best
regards
glen
mckoy.
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From: nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 11:17:32 -0400
It was
announced a few days ago that Pres. Obama had proclaimed June to be the
Caribbean-American Heritage Month
However,
what was not mentioned is that such a proclamation has been, to a large extent,
due to the efforts of a MSB Old Boy, John Felix, who died in August 2013.
I had not
known John, but Bandit de Castro and another Trini friend, Neil Espinet of San
Fernando, brought him to my attention when news of his death had been
mentioned.
Here's
what Neil Espinet had written to me about John Felix:
I knew or
got to know John Felix just about the same time as the Bandit De Castro. He was involved in anything Caribbean, Trinidad
and Maracas. John did go to Mount St. Benedict, but he did so for only 3 years,
in the late years when it was then acceptable for vast amounts of non-whites
and boys from not wealthy or upperclass families. Apparently this was the period nearing the
end and the closing of the college. It
could have been the period of religious brothers, I think Dom Basil Mathew, and
Brother Vincent (Lionel Roberts), who is now married and was a brother later in
Brazil.
Lionel is
close to De Castro, and lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with his wife Marlene. I have heard JOHN FELIX ramble on about Mount
St. Benedict, its location, structure of buildings, etc, many times. Lionel Roberts is a short in height Negro, appox.
age 82 years old. He was never mentioned
by any of you guys so I, as an outsider of the Mount, never told you, contact
Bandit on him. As regards to JOHN FELIX,
he accompanied me twice to Erica Williams-Connel functions. He was a magic personality. The Bandit and Felix went to all Caribbean
carnivals in Florida. John Felix was one
hell of a friend to us both. We will go
to his funeral together ,
John
founded the CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION [CACANA] it can be found on
Google. He was also prominent in the
election and re-election of Trinidad born twice mayor of Orlando / Longwood. John Maingot is a close friend of the
Venezuelian- descendants of settlers in Maracas / Paramin region. He was a gentleman, and a proud Caribbean man,
involved in serious Caribbean issues in Florida.
John will
be missed tremendously by the younger born in America children immigrants from
the West indies, who live in Florida. Find
more on John Felix research under CACANA.
Thank you for thinking of this special person, not from an upper or rich
family, who laboured in the planting of cocoa, coffee, bananas, in the hills
and back woods of Paramin.
Bless you,
Nigel, and thank you from depths in my mind, memory and 16 years of a
relationship with John Felix. Gracias, y
hasta luego, amigo .
NEIL
DESMOND ESPINET D' CARRIBEAN - MAN
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Nigel Boos
Aug 27, 2013
Thanks for
this information, Neil.
For some
reason, I'd never heard of John Felix before this, as a student at MSB.
However,
I've now added some information to the MSB OB database, from notes sent to me
by Bandit and yourself, and I'm very thankful for them.
I know
Lionel Roberts try well, and we have been frequently in touch with one another.
All your
notes are interesting.
Nigel
P.S.
Gentlemen (to whom this note is sent as 'bcc')
The notes
below, from a friend in Florida, Neil Espinet (not an OB of MSB) are in
reference to JOHN FELIX, an Old Boy of MSB, who became a prominent Caribbean
man in Florida. John died a few days
ago, and he will be sorely missed by the folks in Florida, among others.
May his
soul rest in peace.
Nigel
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On 08/26/13,
Don
Mitchell<idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:
I Googled
his name and found this John Felix of Orlando:
If any of
you is on Twitter, you may be able to access his account and see if he is the
right one.
Don
-------------------------------------------------------------.
From:
Nigel Boos
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 11:39 AM
Bandit
and Neil,
Thank you
for this note. I am sorry to hear of John's passing, but this is the first time
I'd heard that there was ever a boy at MSB by this name. I've added him into the database and indicated
that he has died. Is there anything at
all that you can tell me about him, for inclusion in the DB? For example, can you perhaps, make a guess as
to the years he attended school at MSB? One other thing - can you explain for me what
he was prominent for?
I worked
at Amoco for a number of years, and I'd been involved with hiring a John Felix
who actually worked in the HR Department with me. He was a fine man, and a friend of mine, but I
do not recall him ever mentioning MSB to me. Further, I never heard him speak about
Paramin, even though I had personally done some PR work in those hills on
behalf of Amoco, and he might have known about it.
So, my
question is: Do you think that your John
Felix and mine are the same person?
By the
way, do you know what he died of?
May he
rest in peace.
Nigel
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On 2013-08-25, at 11:41 AM,
david decastro wrote:
He was
also a Mount Saint Benedict boy, and a very good friend of mine --rest in peace
--'bandit"
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Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 10:16:37 -0500
From:
florita4@verizon.net
Announcement; Death of John Felix; Orlando
Region; Florida / USA .
August
24th, 2013;
This
sorrowful notification is to inform of the passing of an extremely generous and
faithful Trinidadian, who was born and walked proudly out of the hillside and
cocoa estate region of Paramin / Maracas Valley. He must have seen and known the secrets of
the 'sauta dou' spiritual flow current, of that region’s sand bar and the funge
- current sometimes doubted spiritual flow of the Maracas Seas in the region
offshore and opposite to the tiny town of Paramin, as this was a man unafraid
to give his opinion about his home, his friends, that region, that gave a
sacred honour and special gift to brave Caribbean men only who are blessed by the
special saint of the village St. Joseph of the Valley
Go slowly,
Juan.
Sincerely
and positively,
neil
desmond espinet .
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Photos:
11CM3032CMASCO, Carlos Maneiro and Salvador Coscarart
12LA3594LAL, Leon Alves
60CV0008GUYANESE, Trip to Guyana,
12WD2624WDI, Wbladimiro Diaz
