Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
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Dear Friends,
An article for smokers, I presume many took up the hobby during their time at the Mount?
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Smoking at the
Jan Koenraadt
Sunday, July 6, 2008 3:17:10 PM
Dear Nigel,
I have this attached scan of my Terminal Report dated July 1965 to add to your memorial.
I would like to add this story to it about smoking at the
Smoking cigarettes at the
But as good as I can remember a lot of boys smoked almost every day.
The toilets on the playing grounds were a favourite place to smoke, almost every day.
The monks must have known because all the students knew it.
Once in a while they "raided" the toilets to catch some smokers.
The safest place to smoke was somewhere in the hills, and the best place to hide your cigarettes.
Just bury them in the ground in a plastic bag.
The hard way was to get cigarettes.
A package of Snow Flakes was 40 cents, we could easily pay it with our weekly allowance of one dollar.
Sometimes some boy would sell them, and we brought one or two packages from home.
If you had permission to go down town, the first thing we did was to buy cigarettes.
I must confess, once I started smoking, although it was forbidden, I smoked almost every day at the Abbey school.
But one day I was caught buying cigarettes in the shop just below the swimming pool.
From the monastery I was seen through a telescope.
Nobody said anything, but when the weekly pocket money came, there was no envelope for me.
I had to figure out for myself why.
The whole rest of the term there was no more pocket money for me.
In spite of that I still smoked almost every day, there were some boys who felt pity for me and gave me a cigarette.
But at the end of the term, there was still a surprise coming for me.
Although I was fifth in my class during exams and satisfactory promoted to Form III, just at the moment you feel great and longing for the summer holidays to come, this little sentence was added in my Terminal Report: "Jan must give up smoking. This is strictly against the rules".
My dad was old and did not understand English at all.
That I was fifth in class hardly got his attention, but this sentence about smoking made him angry for some weeks.
When I look back, it had this lesson to me, that I kept on smoking for fifteen years on, and at my own free will and at a time I chose myself I stopped smoking in 1982 and never smoked again.
I never smoked before my children but gave them the freedom to choose for themselves at their own free will.
And the result is they never took up the habit of smoking.
Regards
Jan Koenraadt
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Fw: Smoking at the
Attila GYURIS
Sunday, July 6, 2008 8:04:45 PM
OK, I have some more to add to that.
Yes smoking was forbidden for all Forms below Form 4. (though many boys did it in hiding anyway, and there were not any REALLY bad consequences to it).
That rule changed for the Form 4 and Form 5 boys.
There was a Form 4 Recreation Room and a Form 5 Rec Room, adjacent to each other.
They were both located on the bottom floor along the East side of the school building.
(For short while there was also a Form 3 Rec room, but that didn't last.
Too much privilege for the "small" boys who hadn't earned it yet!)
The Form 4 Rec room was a small room and had a few tables & chairs to play cards and dominoes, plus a record player.
The room was open only for a few hours during the evenings' free time.
The Form 4 boys were allowed to smoke but only when inside the rec room and only in the evenings after dinner.
But when you made it to Form 5, you had a world of privileges thrust upon you!.
There was a big difference between Form 4 and Form 5, as far as privileges went.
Among other things, you could request to go to town (P.O.S.) for shopping (or to just get out) every Saturday morning with the VW bus.
You were given a " MSB Checkbook" with printed cheques.
So, you could write a check for cash to the Bursar (Mr. Fernandez) any day of the week, as long as you had the funds in your count to cover it.
So that taught you some money management.
You were not mandated to go down to the Sports Field.
You could go exploring in the bush all afternoon if you wanted to.
You could do pretty much whatever you wanted with your free time, within bounds, of course.
I was allowed to own a pellet gun and go to the bush hunting with it.
I had it hanging openly on my dormitory cubicle wall, and the priests never said anything about it.
Back to the Rec Room,... The Form 5 Rec Room was much better!
It was bigger, had more card tables and chairs, It had mood lighting.
It had couches, and a stereo record player.
It also had a privacy curtain by the door, so the small boys couldn't peek inside and bother us.
Obviously Form 5 boys were allowed to smoke inside the room, BUT, here is the kicker, (at least when I was in Form 5 in 1968 o 1969), Form 5 boys were also allowed to smoke OUTSIDE of the rec room.
That is, they could smoke up next to the refectory, and also outside in the hallway in from of the rec room etc..
In fact, I think the only places that they could not freely smoke was in class, during meals, in the dormitories and in the sporting grounds.
I remember lighting one up after dinner as were coming back down the inclined driveway from the Refectory, no problem.
Also, the Form 5 Rec room was open all the time.
It was up to the big boys to know when to leave for other activities.
Consequently many Form 5 boys " lived" in there, except when eating, sleeping and attending classes.
All this plus the occasional parties where the
Whohoo! life was good for a senior
So, as you can see, things really loosened up in the late 60's.
Maybe it was the 60's liberalisation of societal laws and structures and the hippy culture mind-set and all that conveys... or maybe the priests were getting tired...Who knows?
Attila Gyuris
MSB 1964-1969
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Upon reading the email sent by Attila, my mind got hold of my fingers and started writing:
In the period 1956 1960, smoking was permitted mainly for Form V boys.
If I remember you had to have permission by your parents, I just remember someone telling me, but not too sure, since I did not smoke or maybe I was not in the right group of kids.
The smoking was in the evenings and in the big boys room, which might have been the same one as in Attila´s time, entrance door facing the infirmary door, and the same size of the infirmary, the way to the windows looking down the valley. In our time one of the walls was the pictures hall or the theatre hall, below the chapel.
The room had a radio and if I am not correct, a pool table??, maybe Manuel Prada can help, I do not remember this too well as I only went there to listen to the radio, during some of the short vacations when there were not too many activities.
An later this was not interesting as I managed to build my radio for listening at night,
Or latter a real radio during Form V.
The radio stations were scarce in those days, AM, two stations, all official government and the only good one, the Chaguaramas US base radio with rock and roll and the latest hits.
On Sunday night, since there was no study hour, the old boys used to go down the driveway to the first bend and climb trees to smoke and chat.
I remember this because at the back of the school next to this downhill driveway it was dark and I wanted to play a prank with these smokers.
I rolled a paper tube with a light bulb at the end painted red, two wires to a small battery which would light up the red bulb at the tip.
Walking up and down I would smoke the paper tube lighting intermittently the bulb, sooner or latter one of the old boys would shout at me and come up running.
In the long run, they recognised me and the prank wore off. Ed.
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ONE OF THE EXCHANGES BETWEEN KAZIM AND DON
Don Mitchell CBE QC
Saturday, January 24, 2009 11:57:22 AM
Hi Kazim,
I do not send out emails to a database.
Only Ladislao and Nigel do so.
I know a lot of the "old boys" are sensitive about using the database for the circulars.
Perhaps, you could just send your messages that you want circulated to Ladislao for him to include in the circulars.
He makes sure not to let anyone know to which email addresses he is posting stuff.
Then, everyone who wishes to register or otherwise contact you can do so without quarrelling with them for giving out their email addresses.
I have no idea why everyone is so sensitive about email addresses, since they are all available all over the Internet anyway.
Keep well.
Don
----- Original Message -----------------------------------------------------------------
From: kazim abasali
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 11:22 PM
Hi Don,
I have used an email database of another alumni to send my emails to, and I believe I miss sending to a lot of the boys.
Can you send me the database of email addresses ready to send out emails so can forward the website url?
I would appreciate this very much.
I think I did not send to even Ladislao as I should have included him from the beginning.
Thanks, hope I made sense......
blessings to you and family....
Kazim,
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On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 7:04 PM,
kazim abasali <kazim2u@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, I will address the class and group photos and others that need bigger files.
Will get to that in time.
Thank so much for your feedback.
It is so nice to bounce things back and forth to get the desired result.
Thank you for pointing things out to me.....
Blessings to you...
Kazim
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On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 4:27 PM, Don Mitchell CBE QC <idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:
Nigel is correct.
On the photos, I now realise they are not thumbnails, but the intended size.
A pity for the group photos, especially, the class photos really need to be seen at full strength to be able to make out faces and features.
I know you are trying to see what can be done.
Keep well.
Don
----- Original Message -------------------------------------------------------------
From: kazim abasali
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 5:09 PM
Anthony Johnston
Hi Don, I realise that the spelling of the name above is different to what Nigel Boos sent me.
"Anthony Johnson"
Can you clear this up for me?.....blessings to you....
Kazim
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On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 8:59 AM, kazim abasali <kazim2u@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Don for your following up.
I appreciate you and here is wishing your family reunion is one of peace, love, joy and harmony.
Nigel Boos responded to me and told that Anthony "Gabby" Johnston did do the other website.
No other info though.
And, I would definitely love to get those photos from the website you have in folders.
In addition, can you tell me on what page the thumbnails does not work.
I did that only for the Archives page which I have left out now and replaced with a "Photo Albums" link and Page instead.
I will be putting thumbnails on this Page today.
The other Pages with Photos do not have the very biggest photos as yet as in your blog.
I will have to discuss that with you when you have more time.
Again Don, thank so much for all your support.
Continued blessings to you.....
Kazim
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On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 8:14 AM,
Don Mitchell CBE QC <idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:
Hello Kazim,
Sorry for the delay in responding.
I am in St Kitts for a family reunion, and have only very intermittent Internet access [only one Internet cafe found in the entire town of
The short story is that Anthony Johnston, an old boy living in
He abandoned it several years ago, and refused to acknowledge any emails asking him what was going on with it.
I don't think you will find anything.
I have folders of every photograph ever published by him, in more or less the categories you suggest.
On a related issue, I find that I cannot open the photographs on your website when I click on the thumbnail.
Is that correctable?
Don
----- Original Message ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: kazim abasali
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 8:38 AM
Thank your for your remarks Don.
Did Arthur Knaggs do a mailing out circular before Ladislao for the Old Boys?
And who created and facilitated the old website? http://www.theabbeyschool.com,
I appreciated any information, and I am open to crediting you with this information to the website.
Blessings to you....
Kazim
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On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 9:48 PM,
Don Mitchell CBE QC <idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:
That is a powerful website, Kazim.
You have done a wonderful job.
Keep it up.
Don
----- Original Message --------------------------------------------------------------------
From: kazim abasali
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 10:32 PM
Hi Don,
This email is to inform you that the
I keep updating and adding photos, information and all-round look of the site as I go along.
Can you give me some feedback.
It is a long process.
Ladislao and you have done so much work over the the years.
I am trying to consolidate this work of yours of the blog.
It will take some time to organise and complete.
However, the process has started.
Any pertinent information to add, let me know.
I will have to go over the blog with a fine comb and sift off information and update the website as I shared above.
The website is www.asaatt.org,
Blessings to you....
Kazim
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That is for now, till the next one
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Photos:
65JK0001JKORPT, Terminal report of Jan.
57IF0002IFAHDA, Haley Day and Isaias Farcheg.
08DM5195REUNION2008, Joseph Berment.
08DM5197REUNION2008, Gordon Mitchell, Christopher Knowles, Peter Tang, and a bunch of UNKNOWNS
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