CONTACT 32
October 2002 |
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NEWS FROM YOU
From Msgr. Egan-Jones
Dear Richard,
Thank you for your e-mail and
for carrying on with CONTACT.I have been retired since last November but had
stayed in residence at St.Patrick's. It is downtown and the best place to be.
Since retiring, I have been to
New Zealand in March with my brother and sister-in-law, niece and her
husband. We rented motor homes and
drove all over the North and South Islands with plenty of sunshine.
In July, I visited the Rytens
in Cirencester, England for ten days.
More sunshine, happily. They
both are doing fine and busy working on contracts. Their son, Mark, was in the
cafeteria of Hebrew University when a
bomb was thrown into the cafeteria.
Mark suffered burns on his arms and smoke inhalation. The last I heard he was on the mend.
I hope all is well with you.
Barry
From the Wilsons
Hello friends,
Greetings from Gananoque, Ontario! Yes we have moved from Ottawa
after 39 years in the same house and have been rather preoccupied these many
months - with adverse effects on our correspondence. So this is
just to let you know that we are alive and well and still may be reached at the
same e-mail address ([email protected]).
Our mailing address is Ph 2 - 50 Market St., Gananoque, Ont. K7G
2M3. Telephone (613) 382 0464. Our cottage number remains (613) 389
4488.
Our new location was the result of chance - a casual browse through a
real-estate brochure and a casual visit to see the amount of space in a condo
apartment overlooking the St. Lawrence River in July a year ago. We
got serious and took possession at the end of October but with September 11 and
all that did not manage to sell our house until January and didn't move
till the end of May. The intervening months were very busy with all those
difficult down-sizing decisions. Then came the settling in and suddenly summer
and cottage activity was upon us, interspersed with short trips here and
there mainly to babysit various grandchildren. So the summer has now expired
without us spending much time at the computer and we feel rather badly out of
touch.
We do appreciate that others are busy too, but perhaps we will be there in your
address book when we might come to mind.
All the best!
Ross and Sally Wilson
From the Harringtons
We
have had rather a quiet summer, though we earlier paid a short(one week) visit
to Alberta to attend a family
wedding
and then see something of that beautiful province. We rented a car in Edmonton
and toured the central part of Alberta, visiting Drumheller, to see my fellow
dinosaurs, and Kananaskis, before returning home. We were
shocked
at the signs of drought everywhere we visited in the rural areas. Nothing else
to report except a very pleasant trip to Stratford, where we took in five plays
in four days and now know a lot more than we did about
the Wars of the Roses.
Cheers, John
From the Dodds
Bonjour
Richard,
Not a
lot to tell you from this end but I will take a stab at it anyway. The first
part of the year was taken up by the requirement to sell my Mum's house and
settle up her estate as she had passed away on Dec 31st. Thankfully,
it all went fairly well although the legal procedure was a bit frustrating and
a learning process.
We
did, what has become our yearly ritual, a motor trip at Easter to northern
Alberta to visit our school-teacher daughter. We had a good drive there
and a "cool" visit. Temp was minus 27C the first night but moderated
to minus 17C. A bit of a shock to our west-coast-acclimated bodies!
Nevertheless, we persevered, did quite a bit of skiing, drove in our daughter's
horse and cutter (with a dandy fur robe over our knees), and went ski-doing
with her farmer friend. The return trip was a bit rugged when we had poor
weather through Whitecourt, Hinton and Jasper and resulted in our new Subaru
wagon taking a lot of paint damage from sand and rocks in the slush and spray
from oncoming trucks. But it was a good trip overall.
In May
our hiking club travelled out to the west coast of the Island for three days at
Middle Beach Lodge. We did some great hikes with excellent weather and the
company of good friends. In Aug Ron and Marilyn Bernd were
allowed back into Canada for a short visit and so we managed to get together
with them and Chuck and Maxine for dinner at McMorran's Beach House.
I'm pleased
to report that we were remarkably well behaved and, if I have done it right,
this photo should attest to that.
For
those who can't remember, that's Maxine, Mark, Marilyn, Chuck, Joanne, and Ron.
Finally, Joanne and I elected to go on a "cruise" this month and so
we hightailed it up to Albernie and the next day did a trip on the MV Frances
Barkley out to Bamfield on the coast and then all the way back. Actually it was
very interesting as we made many stops along the way to drop off mail, cargo
and people to out-of-the-way lodges, fish hatchery, logging camps etc.
It's an all-day trip with good home-style food on board and a one hour
stop in Bamfield.
So
that's it for the Dodd Report. Hope you are keeping well. Best regards,
Mark
From the McGills
Richard.
Pleased
to hear you have completed your busy summer and are now organizing newsletter.
We
really missed our annual reunion in Quebec. I know you had a busy summer but I
hope, because Jacques spent so much time and effort starting and maintaining
this annual event, that some of his close friends in Ottawa or Montreal will
get it going again next year. We truly enjoy savouring French Canadian culture
on an annual basis with good friends.
At the
end of May the Holdings spent a day with us en route to see their daughter in
Cleveland. Ron and Shirley Thomas, now living in Cambridge joined us for lunch
on the patio. In the evening the
Holdings went with us to Drayton. .By coincidence, the date of their visit was
this years date when the Rotary club of Drayton is given first call on all the
tickets to the Drayton Festival. As a fund-raising event they offer tickets to
all the Rotary Clubs in the area for an old fashioned country dinner in the
local hockey arena and a ticket to the performance that night. The Drayton Festival
is one of the most successful summer theatres in SW Ontario. They perform
mostly musical comedies which are well done and light entertainment.
In mid
June Marylou's sister and brother in law were celebrating their 50th
wedding anniversary in Calgary. We flew out a few days early and drove to
Jasper via Edmonton; then to Radium Hotsprings BC; then to Waterton Lakes in
the extreme SW of Alberta. The week-end before we arrived they had three feet
of snow, most of which was still there. We celebrated our 44th wedding
anniversary there.
On
returning to Calgary we found a new (open only 2 wks) restaurant
"Catch". It was outstanding
but expensive. It is located in downtown Calgary in the former Imperial Bank
main office and is just behind Ron Mannix new Hyatt Regency Hotel
The
remainder of the summer has been golf three times a week on the 14th
best course in Canada--Westmount.
Ron
and Marylou
De Lise
Casgrain (Morneault)
UNE EXPÉRIENCE
UNIQUE VÉCUE AU CAMP LOVE
Mardi, le 20 août,
un autobus avec 44 personnes de LOVE (jeunes et adultes) quittait Montréal pour
le camp White Pine à Haliburton en Ontario.
Tout le monde était excité incluant les trente adolescents impliqués
dans le programme de leadership de LOVE à Montréal. Ce camp de quatre jours comportait des ateliers ainsi que de
périodes libres où différents sports étaient pratiqués. De plus, les
montréalais fréquentaient d’autres jeunes de LOVE en provenance de Vancouver,
Halifax et Toronto.
Les ateliers
permettaient à tous et chacun, les adultes aussi, de réfléchir sur des
situations quotidiennes qui peuvent être très pénibles pour certains jeunes
surtout considérant leur passé plutôt boulversant. Parler est un des remèdes dans ce cheminement. Le courage que ces
adolescents démontrent pour changer et améliorer leur sort est
extraordinaire. La violence, physique
et verbale, fait partie intégrale de leur quotidien et souvent n’est pas facile
à prendre. Comment ces jeunes
peuvent-ils être heureux lorsque la communication avec leurs parents (souvent
des familles monoparentales) est limitée, que le choix de leurs amis n’est pas
approuvé, que le comportement familial peut être parfois violent?
Tous ces jeunes
veulent avoir une belle vie et y travaillent sérieusement. Ils veulent être
acceptés pour ce qu’ils sont et manquent d’affection. Au camp LOVE, il y en
avait de l’affection. C’est tellement
facile d’aimer ces jeunes qui, après tout, ont des valeurs de base beaucoup
plus profondes que bien d’autres gens qui n’ont pas leurs problèmes. Ils ont peu et demandent peu. La vie dont
ils ont hérité est souvent injuste. Au
camp LOVE, l’affection était donnée gratuitement, et en abondance. De plus, les
adultes ont démontré à maintes reprises qu’ils ont confiance en ces jeunes et
ceci permettra à ces adolescents de faire de grands pas dans leur cheminement
de vie. Ces jeunes veulent réorienter
leur vie et le peuvent grâce au Projet LOVE.
Ils m’ont montré qu’on ne doit pas juger quelqu’un par son
emballage. Au contraire, il est important
de découvrir l’authenticité d’une personne.
Ces jeunes sont vrais et un univers grandiose les attend s’ils
continuent avec détermination de changer leurs vies.
Ce camp nous fait
réaliser comment choyés nous sommes depuis notre enfance. Cette constatation
nous incite à donner de nous pour aider
ces jeunes à continuer dans le droit chemin.
Oui, les larmes ont coulé, oui les émotions étaient vives, mais ils en
ont retenu tellement et c’est un bien immense autant pour eux que pour nous,
les adultes.
Grâce à LOVE, ces
adolescents et d’autres vont prendre confiance en eux, vont identifier leurs
objectifs et travailler à les atteindre.
Pour cela, ils ont besoin de nous, de nos efforts, de notre
compréhension et de notre amour.
Au retour, une
adolescente me disait que sa bulle était crevée. La vie reprenait son cours, mais je lui disais qu’elle s’était
enrichie durant ces quelques jours au camp. Cette expérience lui donnera, à
elle et à d’autres, la tenacité d’affronter les problèmes et les défis de tous
les jours. Ce camp fut pour moi une
expérience incroyable. La vie nous apporte tellement sans toutefois le réaliser
pleinement. Arrêtez-vous et
pensez-y—nous sommes tellement choyés et privilégiés. Pourquoi donc ne pas aider la génération de demain à développer
leur potentiel?
Lise Casgrain
Membre du Conseil
d’administration
LOVE-Montréal Août
2002
A UNIQUE
EXPERIENCE AT LOVE’S CAMP
On Tuesday, August
20th, a bus with 44 LOVE campers (adults and youth) was leaving Montreal for
Camp White Pine in Haliburton, Ontario. Everyone was truly excited including
the thirty adolescents involved in LOVE’s Montreal leadership program. This four day camp consisted of workshops as
well as time for sports and activities and meeting other LOVE youngsters from
Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax.
The workshops
enabled each and everyone of us, adults as well, to reflect on various
situations in the youngsters’ lives which can be hard to handle especially in
the light of their turmoiled past.
Speaking is one remedy in their ongoing determination to improve their
lives. The courage demonstrated by
these young persons to change and improve their fate is extraordinary and was
exhibited in many instances. Physical and verbal violence is part of their
daily lives and is hard to take. How
can these youngsters feel secure when communication with their parents (often
split families) is limited, the choice of friends is sanctioned, and family
behaviour can sometimes be violent.
All these
youngsters want a good life and they work hard at it. They want to be accepted for what they are and they crave
affection. At LOVE’S camp, there was a
great deal of affection. It is so easy
to love these youth as deep down, they have strong fundamental values even
stronger than those who do not have to deal with these problems. They have little and they ask for
little. The life that they have
inherited is very often unfair. Affection was given freely at camp, we showed
we have confidence in them and this will enable them to make giant steps in
their journey. These youth want to
redirect their lives and they can change thanks to LOVE. They certainly taught
me not to judge someone based on the wrapping.
Give the person the opportunity to be discovered. These youngsters are for real and a great
world awaits them if they continue with their determination to achieve a better
life.
This camp made us,
the adults, realize how fortunate we are with our particular backgrounds. Therefore, it makes us want to give of
ourselves to help these youngsters continue on the right track. Yes, there were tears, yes- there were some
tough moments, but in the end it was a truly positive experience for all
involved. We have all retained a great
deal including us, the adults.
Thanks to LOVE,
these youngsters and others will gain self confidence, will identify their
objectives and work towards achieving them.
To accomplish such a task, they need our help, our efforts, our
understanding and our love.
As we returned to
Montreal, one of the youngsters mentioned to me that her bubble was burst. I
told her that life goes on, but not to worry, as she has been enriched by this
camp experience. It will give these youth the ability to face their daily
problems and challenges. Personally,
this camp experience was incredible.
Life offers so much and we do not fully realize it. Stop and think about this—we are so lucky
and privileged. Why not help tomorrow’s
generation develop their potential!
Lise Casgrain
Member of the
Board of Directors
LOVE-Montreal August
2002
Des Ouimet-McPherson
John,
Marc et moi avons vu les Radford pendant notre séjour en Australie et en
Nouvelle-Zélande au mois de mai. Ils nous ont chaleureusement accueillis à
Sydney. Des produits du pays, vin et fromage et pâté nous attendaient à
l'hotel. Ils nous ont ensuite fait visiter la ville et les environs et nous ont
reçus chez eux pour déguster les mets et vins du pays. Nous avons passé quatre
jours à Sydney et ils ont souvent été nos hôtes et guides. Nous avons bien
parlé du passé, de tous nos confrères du collège et de tout ce qui s'était
passé dans nos vies depuis leur dernier voyage dans l'Est du Canada..
L'hospitalité
Radfford n'a pas changé, elle est aussi dynamique et accueillante qu'au cours
de l'année à Kingston. Ils sont en bonne forme et s'occupent beaucoup de leurs
enfants, de leurs petits enfants et de leur chat de race. Ils sont installés
près de la plage de Bondi. Ils y vont en marchant beau temps, mauvais temps.
John,
Marc and I saw the Radfords during our trip to Australia and New Zealand in
May. They greeted us warmly in Sydney. Products from Australia, wine, cheese
and pâté were waiting for us at our hotel. They accompanied us on visits in the city and the surrounding areas and had
us over for meals when we again ate
typically delicious Australian meals. We spent four days in Sydney and
they were often our hosts and guides. We enjoyed speaking about the past and
all about the NDC colleagues and catching up on what we all had done since
their last trip in Eastern Canada . The Radford hospitality has not changed, it
is as dynamic and hospitable as it was during our year in Kingston. They are in
good health and shape and take care of their children, grandchildren and their
cat. They live near Bondi beach and walk there often on sunny or cloudy days.
Lise
Ouimet et John
From the Heywoods
Things
on the wet coast have been quiet from our point of view. Last fall (2001) Ralph and Fran Brown were up
for a visit and stayed with us - had a great time showing them around.
This
summer Ron and Marilyn Bernd came up for a visit. It was as that time that we learned that Ron did not know how to
iron a shirt. Needless to say I
provided him with a detailed instruction sheet, that he could even pass on to
his boys.
A real
surprise this September. Orest
Cochkanoff dropped in for a visit and we were even able to team him up with one
of his old classmates. (People live longer in BC than anywhere else in
Canada.) Orest was in good form and
we had
a very enjoyable evening.
Peg is
busy in Art School these days, so I am taking a run at local politics, running
for Council in the City of North
Vancouver. It is a bit of a crap shoot,
so it is hard to predict if I can win.
But I will let you know in the
next contact. Anyway, it keeps me out of mischief.
Looking
forward to the 25th. reunion.
Regards,
Peg and Bob
From the Zrymiaks
Hi
Richard,
Terry
and I are having a busy and eventful year with travelling, family moves and
with growing grandchildren. By living on the west coast in the summer and in
our "winter cottage" in Arizona during the winter months, we are
blessed? with numerous visitors, summer and winter.
I have
been particularly busy; I have just finished my third book - AIR FORCE BLUE,
this one on my air force life. It has gotten good proofing reader reviews and
is in the "hunt" for a publisher as I write. I did a chapter on each
posting in my career, including the one at NDC. Walt has very kindly agreed to
read it and the chapter on my tour in Czechoslovakia as an attache, and sent
back some good suggestions. Plus the following quick assessment, "I
enjoyed reading the two chapters very, very much. It's an informative and entertaining story very well told."
And I love him all the more for saying it.
Just
for your read only, I am including the – ( Editor note: The chapter
is printed separately, and placed in a NDC chapterseparate file for those on e-mail.) By
the way, Walt has not threatened to decapitate me for anything I said.
Anyhow,
the book took two years to put together, with help from a lot of people, and
hopefully will be published by next year. If not, I'll self-publish. Also, plan
to start another this winter, likely a fiction.
Terry
and I are seriously thinking of attending the 25th next summer, perhaps in
conjunction with an extended trip. We'll let Walt know in the few days.
So
there you have it! Am working hard to rebut the perception that I'm just a
retired old fart.
All
the best to you both from Terry and myself. Hope you enjoy the chapter on NDC.
Cheers,
Mike
From the Dreezers
Blima and I have
had a challenging couple of years. Both of our mothers passed away. Blima's
father is 85 and lives in Montreal. As the only daughter, she spends a lot of
time worrying about him, especially as he only had two significant interests in
his life - sports and her mother.
On the brighter side, our teenagers are now 17, 15 and 14, with Harriet in her
first year of the combined Arts and Science honours degree (B.Arts Sc.) program
at McMaster, and Charles in Grade 11 and Rebecca in Grade 9.
Harriet's move into residence in Hamilton was a bit traumatic for us and it
still seems strange that her bedroom is empty. However, the reduction in the
noise level with only two siblings arguing rather than three does, at least
partially, offset "losing" her. She tells us that she is having a
fabulous time - so I guess "Freedom 17" is working for her. But we
know that she still "needs" us as the other day she telephoned
Blima for help with an essay - needless to say, Blima was thrilled.
What more can we say. Most of you went through this years ago and some have
even progressed to the grandchildren stage.
Blima is still doing freelance communications consulting (writing, editing,
planning, etc.) and I am still doing freelance management consulting. For the
past while, and into the foreseeable future, I have been helping the Office of
the Provincial Controller (part of the Ontario Ministry of Finance) oversee the
planning and implementation of Oracle Financials as the government-wide
accounting system.
Even though we no longer have kids in elementary school, Blima and I are both still on the board of
directors of Bialik Hebrew Day School where each of our kids spent 10 loooooong
years from JK to Grade 8. I am the vice-president and am heavily involved in
the school's physical facility expansion project. as I said to the current
president, he gets the credit for putting up the building and when I take over
from him I inherit the debt. So if any of you know someone with the odd million
or two to donate, I will be forever grateful.
While we have had some difficulty making it to previous reunions, we will be
making every effort to see everyone at next year's 25th.
Steve and Blima
From the Bullocks
Tidbits
is a bit of an overstatement when it comes to the Bullocks' activities worthy
of note in the Course XXXII newsletter. After spending a month in London and
another month in Paris in the first half of 2001, the onset of health problems
has kept us much closer to home since then. Medical tests and trials of various
medication can be very time-consuming
and lowering in general but the results have shown that David's heart condition
is relatively minor and the medicine is keeping it all pretty stable.
We
have enjoyed several stays in Washington DC and plan some more travel in North
America before the end of the year. More ambitious European projects for 2003
are in the planning stage.
The
Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival continues to be one of our main
activities and music in general consumes a good deal of our time. Visiting
festivals in spots to which it is easy to drive has meant that our delightful
new car (Audi A4 in fire engine red) has already covered many kilometres. It
hasn't slowed down the way its owners have!
Cheers
to all!
Mary
and David
From the
Mathesons
The Mathesons were
on a trip to China, 8-22 Oct.
Hopefully, they will send us a trip report!
From the Stipes
Dear Richard --
Thanks a million for gathering input for the newsletter. I'm not too good
at tidbits, but I really do enjoy hearing from all my friends, so I'll try to
do my share.
Life has really been good for the Stipe clan. I now have 13
grandchildren, an increase of four since I last saw y'all. They range
from 1st grade to College Fresh, and as we say down here "There ain't a
cull in the bunch!"
Last summer I moved from Stone Mountain to be a little closer to my younger son
and his family. I'm still in the Atlanta metro area at 3848 Glen Robbie
Court, Loganville, GA 30052. It's less than a day's drive to Florida if
any of you are ever headed that way, and I'd love to have your company on your
way down and on your way back. My new phone number is 770-985-6843, and
e-mail will reach me at [email protected].
Y'all come!
Other than that, I really don't have much news. I have not yet learned
how to age gracefully, but I'm aging a bit nonetheless. As I said at the
start, life is very good. I hope with all my heart that it has been
equally good or even better for all of you and for all of yours.
Cheers, Bud
Des Ferron
Ils sont
présentement en voyage en Tunisie. Demandez-leur un rapport d’activité!
From the Wellsmans
Hi
Richard!
It is
probably worth mentioning that most of us at the "50" mark. Joan and
I have gone back to CMR this year to present prizes 50 years after I entered
that wonderful little college. It goes along with joining the OLD BRIGADE which
is RMC's way of telling you that you are getting old. We have also been to
several 50th Wedding Anniversaries. I have another colleague who is just
retiring after 50 years of service to Canada and the Federal
Government.
So - the chance to go to a 25 year reunion is
the only way to feel young again !!!! See you in August at the Chateau Cartier.
Best
Regards
Dean
From the Cimons
They
are evidently in excellent health, golfing or skiing every day (alternate
seasons, however), travel a lot, visit their 4 children in Ottawa and proud of
their 9 grandchildren. They do volunteer work and keep busy; apparently never go
out otherwise any more.
From the Holdings
Herewith
news of the Holdings.
We are
still living in deepest Devon, but we have moved around a bit this year. Younger daughter Penny was awarded a study
fellowship by the WellcomeTrust to continue her research into the effects of
malaria on the children of the Kenya Coast. This entailed 3 months' work at
Sheffield University in the UK in the second half of 2001 and an eight month
stint at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, from January of
this year. Rather than split the family
for this period, Julian, Madeleine and
Oliver went with her - a major logistic operation, since they are incapable of travelling light. This meant that we had a family Christmas
last year, for the first time for over 10 years.
In May
,we took the opportunity to visit them in Cleveland. In summer, there is a
weekly flight from Exeter
to
Toronto, and to save the hassle of going to London, we took this and drove in a rental car to and from
Cleveland. We made a slight detour to
Kitchener where we enjoyed the warm hospitality of Ron and Marylou McGill. They
had made contact with Ron and Shirley Thomas and entertained us all to a very
enjoyable lunch and they also took us to a highly professional theatre
production in Drayton.
Penny
and family returned to the UK in September so we saw them briefly again before
they returned to Kenya at the beginning of October. They will be pleased to be settled in one place again Malcolm reached the big seven-O in May. Pamela and Alison plotted between them and
arranged a surprise party aboard a river boat on our local river, the Exe. It was a well kept secret and Malcolm had no
idea what was afoot until the moment he was confronted by a horde of smiling
faces when he climbed up to the upper deck of the boat. The first guests he saw on board were Geoff
and Mary Bown. It was Mary's birthday too - though she hasn't had as many as
Malcolm - and she and Geoff came and went in a Rolls Royce to mark of the
occasion.
Malcolm
and Pamela
From the Thomases
Richard
Below
is a message that I sent recently. Not
much has happened since then except that we have now moved into our new house
and are putting our affairs back together again. Shirley couldn't meet the schedule for surgery on the 23rd and
has postponed it until after Christmas.
If there is anything you would like to include in the Contact 32 please
do so.
We are
very pleased to learn that you are taking the initiative to prepare a
newsletter for Course 32.
Our
last year has been a very busy one with family affairs and our ongoing building
at the cottage and "supervising" the building of a new house.
It was
a great pleasure to see the Holdings when they visited Ron and Mary Lou McGill
in the summer where we had a mini-reunion catching up on news. Mary Lou and Ron
hosted a memorable luncheon at their home.
We were especially pleased to hear that Geoff Bown is in good health.
We are
about to move into our new house before the end of this month and have recently
been very busy doing some of the work on it ourselves. The new address will be:
7B-350 Doon Valley Drive Kitchener, ON
N2P 2M9
Phone
- (519) 893-0421
All
the best to you both, Ron
From
the Gellings
There
is not much in the way of news from our front to help with the Contact. I am still doing about two days a week of
consulting work, mostly related to defence procurement, and Jackie has just
celebrated her 70th birthday, which is a fairly common occurrence within our
group.
Bill
From the Berrymans
Dear
Richard-----news from Sharbot Lake--I guess the most electric news from
this
quarter is that we have told Walt we will be going to the reunion!!
Other
than that no news. I guess that could
be considered good news.
Anyway
that is our contribution to the newsletter. See you in Aug. if not
Before.
Jane
and Bryan
Des Asselin
Life
continue to be hectic here. We now have 7 grand children, and #8 is on the
way. Our youngest son will get married
next summer, promising a few more grandchildren. Despite the morass at Nortel
networks, 2 of our sons, and their partners, have managed to hold their jobs
there; thank God!. Our third son in Montréal is on paternity leave, and loves
it. We babysit often enough, and we like it, but time flies. Louise thought French,
Spanish and German last year, and is doing it again this year. She is also the
Head of the languages department at Brookfield High School. This is a tough job
because of the scarcity of resources provided by the Ontario government. In
fact, her school board is being managed by a special trustee appointed by the
Government because the elected school board members refused to make the cuts
necessary to balance their budget.
Richard
continues to work two days a week for a scientific society, but he has now
adopted a church as a building project.
This is an old building (1889), with lots of repairs required. The
church is poor, so Richard winds up doing a lot of the work himself (cheap
labour!). Although he is catholic and the church protestant (United Church of
Canada), he nevertheless hopes to earn his place in heaven. Louise is also an
elder of the church, and the two of us contribute a lot.
In
July, we started up on a tree week trip to Spain and Germany, to do some
visiting with Louise’s friends. As soon as we arrived, Louise was admitted to
the hospital with a severe pneumonia. She stayed there 5 days, and we had to
come right back. We saw nothing but we learned about the medical system in
Spain, which is excellent. For example, she obtained a CAT scan on the next
day, but she is still waiting for one in Ottawa, after more than two months. We
took three days in Québec City at the end of August as a compensation. We had a
very good time, visiting each store in the Vieille Ville.
Lunch at the Ritz
ADDRESSES
Please check your
entry on the address list carefully.
From my recent experience, the Gellings e-mail and fax were both
incorrect in the list I sent you last year, as was Ralph and Fran Brown’s fax;
I regret this. The new list has this corrected, and includes an e-mail address
for the Browns. Compuserve.com seems to have a problem with John Quigley’s
e-mail.
COURSE FUNDS
After the mailing
of this newsletter to those not reachable by e-mail, the fund stands at $160.
I have not
received a contribution from several of you, as indicated in the remarks column
of the address list. This is not a problem for the immediate, but, should we
need to send flowers or a course memento in a hurry, we might be embarrassed.
************************************
25th Anniversary Reunion
From your course leader
Your response to the proposal for our 25th
Anniversary Reunion is absolutely outstanding.
Of 28 responses, 23 have committed to attend, for a total of 42
members/spouses/companions. These are:
Richard Asselin/Louise Reid Joyce Ball Ron and Marilyn Bernd
Bryan John and Jane Berryman Denny and Jo Boyle Ralph and Fran Brown
Ron and Adrienne Brown Lise Casgrain Maurice et
Huguette Cormier Walt and
Raye Dabros
Stephen and Blima Dreezer Jacques and Suzanne Ferron Bill Gelling/Jackie MacDonald
Bob and Peg Heywood Scotty and Bev Matheson Ron and Marylou McGill
Bill and Arlene McGee Claire Moulton Lise
Ouimet/John McPherson
Bud Stipe Ron
and Shirley Thomas Dean
and Joan Wellsman
Ross and Sally Wilson Mike and Terry Zrymiak
I sincerely appreciate your commitment to this event,
and am particularly grateful to our members who reside, or have relatives, in
Ottawa but have opted to stay at the hotel with the group. I ask all members who have not responded to
reconsider. A reunion is an opportunity
for you to gather with old friends and acquaintances in a spirit of genuine
comradeship – a comradeship that, in most cases, has been developed and
nurtured over many years. So, take
advantage of this large turnout if at all possible, and do just that.
Needless to say, the Reunion is a “go” as
advertised. Preliminary details are as
follows:
Dates: 17-18-19
August 2003 (2 nights)
Location: Chateau
Cartier 1170 chemin
Aylmer Aylmer, QC
Directions: Cross
Champlain Bridge from Ottawa. Left on
chemin Aylmer for about 1 km. Chateau
Cartier is on the left.
Reservations
·
Phone.
1-800-807-1088
·
Fax.
819-777-7161
·
E-mail:
[email protected]
·
Details on
web at: www.chateaucartier.com
·
A block
booking of rooms has been made in accordance with your commitment to attend.
·
Negotiated
price: $93.20 per person per night in double occupancy
$142.70 per person per night in single occupancy
plus taxes( $2.00 tourism, 7% GST and
7.5% PST)
Includes full buffet breakfast, three
course dinner and service
·
Reservations
are an individual responsibility, and MUST be made by 16 July 2003. Block bookings will NOT be held beyond that
date. Let’s reserve now!
·
When making
reservations, quote Reservation No. 87758.
·
Two types of
rooms are available – two double beds OR one King-size. Both type rooms are the same overall size,
but the room with the King-size bed has the sitting area separated by French
doors. Specify your preference.
Parking is provided by the hotel at no extra cost.
Should difficulties be encountered, our
contact at the hotel is Ms. Marika Nadeau, Sales Manager.
N.B.
Members who have not previously responded but who now wish to attend,
please inform me so that block bookings can be adjusted.
A detailed program will be developed by your Reunion
Committee (Richard, Dean and me) in early Spring and notified to all
concerned. Suggestions are welcome.
Personal regards and sincere best wishes to you and
yours for the Holiday Season!
Cheers,
Walt
Military precision
A
sweet young thing thought she might have some fun with a stiff-looking military
man at a cocktail party, so she walked over and asked him when was the last
time he had had sex.
"1956,"
was his immediate reply.
"No
wonder you look so uptight!" she exclaimed. "Honey, you need to get
out more."
"I'm
not sure I understand you," he answered, glancing at his watch. "It's
only 2014 now."
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! RICHARD