-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
Here is a short upto the point the Scounting rememberence written by Nigel Boos, thanks Nigel.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCOUTING AT MOUNT ST. BENEDICT
I became a Patrol Leader for the Woodpeckers Patrol in the 2nd Mt. St. Benedict Scout Troop.
I attended the Mount for five years (1955-1960) and, since it was a small school, never exceeding 180 students, all of the students knew one another extremely well.
We studied together, ate together, played together, enjoyed music together, camped together, attended daily Mass together and so on.
For a long time after leaving The Mount I viewed my life as useful and valid only in relation to my friends from the school.
Maybe it was because we grew up in the post WWII era, a time when uniformed soldiers were on every movie screen and were great role-models for us young ones.
Maybe it was because we loved to parade in our khakis, black and gold scarf toggled at the neck, badges there to show as proof of achievement.
Or maybe we all simply enjoyed the challenge and the fun associated with scouting.
But for sure, Scouting at the Abbey School
I believe it is true to say that we had more Queen Scouts than perhaps any other Scout Troop in the island.
But what else would one expect than a fantastic record, with a Scout Master like Fr. Ildefons in charge, a mighty man among men, followed after his resignation by the friendly, humble and caring Fr. Cuthbert, who had to learn everything about scouting from scratch as the Canadians say.
Sunday morning band practice was something to which we looked forward, bringing with it, as it did, noise, music (of a type), discipline, and great efforts by our band to maintain a high quality of martial tempo.
The trumpeters, who in my day included John Golding, Juan Marini, Pablo Figuera, Dennis Gurley, and others, led by Manuel Prada, set a wonderful, piercing tune, against the rat-tat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat-tat, ah-rat, ah-rat, ah-rat-tat-tat-tat beating of the side drums, and backed by the Big Base Drum which was my job.
Frankly, I had the easiest job, as all I had to do was to hit the thing hard and keep time with everyone else.
We marched around the School a few times, much to the annoyance of the volley-ballers who had to pause in their game as we ducked under the net, and it was a blessed relief to everyone when, finally, we set off down the hill and along the roadway to entertain / annoy the rest of Trinidad and the monks of MSB.
It was always a highlight of the parade when Mike Howard was invited to step out in front of the band, with his silver baton (a thing with a heavy wooden ball at the top end).
Tall as he was, Mike led the parade from the front and inspired us with his wonderful, fancy marching style and handling of his baton.
A pitched bell-tent would sleep 8 boys, a full patrol.
Guy lines would have to be slackened at night before retiring, otherwise they would tighten and shorten during the night, and the tent could be ripped in half.
Camping with the 1st Mount St. Benedict Scout Troop was an experience never to be forgotten.
Fr. Ildefonse would choose his camping ground, after much consultation with the Scout Commissioner, local landowners, and I suppose, our Troop Leader, Gerard Pampellone, and plans would be made.
Each Patrol Leader (mine was Woodpeckers) was responsible for ensuring that an adequate number of pots, pans, skillets, mugs, plates, cutlery, tents, poles, pegs, mallets, shovels, ropes, semaphore flags, etc. were packed into our Patrol Boxes and readied for departure.
On the big day, we would board the bus and accompanying cars in our uniforms and head out for a few days of glorious adventure.
On site, the routine began, with unloading, unpacking, distributing, checking, choosing Patrol sites, pitching tents, cutting bamboo, building trestle tables, making gadgets, cooking, inspections, hiking, mealtimes, campfires, games and of course, sleeping.
Each day began with a Wake-Up call, followed in short order by Holy Mass, from the back of Fr. Ildefons/ Cutty’s Volkswagen van.
The back of the van was set up as an altar, and (these were pre-Vatican II days, so the priest had his back to us, facing into the van) we stood around respectfully as the holy sacrifice was offered, in Latin.
We camped at a number of memorable sites all over Trinidad and Tobago , and I vividly recall one camp in Tobago , in 1961.
I think, when Mr. Bishop invited us to come to Tobago as guests of the Tobago Scout Association.
The land chosen for us was a concave basin, and we were positioned at the very base of the basin.
Mr. Bishop brought over the largest grass-cutter I’ve ever seen (which he probably used to cut the bush between his coconut trees), a huge apparatus pulled behind his tractor.
In no time at all, the area was cleared and we began to set up camp, pitching tents randomly around the inside of the basin.
We cooked supper and were preparing for bed when the heavens opened up.
Rain fell, bucket a drop, for the entire night and the water rose inch by inch inside of the tents.
Everything was soaked, in fact, everything was underwater, and we were cold and miserable.
An SOS call was sent out, presumably by Fr. Cuthbert, and in the middle of the night, cars began to arrive to extricate us from the bog which our campsite had become.
We were taken to a local school-house and offered accommodation in a few of the classrooms, which thankfully were dry.
We slept blissfully into the morning, all semblance of order having temporarily disappeared.
But not for long.. . . . . . . as soon as we had woken up and cooked breakfast, back we went to the campsite to salvage everything, traveling back and forth in Mr. Bishop’s tractor-trailer unit to a new campsite chosen for us, a lovely spot right on the water’s edge, with a beautiful view of sea and sand as only those who know and love Tobago can understand.
A very memorable camp indeed.
And so the years have flown.
We graduated from Abbey School
Some of us went on to Form 6 at St. Mary’s, others attended Canadian, American, British and Venezuelan Universities, among others, and settled down, some with families, others not, but all retaining somewhere, in the backs of their minds, distant, lingering memories of those happy days of our youth, when we were ready to take on the world.
Receiving my Queen’s Scout Certificate from Fr. Abbott (Adelbert van Duin O.S.B.)
(Never got the photo where you were receiving the Certificate. Ed.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Use the code on the photos when replying.
Some of the photos have missing names, so please help.
This is for now, keep well.
God Bless
Ladislao
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photos:
60NB0088NBOGRP, Mass from a VW
59NB0105NBOTENT, Bell
60UN0001SCOUTBAND, Scout Band
63NB0001SCOUTS, Joe Azar and patrol
No comments:
Post a Comment