Circular No 919

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

Caracas, 15 of June 2019 No. 919

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Dear Friends,

Here is the continuation of my last Circular No. 918, on Phillip Clegg and by Phillip Clegg in an old email to me.  This is followed by extracts from Arthur Knaggs’ O.A.S.I.S in the 1980s.

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2010/5/7 Phillip Clegg <heatherset8@yahoo.com>

Hi Ladislao,

I just came across this particular email of yours that I had missed previously, along with some others, because I had left them un-answered at the point of time of receipt, initially for a time, just so that I could catch up on some legal work that I am doing with respect to a long-standing land development issue here in West London that is still on-going and as a consequence is taking up a great deal of my time - please forgive what may have seemed to be outright rudeness on my part - rudeness was not on my agenda.- it's just that the days just aren't long enough and my energy level perhaps not what it used to be.

NO PROBLEM PHILLIP, I AM NOT RETIRED AND HAVE BEEN ON THIS FOR 458 WEEKS.

With respect to my contacts with Nigel Boos - I had sent Nigel four or so photos, really just  to put a face on the page that they the lads might recognise if perhaps they did not recognise my name - most generously indeed Alain Devaux did seem to recall me quite well indeed, as in fact I have also I recalled him - it has, after all is said and done, been  a very long time since any of the MSB brigade saw me, and it may be the case when the truth is known, that I have a very forgettable face and personality, in view of the fact that I had written Leary O'Connor what I had thought to be a fairly reasonable and friendly email, but nevertheless failed however to get any response whatsoever from him, which of course does unavoidably have a somewhat deflating effect on one.

I AM HAVING TROUBLE WITH HIM ALSO, HOPE THAT HE IS WELL, JUST TAKING SOME TIME OFF.

By contrast however, I have had some level of on-going contact with the old School Hero, Trevor Evelyn, the guy who seemed to surpass everyone else at seemingly everything, who incidentaly, I have discovered, was born on the same day as myself, i.e., 6Th November, (different year however). I have to say that I am really pleased indeed to learn that his treatment has been successful. I have also had the great pleasure of being in contact once again with David De Castro, who at the time I always knew as Dougle, who appears to be just as happy, cheerful, and buoyant as he ever was in the past, seemingly being every bit the same guy that I remember when at MSB all of those years ago.  However, even David had to admit that he only 'sort of remembered me' in spite of the fact that we did knock around together quite a bit off and on when we were both at the Mount way back when, (It would seem from the discourse that we have had with each other that we had both commenced as boarders in 1944 prior to the opening of the New School on the Mount) leading me to suppose that I might indeed be a great deal less charismatic than I had supposed, and perhaps also just plain forgettable when all is said and done.

SINCE CIRCULAR NO.458 HAS CLEAR REFERENCE ON THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL, ONE NAME OR THE OTHER, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CORRECT OR ADD TO THE COMMENTS OF DESMOND SMITH.

I had sent both Nigel and Trevor Evelyn photos of myself from times past.  The photos of myself that I had sent to Nigel Boos I have already explained - I think that I have already sent you another copy of the, "1951 Footie Team" that you had requested of me, if however I have failed to do so please email me once again with respect to the matter and I will of course email you another copy.

I BELIEVE THAT YOUR PHOTO HAS BEEN PUBLISHED, PLEASE CHECK DON MITCHELLS BLOG, WHERE HE STORES ALL THE ISSUES.

The photos that I had sent to Trevor would perhaps be of little or no interest to anyone else, as one of the photos was of my late mother's Hotel "The Montrose" that was situated in Camp Street, Georgetown, in BG, all those years ago, which I thought might interest him as he used to visit with my sister there in times gone by, whilst the others were of myself at the time that I was modelling here in UK in the 1970's, which I do not think will be of any interest to the MSB 'Old Boys.

OK, YOU JUST SEND ME THOSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO PUBLISH.

In addition, at the time that Nigel Boos was asking for a response to his "Roll Call" presentation, I had written a synopses of my stay at the Mount which I had captioned, "Before, During and After MSB - A Synopses". Having no way of knowing just what the other guys would write, I had done a fairly epic account of my experiences before MSB, together with a fairly detailed recall of most things that I remembered from the days at the Mount, explaining how my particular upbringing had made the event of being enrolled at the Mount a most traumatic experience for me, and then recalling to mind various of the priests that I had known, at the same time recalling to mind what effect some of them had had on me, and then finishing it up by outlining what had happened to me after MSB right up until the present point of time - however, when I saw just how brief and cursory the other 'Old Boys' accounts were, mine seemed unnecessarily epic by comparison, and I realised that what I had done was probably not at all relative to the situation and probably was more fitting to a publication of my memoirs than for inclusion in your column - in fact just plain 'overkill', and that is why I did not send it off to Nigel, nor later to you.  If however you think that you want any of it, it is there for the asking - however if you do ask for me to send it off to you I would not want you to publish any of it if you supposed that it might have a negative effect on anyone.

I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE NOT RECEIVED A COPY, SOMETIMES NIGEL FORGETS TO RESEND. BUT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO SEND ME THE SYNOPSE, BUT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO PREPARE IT TO YOU LIKING. I GRADUATED IN 1960 SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE 1956.

From reading the various emails that you have presented from time to time in your circulars, I have come to realise that I have evolved in a quite different direction to everyone else that I knew at the Mount.  I am very straight forward and perhaps too open-minded and outspoken, and also not at all religious (in a doctrinal sense) when compared to the rest of the Old Boys, (having said as much, I have to tell you that I have never indulged in Alcohol, smoking, drugs, gambling, clubbing, etc., to the extent that most people who know me suppose at first that I am very religious), so I feel that I am now perhaps a bit of a misfit when compared to my old pals at the Mount, and it may be that things that I had to say in my Synopses might prove a somewhat too controversial for the general consumption and peace of mind of my old compatriots. I certainly would not like to upset any of the 'Old Boys,' or worse still make enemies of any of them - that would be quite unnecessary at this point of time in our lives.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH HISTORY, SO YOU AND OTHERS ARE THE STARS, SOON WE ARE GOING TO LOSE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS OURSELVES, AS I MIGHT GIVE UP JUST AS OTHER COLLABORATORS.

Should you want anything else form me do please feel free to contact me with respect to anything. Once again I would like to thank both yourself and Nigel Boos for all of the very good work that you are both doing for the MSB Old Boys.

My very best regards,

Phil Clegg

I WROTE ON YOUR MESSAGE BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO FEEL FREE TO WRITE AS YOU WISH, AS I AM NOT A FILTER FOR ANYBODY.

I TOOK UP THIS ATTITUDE BECAUSE I KNOW THE MANY PERSONALITIES THAT ARE IN PLAY, ABOUT 1500 NAMES UP TO DATE.

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Extracted from Art Knaggs’ O.A.S.I.S from the 1980s:

Fr. Cuthbert has written with some news about the Scouts.

They have now 7 boys in a Venture group and 14 new boys joined the group in November. Brother Francis runs the Scout group and Bernard Lange rules the Ventures.

He also tells me that Russell Cunha is P.R. for a “Jolly Roger” cruise (like Barbados) and the troop rented the boat to make some money, - “the cruise was jolly – but the financial success was not so hot”. They hope to send three Scouts to the Canadian Jamboree this year.

Fr. Peter is in good health and full of vitality. The good Lord knows his children.

A whole section of St. John’s road collapsed in January and no traffic could go to or from the Mount – “Cloistered Monks” for a few days.

Will Carter (once a Scout always a Scout) and Kitty Marcus (Girl Friday) are retired in St. Peter’s home (North of the Sports field – I guess, near the Motherhouse.)

Fr. Ildefonse, is charismatically driving his motor bike all over the island. One is never too old to feel young.

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Got a lovely letter from Phillip Nassief (Dominica) who not only sent his subscription in but has made a fantastic contribution to the continuation of our Newsletter.

He is well and heavily involved in his various occupations, and the industrial welfare of Dominica. He also enclosed his company bulletin called “The Nut Shell” which contained one of the most sincere Christmas messages I have come across.

For free men, any form of rule is better than rule of thumb.

Phillip obtained his Bachelor in Chemistry Engineering in 1957 at McGill in Canada and is involved with Coconut By Products, Distilleries and sits on many Boards and Associations.

He has passed on DONALD BOYD,s name who is an Engineer and Contractor in Dominica as well. He has lost touch with the MEKDESSIES.  If anyone knows their whereabouts let me know.

Newest member is PAUL SLINGER (Grenada) he operates Antilles Insurance Ltd., and is H.O. in Trinidad and travels on weekends to Grenada – says NIGEL runs an Insurance Brokerage firm, has an Estate, cattle and race horses; plays a keen golf game and has 3 girls and 1 boy.

He also gave me CLIVE BETTENCOURT-GOMES (B.G.) address – he is no longer in Costa Rica, he is now in U.K. – wrote him, Thank for the cheque – more news needed about yourself. Paul is going to seek out BISHOP RAYMOND CHARLES who should be in Grenada.

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CHAIRMAN´S MESSAGE (Phillip Nassief):

As we approach the end of the year, we must pause to take stock of our performance over the last twelve months.

In doing so we must be honest and analytical in order to asses accurately our achievements and our shortfalls. We must apply the principles of credit and debit both to the Company and to ourselves.

We must ask ourselves what I have done for the company over the past year to increase productivity and skills, to improve working relationships and attitude to work, to prevent unfair and unsafe practices?. Have I really helped Management in carrying out their objectives and archiving their targets? These are some of the questions which will help us asses our achievements and identify our shortfalls.

At the end of this exercise, we can then make our resolutions for the New Year and plan an implementation strategy for the new challenge ahead.

The New Year may present some problems because of the marketing difficulties which we are experiencing. It is not only difficult to obtain licences, but it is even more difficult to obtain payment for products supplied. The severe economic problems, particularly in our major markets, will make 1983 a difficult year for the Company.

DCP has had yet another year of success. I thank all of you at DCP for helping us achieve another year of success. I must thank in particular, the Management team for their hard work, commitment and loyalty in steering DCP through this difficult year.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and myself, I extend best wishes to all at DCP – the workers – and all of DCP – the shareholders – for a joyful Christmas season and a New Year of happiness, health and success.

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Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

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Another new member – Chis Krogh – sent his $10.00 subscription, and reported a Major Fire in Port of Spain which destroyed the entire block between Henry & Charlotte St., on the lower Independence Sq.  He reports that despite the depression Trinis were “shaking their behinds” and “win´ing their cares away”.

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The Circular needs help, 50 words or 52 USD per year 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:

52CB0010CBE, Letter to Clive Bethencourt

52CB0011CBE, Letter to Clive Bethencourt

63UN0001CRICKETTEAM, Cricketers UNKNOWN

65UN0011CRICKETGUYANA, Scene from the match