Newsletter for past alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 26 of April 2003. Circular No. 77
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
Who remembers the THE ABBEY SCHOOL BANK????
With so many banking oldboys, no one seams to remember, but from one that never used it, outside from a check or two, here is the story as I remember it. Was it ever audited? How were the balances kept? Did it have a capital?
School Bank:
I wonder if any of you has a copy of the check that was used at the The Abbey School Bank?? I doubt it!! But in case I am wrong, if any of you has a copy let me know!! Scan it!!! What colour was it?
Do you remember the procedure to cash the check??
All schoolboys were given a checkbook, coloured pink-brown, just like a normal everyday checkbook but smaller. It had a place to write the withdrawals and the place to fill out the amount and all the information, just like the checks we use everyday.
Maximum amount possible to withdraw was one dollar TT. I presume that this was to train us for our future entrance to the Banking world!!! ( Roger, can you remember?) The bank had a teller and transactions were made through a small window in the corridor of the Bursar's office. One person did the job of the president and all the authorities of the bank, he was Bro. Vincent.
He had a kid taking in the checks, which were checked for correct spelling and filled out according to the standards, then passed on to Bro.Vincent who looked up the kid's yellow Cardex and annotated the amount and paid out the sum. The pen that was used had green ink, and annotations were in the clear and beautiful handwriting of Bro. Vincent.
The Bank was opened on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at about 3:00 pm when we came out of the dormitories having changed our school clothes to sports attire.
The line was long, just as the lines that we encounter today at the Banks, and the kids in the line spent time reading the bulleting boards on the wall of the passage way. The bulletin boards had information on sports, usually a page of a magazine or a folded magazine was tacked behind a glass door.
Must of the kids read the bulletin board when in line at the Bank or when it was raining and there was nothing else to do, otherwise the bulletin boards were not even noticed.
In my particular case I tried to use the Bank twice, first and last time. I was not the patient type, so when I wrote 3.00 TT dollars instead of 1.00 TT dollars, the check bounced at the teller, so I asked to see Bro Vincent, who received me immediately to explain the rules of the Bank. Maximum 1.00 TT. I then explained the reason for the 3.00 TT in what I thought fair terms. I told him that the 3.00 TT was to cover a time period of a couple of weeks, so instead of lining up every other day for half an hour, I would do so once a week. I was told that any amount above 1.00 TT was only through written authorization of my parents. So the matter
was solved and I do not believe that I did line again in my five years at the Mount, as I was given money outside the normal routine. Any amount above 1.00 TT was paid by the Bursar, personally, so that the kids in the line did not notice the event, and did not ask for similar treatment.
I wonder if any of you has information on this Bank, I cannot remember when it was closed. All I remember that when Bro. Vincent left, around 1959-1960, correct me if I am wrong. We were told that the book keeping or the finances of the school were in disarray or in other words the control was not kept as it should have been??? Of course, this was the appreciation of the new Bursar, a layman. This may have been said because lots of us would remember that Bro.Vincent would give you money if he had any in his pocket when at the sports field and we needed some to buy a snow ice or what ever it was called and sold by Mr. Tomas.
Bro.Vincent had a sharp memory and would write these loans in the Cardex once back in the office. Saturday was the day when this would happen with more frequency as on returning from the field, we stopped to buy candy at the shop next to the Cemetery. I forget its name.
I still remember the candy that I bought, in my case peppermint, was the size of a golf ball, to take to the pictures, in the evening.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
How about the column? I shall send it out right a way to the editor of the Newsletter for inclusion in next week's edition.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear oldboys, I can safely say the most of us not only did go to the Mount but some did live those days. Luckily some of us have memories to share, to give the others a glimpse of what was happening during that time. I have even met some that have already forgotten the routines and are grateful to the writers. This is why I am keeping up this humble Circular, to provide a forum for those that want to participate. Be a doer, I am sure Fr. Bernard's legacy would demand it.
I am enclosing a photo of a good friend, can you recognize him?? Please send your answers to me and please include an anecdote if you remember any, to include with the photo. Quiz photo No. 2 150.
God bless
Ladislao
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caracas, 26 of April 2003. Circular No. 77
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
Who remembers the THE ABBEY SCHOOL BANK????
With so many banking oldboys, no one seams to remember, but from one that never used it, outside from a check or two, here is the story as I remember it. Was it ever audited? How were the balances kept? Did it have a capital?
School Bank:
I wonder if any of you has a copy of the check that was used at the The Abbey School Bank?? I doubt it!! But in case I am wrong, if any of you has a copy let me know!! Scan it!!! What colour was it?
Do you remember the procedure to cash the check??
All schoolboys were given a checkbook, coloured pink-brown, just like a normal everyday checkbook but smaller. It had a place to write the withdrawals and the place to fill out the amount and all the information, just like the checks we use everyday.
Maximum amount possible to withdraw was one dollar TT. I presume that this was to train us for our future entrance to the Banking world!!! ( Roger, can you remember?) The bank had a teller and transactions were made through a small window in the corridor of the Bursar's office. One person did the job of the president and all the authorities of the bank, he was Bro. Vincent.
He had a kid taking in the checks, which were checked for correct spelling and filled out according to the standards, then passed on to Bro.Vincent who looked up the kid's yellow Cardex and annotated the amount and paid out the sum. The pen that was used had green ink, and annotations were in the clear and beautiful handwriting of Bro. Vincent.
The Bank was opened on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at about 3:00 pm when we came out of the dormitories having changed our school clothes to sports attire.
The line was long, just as the lines that we encounter today at the Banks, and the kids in the line spent time reading the bulleting boards on the wall of the passage way. The bulletin boards had information on sports, usually a page of a magazine or a folded magazine was tacked behind a glass door.
Must of the kids read the bulletin board when in line at the Bank or when it was raining and there was nothing else to do, otherwise the bulletin boards were not even noticed.
In my particular case I tried to use the Bank twice, first and last time. I was not the patient type, so when I wrote 3.00 TT dollars instead of 1.00 TT dollars, the check bounced at the teller, so I asked to see Bro Vincent, who received me immediately to explain the rules of the Bank. Maximum 1.00 TT. I then explained the reason for the 3.00 TT in what I thought fair terms. I told him that the 3.00 TT was to cover a time period of a couple of weeks, so instead of lining up every other day for half an hour, I would do so once a week. I was told that any amount above 1.00 TT was only through written authorization of my parents. So the matter
was solved and I do not believe that I did line again in my five years at the Mount, as I was given money outside the normal routine. Any amount above 1.00 TT was paid by the Bursar, personally, so that the kids in the line did not notice the event, and did not ask for similar treatment.
I wonder if any of you has information on this Bank, I cannot remember when it was closed. All I remember that when Bro. Vincent left, around 1959-1960, correct me if I am wrong. We were told that the book keeping or the finances of the school were in disarray or in other words the control was not kept as it should have been??? Of course, this was the appreciation of the new Bursar, a layman. This may have been said because lots of us would remember that Bro.Vincent would give you money if he had any in his pocket when at the sports field and we needed some to buy a snow ice or what ever it was called and sold by Mr. Tomas.
Bro.Vincent had a sharp memory and would write these loans in the Cardex once back in the office. Saturday was the day when this would happen with more frequency as on returning from the field, we stopped to buy candy at the shop next to the Cemetery. I forget its name.
I still remember the candy that I bought, in my case peppermint, was the size of a golf ball, to take to the pictures, in the evening.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
How about the column? I shall send it out right a way to the editor of the Newsletter for inclusion in next week's edition.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear oldboys, I can safely say the most of us not only did go to the Mount but some did live those days. Luckily some of us have memories to share, to give the others a glimpse of what was happening during that time. I have even met some that have already forgotten the routines and are grateful to the writers. This is why I am keeping up this humble Circular, to provide a forum for those that want to participate. Be a doer, I am sure Fr. Bernard's legacy would demand it.
I am enclosing a photo of a good friend, can you recognize him?? Please send your answers to me and please include an anecdote if you remember any, to include with the photo. Quiz photo No. 2 150.
God bless
Ladislao
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Listado: C77.xls
Photos: msba6404 p.05.
Song. 145858-1-07
Column: No 105 of David Bratt
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photos: msba6404 p.05.
Song. 145858-1-07
Column: No 105 of David Bratt
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENTS
Listado C77.xls | Names | Form V | Contact | nicknames | business address | Phone | ||
| Blanc, Sonny | boos | ||||||
| Blandin, Joel (RIP) | 1963 | gabby | Guadeloupe | ||||
| Blandin, Pierre | 1959 | Martinique | pierre_blandin@hotmail.com | ||||
| Bodington, Roberto | 1958 | roge | Skull | Maracaibo, Venezuela | (0261) 748 3513 | cbodington@cantv.net | |
| Boos, Anthony | boos | TT | Brother of nigel | ||||
| Boos, Nigel | 1960 | nigelboos@yahoo.ca | |||||
| Boos, Peter | 1955 | not msb nigel | Chartered Architect | pboos@caribnet.net | |||
| Bopa, | 1972 | glen | Bhopa???? | ||||
| Boyack, Malcolm | 1957 | roger | TT | (868) 637 6918 | mboyack@trinidad.net | ||
| Boyd, Donald | boos | bcboyd@wow.net | Dominica | ||||
| Br. Vincent | OSB, Sports Master | ||||||
| Braggio, Giuseppe | 1960 | Pepe | Caracas, Venezuela | (0212) 472 6324/(0414) 239 3753 | pbraggio@yahoo.com, | ||
| Bratt, David Dr. | roger | TT | (868) 622 9146/(868) 637 4914 | dbratt@trinidad.net | |||
| Bro. Gabriel Mokveld (RIP) | OSB, Builder | lk | |||||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment