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The Good & True

The Good & True ...issue# 29...September, 2000

Warren Abbott

The President's Message

Greetings to my fellow Georgians, our families, friends and supporters. What a time this is for St. George's College as we climax our 150th Anniversary celebrations on Sept. 3, 2000.

There has been a lot of celebrating going on in both Jamaica and Toronto, and fortunately some of our board members have been able to go down to the Jamaica events and capture these for our newsletter. Think of this guys! St. George's College was established in 1850, 17 years before our adopted country Canada achieved nation status (Confederation of Canada in 1867). St. George's has over its history, almost unbelievably, produced five Rhodes scholars, and its graduates continue to make significant contributions in all comers of the globe.

With our help, may it continue to do so in the future. Ad majorem dei Gloriam.

Check out the St. G.C. web site below for the names of the eleven persons inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. Congratulations to our Toronto Chapter's Dr. Herbert Ho Ping Kong who was one of those honoured. (http://www.stgc.org) and for the past newsletters www.pacific.net/~jaweb.

We welcome into the executive this year the young Georgians, Chris Chin and Danny HoLung. Already they are making their presence felt and we look forward to great things from them, especially in recruiting of their generation for membership and support to the school.

My thanks to our executive. They have propelled our Ontario chapter to new heights of achievement. This win require continuing excellence in performance and participation by all to ensure no momentum is lost and that the school and our membership continue to benefit. Over the past four years the Canadian Chapter and its members have contributed over Cdn. $50,000 to the School.

We had perhaps our best attendance at the family Mass and Communion breakfast, and a good turn out as well at the family diniier. Our annual fundraiser dinner/dance on August 5th was a tremendous success as was the family picnic with Alpha and Immaculate. These events are all covered in this issue.

Our cover photo is symbolic of our aspirations for the future as it features our youth, products of our culture and the underlying spirituality in our own educational background. These caring values we endeavour to keep alive in our children exposed to this wider Canadian experience and m our family events like the communion breakfast, family dinner and picnic. Featured are Leilani Garel, daughter of John & Cecile, caring tenderly for Amanda, granddaughter of Stan & Jeanette Chin, at the communion breakfast.

 
Leilani Garel & Amanda

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HAPPENINGS 

Through my involvement in the St.George's College Old Boys Association, both Heather and I have got to know so many Georgians and their families and you know, outside of scheduled Georgian events, we do gather together to mourn, to celebrate, and in fact be there for each other.

I am sure Ray Lodenquai took comfort in the many Georgians who showed up to grieve with him and his family in the recent passing of his mum. I saw Buski Charley, Uncle P (Pat Ferguson), Neil Dalhouse, Stanley Chin, Danny HoLung, Don Barnett, Ray Chang and many others.

Got a call from Loraine and Patrick Lee alerting Heather and me of a piano recital at the Ettore Mazzoleni Concert Hall at the Royal Conservatory of. Music on May 24th. The pianist was Andrew Aarons, son of our own Dr. Gillie and Adrienne Aarons. This was an ambitious but well executed programme with works by Bach, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich. Andrew is currently a scholarship student in piano at the Royal Conservatory under the tutelage of Andrew Markov, and since age seven has won numerous awards in music festivals and competitions. He is an active chamber music player, and in a brief chat afterwards I mentioned that I would love to hear him performing the Rachmaninov sonata for piano and cello. Meva and Michael Yee Quee, Bev. and Franklin Lue, and Shirley Wong, wife of Lipton were all there in support and what a musical treat we all got!

Norman Hill Q.C., Don Barnett, Peter Rickards, Robbie Vernon,
 Michael Charley & Ernest King

On June 17th at St. Michael's Cathedral in downtown Toronto, Peter Rickards, founding president of our Ontario alunmi association was ordained to the sacred order of the diaconate by His Eminence Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic Archbishop of Toronto. Peter joins another member of our Ontario chapter, Patrick Chang, who is also in this ministry. It was a long day. Following the ordination and get-together in the hall with the new deacons we were off to Brampton for a celebratory luncheon hosted by Peter's lovely daughter Susan. Don and Jennifer Barnett were there as were Michael (Buski) and Beba Charley, Raymond and Nolia Jackson and - how welcome to chat with those not so frequently seen in Toronto - Georgians (see photo) Norman Hill Q.C, and Ernest King. For those Brampton old boys and their families wishing to hear Peter's sermons, he has been assigned to St. Jerome's parish on Chinguacousy Rd.

 For Chinese boys the school of choice has always been St.George's. Ambitious, studious and with a desire to succeed, they formed a part of the many Georgians who went on to higher studies in English, Canadian and American universities. The result has been doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, deacons, and priests. To broaden the awareness of their history and contribution to the Jamaican and Canadian society has been a major project of Georgian Patrick Lee and on July 28th Heather and I joined many other Old boy supporters and their wives for the official launch of his book Canadian Jamaican Chinese 2000. Among the gathering were Dr. Keith Lowe, who gave an excellent talk,

Herman and Jean Chang, Lloyd and Celina Chung, Dr Louis and Claudette Lee, Ray Chang. If we ever need an M.C. for our functions look no further than Herman Chang, who did an excellent job, with humour aplenty. There are many familiar ST.GC faces in this book. Some notables in attendance at the function: Mr. Chen Kunru, Consul, The People's Republic of China, Mr. Alvin Curling, M.P.R Rouge River.; Mr. Herman LaMont, Jamaica's Consul General to Toronto, and Mr. Alan Tonks, Chairman, Greater Toronto Services Board (honorary Jamaican Chinese as his wife is former Alpha alumnae Cecile Kong).

Check out their website: www.jamaicanchinese.com

Robbie buck-up at Doctor's Cave Delroy Charley Sale and Blubba

Fr. Dziak in Toronto - Yes that was an occasion itself as outside of the official function Fr. D on Saturday was chaperoned through a downtown tour by Neil, Buski and Robbie: taking in the C.N Tower, City Hall, and eating hot dogs by the tram lines, as frank discussions were held on the school: its glory days, the present, the future and what part we the Toronto chapter can play in these changing times.

For me it was interesting trying to get to know the man behind St. George's College; and as we shared thoughts on Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton and in the case of the latter, gleaned the significant impact Thomas Merton's autobiography of faith "The Seven Story Mountain" had on his life, I felt a picture developing of the person behind the religious calling, and sensed our school was in good hands. The family dinner was in the Saturday evening and this went late into the night and there he was early Sunday morning celebrating mass at a local schoolhouse: This for a start up parish in Ray Chang's area, with several old boys in attendance including the ever faithful Don B (Barnett).

And to top it off the informal reception later that day for the executives and their wives at Ray and Elsie Chang's lovely home in Mississauga. He was really on the go all weekend, cementing friendships and championing support for St. George's College. What an ambassador for the school! 

Let no one fool you, the Toronto OBA could never have achieved this level of success without the strong support we have received from our spouses. Yes! Anita Chang, and the rest; we walk ever so boldly because we know what stands so fmnly behind us. But this must go both ways, so there I was in early August in Montego Bay, Jamaica, supporting Heather at a reunion for her old school Bishop Gibson High. While relaxing at Doctors Cave beach with all these ladies returning to Jamaica from England, Canada and the States I see what seems like a familiar face from the past. Not sure, I thought for a moment, then took the chance and uttered softly but loud enough so that the person in the water could hear me "Blubba"- AND the face turned around. What an embrace in friendship -Walter ( Blubba) Campbell, the football giant from the '50s, whom I hadn't seen in over 40 years. Blubba, excitedly, was filling me in on the latest news on Dynamite Lyn and Freddie Campbell. Freddie who resides in Florida had been out on a recent visit and there was quite an effort to get together. Walter has attained quite a level of success at the Bank of Jamaica. Then the following day on the beach as I parked my umbrella, the person under an umbrella beside announced, "the man you have been trying to find!" - And there was Delroy Charley (Sale). And indeed he was correct as the inquiry went out in our Toronto newsletter several years ago. I had my own mini reunion with people I had not seen in over 40 years. It was as if there was no lapse in time, the relationships continued where they left off. This says something too about the school; the Jesuit culture, and the lasting bonding made possible by the special shared learning experience.

Sharing some NEWS- in this year's Independence Day announcements of awards, the nation's fourth highest honour, the Order of Jamaica (OJ) has been conferred on the distinguished Georgian, his honour Justice Ian Xavier Forte, President of the Court of Appeal.

On this topic of distinguished Old Boys, Francis Lopez is compiling a book on Outstanding Georgians and would like Old boys to contribute whatever information they can find. Individual Old boys are being asked as well to send a profile on themselves, their occupations and achievements (a one page biography would be the idea). In addition anyone with information or pictures on any sporting aspect of the school is asked to forward this as well to Francis Lopez at 10 Orleans Drive, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada MIC 4S9. Francis'Email: flopez@spiint.ca

Paul Foreman with wife Betsy and daughters Nicola and Kathryn

Francis shares with us an update on Paul Foreman. Remember him? Graduated in 1956. Class I high jump and long Jump champion and member of the 1956 winning Manning cup and Olivier shield football teams. Paul obtained a scholarship to the University of Illinois where he obtained his B.S in Biological Sciences and Chemistry, a M.S and PhD in Biochemistry. While there he was captain of the University Track & Field Team and his career athletic accomplishments include a Gold Medal at the British Empire Games in Cardiff, Wales in long jump in 1958, and a finalist in the long jump at the Olympics in Rome in 1960. In the academic and business world he has been Assistant Professor, Life Sciences at Eastern Illinois University and has held top executive positions at Allied Chemicals and was the general manager for their European Operations in Brussels. He retired in 1999 as General Manager of General Electric Company in Louisville, Kentucky.

Best of luck to you and you family Paul in your retirement, and as the present students of St. George's College read of your accomplishments in this newsletter which will be in the school library, may they draw encouragement from it and see the world out there as brimming with possibilities for them as well, if they strive as you did to achieve; using the talents you had, and if we as old boys continue to give back and to support the school to make this possible.

Robbie Vernon

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