Saturday, 16 March 2019

Circular No 906







Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 16 March 2019 No. 906
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Chris Crocker <chriscrocker@waitrose.com>
Mon 21/01/2019 10:55
Hi there,
I was at the Mount in the fifties in a class with among others:
Brian Goddard,
The Johnson bros. (Castries),
Pud (?),
The Gault bros.
- I think and at least one de Verteiul........
I have a couple of pics taken at MSB in the late fifties. 
To whom shall I send them?
Look forward to hearing from you
Chris Crocker.
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Hello MSB Abbey School Brothers,
     I have a message from an email from Jennifer Kom-Tong.
She is trying to find out any information on a previous student, her father – John William Kom-Tong.
     He attended Mount Saint Benedict when he was a child.
"He was adopted (unknown) to a family Kom-Tong, I believe when he was 4 and was a student of the school until approx August 1968.
Do you possibly have any records of him? Pictures?
Who his birth parents might have been?
I am his daughter trying to understand my past.
There are no relatives that I am aware of and both adoptive parents have since passed away. He immigrated to Canada in Fall of 1968.
If you have any info I would be so appreciative.
Thank you in advance for your time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Kom-Tong
North Vancouver Canada"
"P.S. My biggest challenge so far is trying to get any info on his Birth parents, whom I am sure are deceased but maybe there were other children…"
On our MSB Database #782, we do have listed John Kom Tong with no email address and this detail "Retired from construction. I asked Ian de Verteuil to help me to find his email address. (April 2013)"
Let us see how we can help Jennifer in any way possible.
Blessings to all......Kazim
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The Connaught Cup Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Run in late May, the Grade II race is open to horses aged four and older.
Raced over a distance of seven furlongs on turf, it currently offers a purse of $196,750.
Year    Horse              Owner                        time
1999    Incitatus   John Kom-Tong         1:40.57
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Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Jan 30 at 10:32 AM
Dear Bro. Paschal,
Thank you again for your solicitous and rather speedy response, Bro. Paschal.
I’m sure that we all appreciate your interest in our interest in Fr. Augustine.
He is the last remaining, living link to our time at MSB for many of us, as all of the others who featured so prominently have now gone to glory, with the notable exception of Bro. Vincent (aka Lionel Roberts), still alive and well in Louisiana.
God be with you.
Nigel
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On Jan 30, 2019, at 9:22 AM,
Paschal Jordan <paschaljordan@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Nigel,
Thanks for yours.
Fr. Augustine is still very much alive and with us.
He is in some pain, not from the aortic aneurysm nor from his failing kidneys, but from arthritis in hands, shoulders and knees. 
His mind is still very alert, and he has an excellent memory for names, dates and places.
I'm certain that if I called your name, he would at once tell me what years you spent at the Abbey School, and something of your history!!! 
Within the last six weeks or so, he has had several visits from Abbey School Old Boys, and it was wonderful to see how animated he became as he chatted with them.
So, thank you for your concern, your prayer and your love.
Whenever his time comes, I can just imagine him calmly sailing over to God on a raft made up of the love, prayer and good wishes of his beloved Abbey School Boys!
God bless you and them!
Bro. Paschal Jordan
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Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com>
To:Charles-Henri Dunoyer de Noirmont
Feb 19 at 4:18 PM
Hello, General,
How good to hear from you again.
I attach a copy of Kazim’s database for the boys who were at Mount. 
On the spreadsheet you can sort all of us by surname, or by the year of Form V. 
Even if you never stayed at school upto Form V, you are listed by the year you would have been in Form V if you had stayed. 
In any event, I shall copy this to Robert so you can contact him and say hello. 
It would be really good if you included Ladislao (to whom this is also copied) so that he can publish the event of you both saying hello in one of his Circulars.
Keep well.
Don
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Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2019 1:36 PM
Dear Don,
Reading Robert de Verteuil's message, I wonder whether he was at the Mount at the same time I was there:
1957-58 in Preb "B".
There was a de Verteuil at my table, but I cannot remember his Christian name.
Flying back from Trinidad to France in 2008, I met a priest on the airplane flying between Trinidad and Barbados, whose name was Anthony de Verteuil.
I asked him whether he was the boy I had invited in Icacos, for some holidays, on the estate of my grandfather:  Frank Agostini, called "Constance Estate", located south of Cedros.
He said "yes" and we just had time to recall some memories of that stay during this short flight.
I reminded him that at a hunt with me, he shot a corbeau on the beach.
The bird dropped and started to run away.
In a typical Far-West stance, he ran after it, taking the little .410 gun by the barrel, whacked the bird and broke the butt.
I have his book :"The Corsicans in Trinidad" with a description of the then numerous families of Corsican ascent, among which are the Agostinis.
There is only one Agostini left in Port of Spain: my first cousin Philippe Agostini, who should be in his late 60.
Best regards.
General (Retd) Charles Henri de Noirmont.
35, Rue de la Grange Colombe
78120 Rambouillet.
FRANCE.
chdenoirmont@hotmail.fr
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laszlo kertesz <kertesz11@yahoo.com>
Mar 26 at 4:02 PM
Dear Don,
The photo shows the passageway and dormitories between the old Tapia building that was recently demolished and the new monastery from the photos, to be built or building.
From 1955 to about 1956 you entered the passageway at the little roadway by the old seminary, bakery, up the stairs and passed thru the Tapia building, to this passageway and to the new monastery, where you entered on the second floor, direct to the level of the Abbots room.
If you wanted to go to the church you had to descend or use the lower roadway.
Ladislao
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Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com>
Mar 25 at 7:01 PM
Hello, Nigel,
I went to Mount in September 1955 when I would have just become 9 years old.
I like the amazing clarity of this photo. 
I do not recall the building it depicts. 
It must have been demolished before or shortly after September 1955.
It does not look in any way like the Old Refectory on the north or right of the Abbey church if you stood facing the main door of the church. 
That old wooden building was big enough to hold 250 boys sitting at 25 tables of 10 each.
This is of a longer and narrower building than I remember.  
And, there was no balcony to that building.
I wonder if the archway visible in the distance under the overhanging room offers a clue?
Also, the angular shape of the distant horizon suggests a man made structure.  A
lso, there is fresh excavation beginning to swallow the building. 
Note the stairway to nowhere.
Someone of your, Ladislao’s and Don and Brian Goddard’s generation should have a better idea than me.
Best,
Don
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From: Nigel Boos
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 11:02 AM
Got a picture of MSB that I’d never seen before, and I want to share it with you guys.
Anyone guess where / what this is / was?
I remember that this was the old refectory on a little hill to the right of the Church if you’re standing facing the main door of the church itself.
It was later bulldozed to make way for construction - around 1956.
Enjoy.
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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  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:
30UN0001EDIMSB, Old passageway between tapia building and new monastery
16LK8890FBJKA, Jean Kalideen
59CV0015STLAWRENCE, marching
58RB003a4, UNKNOWNS





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