Circular No 121

Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 28 February 2004. Circular No.121

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Dear Friends,
The last Circular was sent late. The following might be late also, but I shall try to keep up the weekly edition.
I have received the following from a classmate, and as I have said sometime ago, better send and read the news late than never.

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From: "Daniel de Verteuil" <deverted@renc.igs.net>
Date: 4 Nov 10:51 (PST)

Ladislao,
I keep silent but read the circular every week. During the summer my wife, my dog and I toured Northwestern Canada and Alaska. Attached is the summary of that trip which you may or may not find suitable as an attachment to the msb circular - your decision and I won't be at all upset if you choose not to attach it. Anyway, it will give you a sense of what I am up to.
I enjoy the circulars and much appreciates your effort in producing them.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Daniel de Verteuil

(Sorry I lost the attachment, but do write again about your adventures,
ed.)
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From: Richard Anderson <tropicgreen@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 7:27PM

Dear Ladislao,
Thank you for you E-mail.
I left Mount in Form 4, I believe 1962. In my class Jeffrey Camacho, great friend. Michael Marchock, Mervin Assam, Peter and Norman Tang, Gregory Farfan, Nigel Boos, Michael ,Robert & Jimmy Azar, Terrence Ferrera from Guyana, Desmond Devaux, Don Mitchell , Patrick Devaux, too many to mention.
Steve Anderson is my brother lives in Trinidad. Gerald Anderson lost touch but do believe is in Trinidad. Peter Laughlin is in Sarasota Fl. Michael Laughlin is Perth, Australia.
I was in Scouts. Fr. Cuthbert was the Scout master, I was in Toucans with Jeffrey Gransaull, Troop leader. Also played drums for the Scout band, Left as a Queen's Scout. Played in the band called Ventures Started at mount with Johnny Abraham and we continued after school Played at many fetes as well as Nightclubs, The Rock and Matador - for those who remember their earlier years partying. After leaving Mount I was President of the Old Boys Association, I believe it was 1964 or 65 not too sure of the year.
Ladislao, I hope this helps with some information.
To all my friends please E-mail me let me hear from you.
Regards Richard.
(I would like to hear from you, Jeffrey Gransuall, is it true that you are a pilot? ed.)
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From: "Ladislao Kertesz" <ladislaokertesz@hotmail.com>
To: tropicgreen@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 13:46:08 +0000

Dear Richard,
Thank you for the resume. I shall send it out soon in a Circular. Please write me your Form V graduation date and telephone number, for the general list.
There were at least two other Anderson in my list, Gerard and Steven? Were they from your clan?
Do you remember your classmates?? friends, what has happened to them? Are you in correspondence with other MSB oldboys? Any photos? Were you a scout?
I know this is a lot, but the Circular must circulate, and bring fond memories to some.
I would like to send you a photo of your era,
God Bless
Ladislao
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From: "JonGolding" <jongolding@wow.net>
Date: 29 Feb 07:50 (PST)
Subject:
Brendan Gurley

Dear Ladislao,
It is with deep regret that I have to inform the Mount Alumni of the passing of our friend Brendan Gurley.
Brendan was killed in Tobago by a car last Saturday morning when cycling with some friends on the island. He was an avid cyclist and runner in Trinidad and had good road sense but the accident was a freak one where he could not see an overtaking car behind another car that stopped for him.
Brendan leaves a young wife (his second marriage), a 9 year old daughter and a 17 year old son from his first marriage who had recently come to live with him from the UK. Sadly, Brendan's other son, the boy's older brother, was killed last year in a car accident in the US. The funeral was on Thursday this week at his Church, St Finbar's in Diego Martin and was attended by over 500 people. Fr Michel de Verteuil and Fr Tom Lawson conducted the Funeral Mass. Brendan spent most of his life in Trinidad. He was a qualified accountant, a respected stockbroker and was recently made President of the 100-year old Clydesdale Club in Port of Spain, the mecca of very successful Trinidad & Tobago businessmen and professionals.
Brendan's two brothers, Dennis and Christian were at Mount in the 50's and 60's and many of our Alumni will remember them. Brendan and Dennis were in the 2nd MSB Scout Band with me and I have some photos I will be sending you soon.
Condolences can be sent to Dennis at: dgurley@jdsellier.com. Dennis is one of the most successful attorneys in Trinidad and is the Senior partner of J D Sellier & Co, a prestigious law firm.
Let us remember Brendan in our prayers. He was an exemplar of a quiet but solid and sincere old Mount boy who leaves a legacy of many friends and relatives who respected him and loved him.
May God Rest his soul in peace and keep him until we meet again in His presence.
Kind regards
Jon Golding (MSB 1955-1962)
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From: Nigel Boos <nigelboos@yahoo.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 8:05 PM

Brendan was a great little guy, as I remember him. Unfortunately, we lost touch with each other when I left MSB, but he was a good trumpeter as a kid, and I would love to have known him as an adult.
May he rest in peace.
Nigel

Laz - you may want to announce this to the Old Boys. (You might remember
Brendan - he was about 3-4 years behind us, so he probably graduated around 1963-64).
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On Feb 23, 2004, at 2:47 PM, Michael Azar wrote:

Hi Nigel,
Michael Azar here in Portland Oregon, sorry I have not gotten around to talking to you much last year, but I was going through some health problems. I heard from Trinidad that Brendan Gurley was killed in Tobago, in a motorcycle accident. I thought that those who knew him will like to know. Will try and contact you soon by phone or by email.
God Bless,
Michael Azar ( Big Joe)
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Last years effort to contact Anthony Johnson:
From: "Michael Azar" <azargroup@myexcel.com>
Date: 2 May 07:08 (PDT)

Hi Ladislao,
Will try to contact him again. Nigel Boos is also concerned about him.
He has also lost contact with him.

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From: "Ladislao Kertesz" <lkertesz1@icqmail.com>
To: <azargroup@myexcel.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 7:46 PM

Thank you Michael, I know you knew. By the way Boxhead is anxious on Gabby´s whereabouts, so here is a clue on his free time affair. Information on Anthony Johnson:
Professional Realty Institute
909 East Green Street, Pasadena, California 91106-2996
888.785.4800
626.229.9900 626.229.0789 FAX
Date Course Description Faculty
Thursday, May 08, 2003 113 Real Property, Tax and Exchanging
Anthony L. Johnson
Class Location:
San Mateo County AOR
850 Woodside Way
San Mateo CA 94401
He is to give a course 113 in San Mateo on the 8 of MAy. Maybe you can call him???
This information can be looked up in Anthony L. Johnson, CPA, yahoo search
Regards
Ladislao
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On Thu, 1 May 2003 19:06:15 -0700, "Michael Azar" wrote:

Hi Ladislao,
I am sorry I have not been in touch with you. I will try and find time to write some articles. The Picture is Gerhard Most Chaba/chabito.
Michael Azar,
Big Joe
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From: "Michael Azar" <azargroup@myexcel.com>
Date: 7 May 14:48 (PDT)

Hi Ladislao,
Your quiz from left to right:
1) Michael Howard,
2) Top of his head is off, and
3) Pepe Barggio
And of course Fr. Cuthbert.
I think I may get hold of Anthony Johnson. I had Lisa the secretary at where he gives classes, to let him know we are
looking for him. Will let you know tomorrow, or he may even contact you directly.
Michael Azar,
Big Joe
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For those that are looking for PEPE, he is well and you can contact him
at: pbraggio@yahoo.com,
He is busy but promised to reply to his friends. But no luck from Anthony Johnson, I presume he is well.
A couple of photos from the pool, no Acqualads then !!!
Would like to hear from the Acqualads Club members, I hear they were really good.
I am omitting the .xls list of oldboys from the regular mailing as there seems to be no interest in looking up names, or returning corrections or additions.
God Bless
Ladislao

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Photo: swimming start, 1,2,3, relay 1,2

Column: D Bratt Its. Carnival Tuesday

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Look us up at http://www.theabbeyschool.com, an all class msb web site.
Send information to: Ladislaokertesz@hotmail.com, if you would like to be in the
circular's mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.
Telf. 0(212) 263.5346 Caracas.
Use Kaviacion@Cantv.net, for photos as I leave enough storage space for these.
Please note: you may have missed some of the circulars, if you have not received
one every week, do not hesitate to ask for the missing number.
For those that would like to contact me here I include my telephones:
Telf.Office: 58 (212) 263.5346, 267.2416, From: 11:00GMT to 22:00GMT
FAX: 58 (212) 261.0829,
Home: 58 (212) 238.4084. From: 00:00 GMT to 04:00 GMT
Cellphone: 58 (0416) 612.5695
ICQ# 158597413
Remember that Venezuela's time is the same as Trinidad's, -04:00 GMT.

Circular No 120

Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 21 February 2004. Circular No. 120

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Dear Friends,
I would like to remind those that feel that they are left out of the Circulars, if you do not write then I cannot include your comments, and your long lost friends cannot see your e-mail address and write you. And to those friends that have been receiving this Circular and would like to be taken off the list, please R.S.V.P., I do not want to inconvenience you with material that has to be erased every week from your inbox.
Just for the record, there are a couple of alumni that have asked to be taken off. I keep sending them a Christmas Card every year to ask for their wellbeing and let them know that we are sending out the Newsletter, just in case they would like to be reinserted.
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I have found a few misplaced emails that I should have sent long time ago.
Tony, please forgive.

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From: Tony Vieira <tandjv@networksgy.com>
Date: Tue Mar 4 19:20:14 2003

Ladislao,
Talking about father Eugene, one day I fell down in the pole vault pit and broke my wrist, I always smile when I see the new air filled landing pads the current athletes use for pole vaulting, our pole vault pit was sawdust and as hard as concrete, both bones just above the wrist were broken [confirmed later by X-ray and a cast which I had to endure for 6 weeks] so Scruts sent me up to the dorm, it was Saturday so no nurse, when I got to the dorm, I was met with the astonishing sight of Eugene doing pull ups on the first cubicle next to his room in his shorts. That night after I told the boys about it, Edward Lloyd, Steve Mailingsmith and "Cow spray" [anyone remember cow spray's real name?] mobilised the boys who waited until Eugene was about to make his last round, and they started doing pull ups on their cubicles, forcing a clearly embarrassed Eugene to flee and seek refuge in his room. As far as the colour of the cubicle was concerned, I was never invited to choose the colour of MY cubicle, and if the place was still functional I would sue. Does anyone else remember picking the colour of their cubicle? as I recall, all were painted this really sick cream colour.

The cubicle next to mine was occupied by the french boy Piton, does anyone remember him? My job was to help him with his English since he did not speak one word of the language. Piton had one wrangler Jeans which he wore everyday for the entire term, he did not have to hang up those jeans, it stood up by itself when he took it off.
My cubicle was close to the toilet, it was on the side of the dorm which faced the mountain. From my cubicle, on most nights the toilet looked like it was on fire, and there was that much smoke coming out of it. The amount of cigarettes we threw in the toilets at the mount killed all the bacteria in the septic tanks and caused an environmental hazard. The poetic justice of it all was that it was we who caused that incredible stench in the first place, that were forced to breathe it in day and night.
Tony Vieira

P.S. Ladislao, I bought a P4 computer and in the process of transferring all of the data to the new computer from the old hard drive the idiot technician erased all of my e-mails, so please send me the link to your site again, I had to wait for you to email me with the new circular before I could tell you about it since I have lost all emails and addresses.

I have decided to run in the 2006 Presidential elections, I announced it last week check www.tonyvguy.com, commentary UF, I have taken over the United Force Political party and even if I don't get the presidency [I don't think I can anyway] I will, with the other small parties control the parliament and hold the balance of power in the country.
T.V.
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From: Tony Vieira <tandjv@networksgy.com>
Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2003 06:57:16 -0500

Laszlo,
Here are the pictures I promised you, we took a lot more, if you need them. Scan 0003 is the view of the present monastery as you approach it from the river, the plan is to build a true Abbey on the top of the Hill and use this area as a tourist resort to enhance the income of the Benedictines, which is what they have called themselves. Scan 0002 is from left; Hildebrand, Vieira, the New Abbot of MSB Trinidad, and Father Farrier. Farrier's brother is a highly respected journalist who works for my Evening Newscast. Scan 0001 is the building they have at present, scan Benedictines Essequibo is our farewell to the place. It can ONLY be approached from the water, it is that remote.
The situation in Venezuela is very sad; I will send you my thoughts about it, as contained in a commentary on the internet anyway at my personal website www.tonyvguy.com, Egypt/Venezuela.

Tony.
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From: Tony Vieira <tandjv@networksgy.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 16:10:22 -0500

Cheers Ladislao,
I have a 26 ft cabin cruiser; it is not so much a luxury as a necessity, since as the owner of the country's only television network I have to visit some very remote areas. I go on the Essequibo River every other week, usually the second and fourth Saturday's of each month.
Yesterday, Saturday 28th December 2002, I visited Father Hildebrand, [the pictures will follow] they have built the new monastery about 2 miles from the town of Bartica, it is where the Essequibo and Mazaruni river meet to form the Mighty Essequibo, they also say Mass and give council to the citizens of that town, to do it they have to drive through the 2 miles of jungle that separates the monastery from the town, they have no electricity, no telephones, no treated water there.
The monastery at this time consists of father Hildebrand and three other priests. Including Father Ferrier, actually he is not the brother that looked after the bees at the Mount.
It was a good day to visit, since the current abbot of Mount St. Benedict was there, he gave me a note pad which declares that Mt. St. Benedict is celebrating their 90th anniversary. I have scanned a page and attached it hereto.
I am glad that you prompted me to visit them, they are in bad shape. The place is lovely with a wonderful view of the river and they have planted some beautiful ornamental trees, crotons, hibiscus, etc, but the problems of no electricity and no telephones are almost too huge a burden for them. They have tried to do a solar power installation but it is not very successful, the batteries are all dead they also have a small generator, I will help them all I can, I will give you more details later.
Fr. Hildebrand has an email address it is benedictines@solutions2000.net, it is written on the note, he uses a telephone whenever he visits Bartica with his laptop to say Mass in the town. I am copying this note to him to reassure him that I have not forgotten the wonderful hospitality they extended to us that day, [they make an excellent sorrel liqueur] and I will help as much as I possibly can.
After the holidays 2nd Saturday in January perhaps, I intend to visit them again with Jewel and the children to discuss the promised help in a more tangible way.
The operation has been going on for 14 years. For Father Hildebrand's benefit, I am attaching a research I did, for a house that Christopher Ram [he is the one who writes the economic articles in the Stabroek news on Sundays, father] and he and I want to build a small weekend cottage on the Essequibo. It will give you an idea of what you have to do and what the cost will be.
Tony Vieira
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Not so good news from the MSB, for his friends
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From: Gerard Mathijsen osb
To: the-mount@carib-link.net
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 8:48 AM
Subject: overlijden pater Kees Verburg
........................................................
+
vrede

Op zaterdagavond 14 februari overleed in het Medisch Centrum Alkmaar na een kort ziekbed gesterkt door het sacrament van de zieken onze geliefde medebroeder PATER KEES VERBURG monnik van Egmond. geboren te Pijnacker 15 juni 1930 geprofest te Trinidad 21 januari 1962 priester gewijd in Jamaica 1 november 1973 gestabiliseerd in de St.-Adelbertabdij 30 maart 1979 Het lichaam van pater Kees is opgebaard in de kapittelzaal van de abdij woensdagavond 18 februari om 20.15 uur avondwake donderdag 19 februari om 14.30 uur uitvaart in de abdijkerk waarna begrafenis op het kerkhof van de abdij.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
God Bless
Ladislao
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Photos: Monastery in Guyana scan0001tv, scan0002tv, scan0003tv

Listado: C120.xls
Column: D Bratt sorry next week
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ATTACHMENTS

Listado c120.xls

Names	Form V	Contact	Nickname	business address	Phone,	e-mail
Saab, Faicel		glen		YV
Sabga, Anthony			Bulldog	Florida		antoine.sabga@trincityconstruction.com
Sabga, George					(686) 622 2596
Saez, Fransisco		glen		YV
Salazar,				YV
Samaroo, Jimmy		jgioannetti
Sanchez, Carlos	1954	jon
Sanchez, Regulo		glen		YV
Sanior, Edmond		coscarart
Santos, C
Savorgnan, Luciano	1958	farcheg		usa
Savorgnan, Roberto	1961	farcheg		usa
Scannone, Antonio Julio		glen		YV
Schnell, Oscar		glen		YV
Schroeder,		glen		YV

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Circular No 119

Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. Caracas, 14 of February 2004. Circular No. 119

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Dear Friends,
Together with Don Mitchell we have been exploring the possibility of reactivating the Web page. We have been unable to find a satisfactory solution within our Alumni, so Don contacted a professional. Our efforts have yielded the following results.

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From: "Don Mitchell, QC" <idmitch@candw.ag>
Date: 15 Jan 11:28 (PST)
To: "Roy Peacock" <roy@serviceoffshore.com>
Subject:Mount St Benedict School Website

Hi Roy,
Thank you for the swift response. I shall pass it on straight away.
All the best,
Don
----------------------------------------------------
From: "Roy Peacock" <roy@serviceoffshore.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 07:34
Subject: Re: Mount St Benedict School Website

Hi Don,
Thanks for thinking of me, I would be interested in doing this.
Essentially, the charges come in 3 sections:
1. Domain name renewal - renewable in varying periods (1 year+)
2. Hosting - fixed charge of US$200 per year in advance or US$20 per month
billed quarterly in arrears if hosted on shared server. If you require a completely
separate server (with its own username/password) the fee would be US$300
pa or US$30 per month.
3. Maintenance - updates of site as requested at hourly rate of US$40 per hour -
billed in 15 minute chunks but work less than 5 minutes free of charge (eg typos
etc) - billing as above.
There may be a one-off fee for transferring the site to a new server but this is
something that would be a lot easier if the existing webmaster could zip the
site, give me access etc. The most essential thing is for the owner of the domain to give approval for the transfer to the new servers. If you have a special deal on where the site is hosted now and would pay sections 1 and 2 directly then obviously only section 3 fees would apply.
If you do not have anyone to manage the domain name for you then I would transfer it to a different registrar and appoint myself as the contact point (the domain would of course be registered to the school/OB club) and handle the domain renewals free of charge.
Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
Roy
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From:"Don Mitchell, QC" <idmitch@candw.ag>
Date: 15 Jan 02:37 (PST)
To: "Peacock, Roy" <roy@serviceoffshore.com>
Subject: Mount St Benedict School Website

Hi Roy,
The Old Boys would like to know if it would be very expensive for someone to take over the management of the old school website. Would you be interested, and what shall I tell them about the charges?
Keep well,
Don
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De: "Don Mitchell, QC" <idmitch@candw.ag>
Fecha: 15 Jan 02:35 (PST)
Asunto: Website

Right,
I shall contact him again. His name is Roy Peacock.
All the best,
Don
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From: "Ladislao Kertesz" <lkertesz1@icqmail.com>
To: <idmitch@candw.ag>
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: Circular No. 114 The Abbey School MSB

Dear Don,
The only way is to get a good price from your guy. And I can ask for sponsors in my Circulars?
I hope you had a wonderful Xmas and that we may meet this year.
God Bless
Ladislao
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On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 17:55:26 -0400, "Don Mitchell, QC" wrote:
Hi Ladislao,
Many thanks for the above safely received. The soppy nostalgic article on Fr BoBo by Rafael was OK too.
Keep well, and keep up the good, if thankless, work. If only we could get the website going.
Don
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HOPEFULLY THERE WOULD BE SPONSORS TO KEEP THE WEB PAGE???
CAN ANYONE MAKE AN OFFER THAT COULD BE DEPOSITED IN THE WEB´S ACCOUNT?
WHAT WOULD BE THE CORRECT AMOUNT?
HOW MUCH DO YOU CONSIDER THAT THE CIRCULAR IS WORTH?

THIS AMOUNT COULD BE POSTED TO THE WEB.
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From: "Anthony Cintra"
Date: 2 Nov 17:46 (PST)

Dear Ladislao,
Millard Howell is a practicing Attorney-at Law. His chambers are in Port of Spain. I shall call him tomorrow and seek the information you need. He appeared before me on a few occasions when I was in the High Court and later on in the Court of Appeal in Trinidad.
Vernon de Lima also appeared regularly in several high profile cases.
Vernon and Millard are regarded as "gentlemen" by the judges.
Their conduct in court is exemplary. One would expect such from Abbey boys.
With best wishes. God bless,
Anthony.
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From: "laci kertesz"
Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Circular No. 103 The Abbey School MSB
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 14:44:38 -0800 (PST)
Caracas, 2 of November 2003.

Dear Anthony,
I received the news of your talk with Fr. Francis with some joy, as Fr. Paul was my math teacher and chess teacher. I have only one photo of him, I hope it is good enough so that the oldboys would remember.
I would like you to get for me the contact information on Millard Howell, some of his class are inquiring. I am sure he has an email or one of his children.
Thank you for taking time to write me, wish you the best in your new job.
God Bless
Ladislao
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On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 02:40:58 +0000, "Anthony Cintra" wrote:

Dear Ladislao,
I read the circulars while in Hamburg.Many thanks for the information therein, and saw the address of Fr.Francis. I wrote Fr.Francis and received a reply with the sad news that Fr.Paul had died. I read news of his death in the T&T Catholic News on my return home yesterday.
Fr. Francis was very happy to learn of my election as a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS ) and sent a copy of my e-mail in which I referred to Fr. Paul as an excellent Maths teacher.
The letter was read to him before he died, may his soul rest in peace. Fr.Francis tells me Fr. Paul was comforted to learn that a past student of the Abbey School is a judge of the Tribunal. Fr. Anton a very kind jesuit priest who lives in the same house got details of ITLOS and of me on the web at www.itlos.org and told Fr. Francis.
Continue the good work.
Sincerely,
Anthony Lucky.
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Those that went to Class 1964 have forgotten the event, I am sorry to say, so I cannot include the names to the faces, as I asked in Circular No. 118. This Circular only works if the alumni sends inputs !!!! for me to forward to you.
I am sending out another photo, this time I have placed 1966 as the graduation date form V, but I am not sure???
God Bless
Ladislao
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Photos: class 1966??? Can anyone confirm it???
Listado: C119.xls
Column: D Bratt sugar island
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ATTACHMENTS

Listado c119.xls

Names	Form V	Contact	Nickname	business address	Phone	e-mail
Robinson, Keith		roge
Robinson, Ken		boos		TT	Pilot	kenrob@tstt.net.tt
Robleda, Santiago		glen		YV
Rodrigues, Ian		boos		Ajax, Ont		rodrigues_id@hotmail.com
Rodriguez, Alejandro		cosca		YV merida
Rodriguez, David		cosca		YV merida
Rodriguez, Pablo		glen		YV
Rodriguez, Vidal		cosca		YV merida
Rojas, Fransisco (RIP)	1972	montiel
Ronnie		cosca	Nazy	YV Tunapuy
Rosendal,				surinam		wdros@wow.net,
Rosenthal,				curazao
Rosero, Jose Enrique		glen		YV
Ross, Clinton		cosca				bagoross@tstt.net.tt
Rostant, Desmond (RIP)	1950s	raymond

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Circular No 118

Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 7 of February 2004. Circular No. 118

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Dear Friends,
Here is an account of an old boy's odyssey with limited time. This has also happened to many others who did make the pilgrimage to MSB. I had the same experience except that I just did not accept that the Monastery´s wooden door would be a barrier to my visit, after 40 years. I got to the gift shop, the old gift shop that I remembered was longer and narrower, and the new one seems to have been adequated for the times, with the installation of a lockdoor between the customer, cashier and the merchandise. This is sign of times when there is a possibility of shopping without payment. The shopkeepers are very thoughtful but have very little information for an oldboy. There are no telephones or a means of communication with the inner part of the Monastery, so there is no possibility of contacting the clergy for the shop. The solution was to go around and enter the Monastery by the gate used to get to the old seminarians dormitories or bakery or car repair area. Once in that area you most likely meet Fr. Cuthbert or the Credit union helper who knows the schedule of the clergy. I am sure that Fr. Abbot is going to give precise instructions to the gift shop attendants, to make sure that an oldboy gets the information he is soliciting, and be able to communicate with one of the clergy.
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From: Richard de Verteuil <richard@deverteuil.co.uk>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 4:48 AM
Subject: Trip to The Mount

Hi all,
I have just returned from Trinidad to the UK, where I have lived for the past 51 years, and while in Trinidad I was able to squeeze in a quick trip up to the Mount. My wife Gillian and I went with our daughter Claire, her daughter Ella (18 months old) and her fiancée, Andrew. We had tea at the Pax Guest House (Honey), and then went up to the Church. It is 53 years since I left Mount and my memory was playing tricks on me. I thought the Church was BIG, but in reality it is quite small, only about twice the size of the little chapel where we go to Church on some Sundays, and smaller than our Parish Church in Chatham. We had a look around the gift shop but I did not know we could go any further so that was as much as we did see. On the way up we passed the sports field which looked much smaller than I remembered it, and the path we used to travel is now almost unrecognisable. If you did not know where it was it would be difficult to find. What was a jungle wilderness a few yards away from the road is now developed with housing all the way up the valley road as far as the sportsfield area, and there are even houses hanging on to the hill near the guest house. Above the Guest House I could not see much detail, but did see the path leading down to the old seminary where I was standing when some kind and thoughtful boy threw a stone and split my head open, requiring our infirmary brother to sew it up two days later, without any painkiller!
That evening, on returning to our temporary home in West Moorings we had a session with my cousin Hugh remembering the days we were together at the Mount, and little foibles of the masters, like Mr Achong (board dusters and lines), Brother Drake (edge of ruler across the knuckles), Fr Ildefonse (frightening) and particularly with sadistic pleasure, Fr Chrysostom who was our dormitory master. Never mind, I forgive them all. Their treatment of us was particularly character building. We also remembered some of the more pleasurable episodes and those who have made it good since leaving the Mount. We remembered the scouts, camping at Arima and living on tins of condensed milk; and having the goodies brought by our parents 'taxed' in the dormitory on Sunday nights, looking for grey hairs at a marble, or was it a kee-ow (!) a time (a swift tap if you pulled out a black one), and running the gauntlet if you were still kneeling by the door of the refectory at the end of the meal! Oh those aching heads. Tops season, marbles under the cliff, and all those big boys we looked up to - those were the first students at the Mount when I was there.
Oh happy day! I saw a picture of the boys taken end of 1948, so I was not in it, and strangely I only recognised about three boys, including my cousins.
I could go on, but perhaps another time when I am feeling maudlin'! or is it boring you all? Lets hear more from the pioneers - or are you all past being able to operate PCs and cope with email?
Cheers for now,
Richard de Verteuil

PS: Thanks for Mac Seheult's address - another long lost cousin!
PPS: For Rafael E - The Merrymen are still around but I do not think they still gig. However they still produce records and I believe they have a studio. Up to five years ago I used to visit Barbados regularly as my parents lived there, and have many of their recordings on tape. I well remember the calypso you quoted, RinTinTin ( a euphemism I believe!!)
(Richard, I need the picture of 1948, please have it scanned!!! Ed.)
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By the ed. Written in 2002 = You read last week an article by Anthony Milne on the "Abbey library needs help".
Now it is my time to get hold of your attention, get hold of your chair!!! I am going to rival the Trinidad Express´s journalist. Watch out Pulitzer!! An engineer is about to???
You might not believe me but I never saw this library, it has taken me 40+ years to find this out, can anyone help me to locate it???, Where was it in (1960) or is in (2002) the Library must be big??? Since there is only one computer at the Mount, then I presume that this is where it is located, because to track all the books, it is a big job. I wonder if Don Mitchell saw it in his last visit?
The only library that I knew for good or bad was on the first floor of the school, situated over the driveway. This library was below the washroom of the upper dorms. Why I say bad or good, notice that I changed the order!!! It was because when we reached Form I we were required to read one book per month, if not we were penalized. This was the bad part as many of us, strike out the bookworms, did not like to read and saw this as a punishment. At the beginning a lot of us just borrowed and returned the book, just formalism, until Fr.Bernard asked part of the contents, he always knew the contents of all the books of the library, so we were admonished and this time you had to start the reading and of course finish it or be prepared for a poor English mark. So you could not just borrow a book and return it at the end of the month, but you had to read it. I do not know if we invented speed reading, The Kennedys made it popular in the 1960s, but nobody mentioned us. The Guns of Navarone?? H.M.S.Ulysses?? Any one remembers??? Maybe I did not write the title as it should be, but at least I remember two of the books that I read, of course no memory of the author, H.M.S. Ulysses had a blue cover??? By the way, the Guns of Navarone was a good movie later on!!! Anthony Quinn and the lot. Was there a movie on the other book??? The good part was that it gave us the knowledge that we have used in reaching our objectives, thanks to Fr. Bernard´s and Fr.Gerome´s insistence, we became what we are as this helped our education. As a challenge I am going to make a trip to Trinidad and find this library, never is too late. Maybe I am going to ask Anthony Milne??? I am sure he did a lot of research on it!!
This trip is going to be around August, September, maybe two weeks before classes officially start at the island. I need your help with this trip, to be able to gather sufficient information for circular No. 40 and on!!!! Just look at the number on this circular and you can safely bet on No. 52 sometime in November.
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Anthony Viera 1 June 2002

ladislao,
I read your circular, nice piece but no award. Its my turn now, one of my not so fond memories of the Mount, was the teasing I got, especially from the Trinidadians about my naiveté about so many matters and I have to tell you, that I had lived such a sheltered life that my ignorance was profound, of course BoBo telling me that I will never amount to much did not help, does anyone remember that I got expelled for telling one of the cooks in the refectory that the boys don't mind the horse meat, but they objected to the saddle?
The best book in the library was "The Last Frontier" written by I think Dennis Weatley about the "Duc De Richleau", and "Reach For the Sky" about the British pilot during WW II who had no legs, the Germans are still trying to figure that one out, "The Great Escape" was also in there. All have been made into movies. the library was a 4ft by 8 ft operation [located where you said it was above the driveway and opposite the entrance to the big dorm] which was filled with Agata Christie, Dennis Weatley, St. Francis of Assisi, nursery rhymes etc, guess any book worth reading would have had the boys heading for the nearest toilet, anyone remember Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, etc, from those books? Reading a book per month is no big deal, reading that lot at the Mount was pure torture.
Of course my favourite Mount story is the showers, 16 boys at a time, 2 minutes to get wet [turn off] one minute to soap up [turn on] two minutes to wash off. The five minute pause that refreshed! Up to this day I don't spend more than 6 minutes in the shower.
Where is Leon Alves? I don't see him listed anywhere. That moron and my brother Joe Vieira pushed the entire pax honey bee hive installation down the hill into St. Agustine. We did not get our weekly movie for one month.
Hilderbrand Green who was the very tall priest and who became abbot is back in Guyana and has started a Benedictine order on the Essequibo river.
Tony
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Need help on Wayne Henderson, we have lost contact.
I am enclosing a photo that is said to be Class 1964 but it could be any year after that.
Who is going to take up the challenge to place names on the faces???
God Bless
Ladislao

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Photos: class 1964??? Can anyone confirm it???
ERROENI
Listado: C118.xls
Column: D Bratt Living Longer

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ATTACHMENTS

Listado c118.xls

Names	Form V	Contact	Nickname	business address	Phone	e-mail
Raeburn, Barry
Raeburn, John				usa	(908) 591 5918	johnrae1@hotmail.com johnrae1@yahoo.com
Raffensperger, Fransisco	1963	lk	hugi	YV
Ramlogant, W.	1974	moffie			Hotelier
Ramos, Miguel Becar		cosca		YV ccs
Ramsahai, Toddy		cosca
Ramsahai, Winston		cosca				ellersliecourtltd@hotmail.com, tntwaste101@hotmail.com
Raydan, Guillermo		glen		YV
Reid, Arthur (RIP)		roger	Fido
Rezende, Michael		roge		TT	Pilot
Rezende, Patrick		roge
Richards, Arthur		roger	Sambo
Rios, Juan Fransisco		glen		YV
Rivera, Guillermo		glen		YV
Rivero, Jose Fransisco		glen		YV

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