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ICHS
Alumnae Association
Ad
Astra
is published by the
Immaculate Conception
High School
Alumnae Association -
Toronto Chapter
I.C.H.S. Newsletter
January,
2005
Volume 1, No 33
Editorial Staff
Joan Chang
Laura Chin Pen
Ina Williams
Yvonne Lyew Membership
I.C.H.S
Executive
Committee 2004-6
Yvonne Lyew President
Sadie Wong Vice President
Jacqueline Lue Secretary
Sandra Hardie Ast.Secretary
Cathrine Sani Treasurer
Sylvia Tavares Ast.Treasurer
Floor Members
Paula Burke Depass
Joan Chang
Jeanette Chin
Laura Chin Pen
Betty Chung
Lorraine Chung
Ethlyn Ho Shue
Gloria Ho Shue
Jacqueline Lue
Tanya Hugh
Suzanne Read
Donna Rutty
Ina Williams
Girls
Please share your news with us
Weddings, Births, Deaths,
Academic Achievements etc.
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Ad Astra
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Immaculate Conception High School
Alumnae Association
(Toronto Chapter)
January, 2005
Volume 1, Number 33
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Thank
You, Sr. Mary Catherine
Fellow alumnae, as you may already have heard, Sister Mary
Catherine Aarons retired as principal of ICHS at the end of the 2004 school
year, after holding this office for twelve years.
I met Sister Mary Catherine when she taught Latin to the
second form (Grade 8's), and what an eye opener that year was! For a supposedly
dead language, it was a lively class, with lots of history about Pompeii and
Herculaneum, and stories about Patrius, Metella, their son, their dog and their
servants. Sister had decided to use a new approach to teaching/learning Latin,
through colourful booklets from Cambridge University, rather than a dry textbook
of grammar and drills. Alas, the booklets did not arrive in time for September,
so she copied madly for us until they did. She spoke Latin in a very precise
voice, and encouraged us to read out loud, without feeling geeky or shy. I
wished that she also taught French, so that I could have had her again, but she
taught Spanish and I had already made my choice the year before. Fortunate were
those who had her for Spanish; she was equally dynamic, and truly made her
subject come alive. I remember thinking that she was so young and pretty, yet
how similar she was to Sister Maureen Clare in her sometimes stem demeanour and
commanding use of her voice. Little did I dream that she too might become
principal. When she left the following year for South America, we envied those
lucky students who would have her. Latin classes just were not the same with
Mrs. Hall, even though we would be reading Catullus' love poetry for the GCE
exams.
Sister Mary Catherine did not return to ICHS until after I
had graduated. She eventually stepped into the role of Principal when Sister
Maureen Clare retired. Those were big shoes to fill, especially in a time when
the school was under pressure from the government to increase the school
enrolment, possibly by introducing a shift system. Added to all this was the
challenge of maintaining high academic standards, coping with the attitudinal
changes in the student body (and society in general), and the continued struggle
to find and keep good teachers.
Sister Mary Catherine grew to fill those shoes and maintained
the status of ICHS as the premier secondary school in Jamaica. Under her
determined leadership, and assistance from Major Williams, the school
established an orchestra, a concert band and a steel band, building on the music
program and Glee Club founded by Lisa Narcisse. Students were able to prepare
successfully for international examinations set by the Royal Schools of Music,
Trinity College, and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. The swim team
continued to win many meets, the track and field team began to win meets, and
the scholars continued to earn places to universities and colleges of their
choice.
Sister's relationship with the Toronto chapter of ICHSAA was
initially cool, and I think this was, in part, because few of the active alumnae
had been her classmates or her students, and were unfamiliar with how she
operated. We often become comfortable and complacent with the familiar, and
suspicious of the new and different. Her passion, drive and vision for the
school, however, very quickly convinced the alumnae that the reputation of ICHS
would be safe in her hands, and that the values which we all hold dear would
continue to be held high.
Sister: on behalf of the Toronto Chapter of ICHSAA, I
congratulate you on this momentous occasion. Thank you for your many years of
service to the hundreds of students who have passed through the school gates.
Your pursuit of excellence set a fine example for us all. Your passion for your
subject inspired us to seek passions of our own, and to share it with others.
Truly you have lived up to the motto of our alma mater, ad astra per aspera. We
wish you much happiness and many blessings in your next endeavour.
Suzanne Read (nee Chen See) class of 1975.
President's Message
My Dear Fellow Alumnae,
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. As we begin 2005, I
wish you all a New Year of Good Health, Happiness and Prosperity. Let us
remember in our prayers all our families and friends who are experiencing
illnesses, bereavement and so many other "casualties" of life. We pray God in
His wisdom and mercy will guide us "safely through all things".
It is an honour to be re-elected as your President for
another (and my final) term. Our Toronto Chapter is very active and dedicated
and we are glad for the support of our Alma Mater. However, there is need for
"new blood" with fresh ideas and continuing energy. I invite the "younger"
alumna group to come on out; join us in all the activities, be a committee
member and help us to continue the strong sisterhood we have created.
Rev. J. Basil Breen, parish priest at St. Thomas the Apostle
Church, was gracious in officiating at our annual Mass to celebrate the feast of
the Immaculate Conception in December of last year. He will be retiring this
year and we all wish him good health in his retirement.
Our annual dinner/dance will be held at a different venue
this year - Grand Baccus Banquet Hall on Saturday, February 19. So have your
dancing shoes ready and come spend an evening of fun and laughter with old and
new friends.
To the outgoing committee - many thanks again for all your
support and dedication. I look forward to working with the new executive to a
happy and successful term."
Sincerely,
Yvonne Lyew
Annual Mass to
celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
On December 5th, the ICHSAA held their annual Mass
to celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception at St Thomas the Apostle
Church in Markham. The sounds of the music and lyrics from Fr. Ho Lung's Mass
filled the church hall. We seem to have adopted it as our own, in addition to
Miss Narcisse's Mento Mass! With the guitar skills of Leslie Chin, his daughter
Valerie, her husband, Terry, and the well rehearsed voices of the Alumnae Glee
Club with Carol Case as soloist, it was truly a joyful sound unto the Lord.
Father Breen's homily reminded us, as always, to
prepare for Christ's birth (Advent was already upon us), and commended the
remembrance of Our Lady on one of her special feast days. This was followed by a
delicious pot luck luncheon including jerk pork and chicken, stew peas, salad, a
special treat
of mackerel rundown, boiled bananas
and dumplings, and of course, sumptuous desserts.
Who was present of note, you might ask? The
"usual" friendly faces, but for me, the special faces were Alison Payne and
Lauren Chung, whom I had not seen in many years. I remember Alison as a
diminutive prefect and "drama queen" in the absolutely nicest sense, and Lauren
was a Queen's Guide, an award to which I had also aspired. Classmate Tanya Tenn
was out with hubby Vernon Hugh and their two kids. Alex is the
spitting image of Tanya's brother. Donna
RutTy's gorgeous grandchildren were there with mommy Lara, who has launched a
sweetie/bakery business. Karen Sue breezed in (better late than never!) with her
brood. Diane Collins was
quietly elegant as always. Loraine Lee, President of Alpha Alumnae Association
and Danny Ho Lung, President Elect of St. George's College Old Boys, also joined
us along with his wife, Jojo.
So ladies, please mark your calendars for
- Sunday, December 4th, 2005 for the next
annual Mass. We have celebrated this feast day for many years since the
inception of the Toronto Chapter of ICHSAA. The location and time (noonish) are
the same, unless otherwise posted. You can count on it as a great way to see
familiar friends and faces, their significant others and offspring, catch up on
"news", hear and sing favourite hymns and a glorious Mass, sample someone else's
cooking (do you like jerk dry, or jerk with gravy?), and maybe take home a
little leftovers for later! What a sweet run-down Donna made!! See you all in
2005, same time, same bat channel!
Suzanne Read
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Standing:
Yvonne Lyew, Paula DePass, Gloria Ho Shue, Jacqueline Lue,
Ethlyn Ho Shue, Ina Williams, Sylvia Tavares, Laura Chin Pen.
Sitting: Tanya Hugh, Jeanette Chin, Donna Rutty, Lorraine Chung.
Kneeling: Suzanne Read, Sadie Wong.
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ICHSAA
(Toronto Chapter)
Extraordinary Bi-Annual General Meeting
Our Toronto Chapter held an extraordinary
general meeting on September 12th 2004 at Armadale Community Centre, 2401
Denison Street, Markham, Ontario. It was very extraordinary indeed because YOU
ALL WERE NOT THERE!! We had 12 members in attendance, far short of the 25
required as a quorum by our constitution. First we thought of following the
rules to the letter and postpone the GM for a future date; but the majority of
those present had no faith that we would get a quorum then either. So all those
present happily consented to serve on the committee together with others who had
said they were available although not present at the GM. Your executive
committee for 2004 - 2006 is listed on page 2. Now seriously ladies, why are you
so afraid of attending a general meeting?? Are you all 5 years old? No one can
force you to serve on the committee - all you have to do is say: Sorry, I cannot
serve! We know most of you care about the alumnae association. This Is a VERY
BURDENLESS AND EASY way for you to do some charity/community service before you
are called to give an account of your living by the Almighty. So anti up ladies
and help out! You will be happy you did. If any member in good standing objects
to the aforementioned
GM proceedings, please contact Yvonne.
Ina Williams
August 2004
Picnic
at Milne Park
Class Reunion
Calling Class
of 1965
and Beyond
June 3 - 5, 2005
Can you believe it was 40 years
ago that we stood on that graduation stage!?! Well hopefully all those
schoolgirl rivalries and grudges have faded away with our failing memories, so
now is a good time to catch up on a lifetime of living - it will provide us with
fresh gossip with which to entertain ourselves for the next 25 years, by then we will be 80 and gone on to a better life! (we hope!) So "girls"
start "training" for the beach and pack your bags. Families are welcome and we
were/are so sociable, we are inviting the alumnae of 1964 - 1968 to attend. Gigi's is Pauline's
place and Palmetta Travel is Gerry's agency.
The Miami girls are doing all the planning and guarantee fine weather with no
hurricanes! See you all in Florida June 3 - 5 and if you are not Bringing the
family, bring pictures! Mek sure yu come 'cause we will be too old for the next
one!
Gigi's Resort by the Beach
3005 Alhambra St.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
1-800-910-2357 or (954) 463-4827
Canada
lna Williams (Yap) 416 299 0031
Betty Chung (Lue) 416 308 3010
Paula dePass (Lew) 905 799 6271
Florida
Nancy Cera (Lee) 954-659 1969 ceranl@aol.com
Vicki (Althea) Silvera 305-225 1738
silverav@fiu.com
Florence Keane 305-233 3095 fkb01@aol.com
Jackie Fraser (Clemetson) 954-384 5971
jqu123@aol.com
Winsome Hew (Chai Chang) 954-463 8247
wh@exselsiortrading.com
Carol Yeung (Chin) 305-254 8339
cyeung17@aol.com
Pauline Terrelonge 305-661 4790
www.gigisresort@aol.com
Geraldine Fung (Young) 305-238 6111
palmetrvl@hotmail.com
Prayers and
condolences are extended to the families of:
Osra Graham Ramsey, who passed away in Jamaica, mother
of Jilian Saweczko and Susan McCrindie. She was one of the oldest members of the
ICHSAA in Jamaica.
Pansy Ennever, mother of Angela Diaz (Class of '59)
Sarah Simm-Service (Miss Sores), mother of Daisy Tai,
Pauline Stines and Ruby Fraser (Miami)
Juan Alberto Alvarez,
devoted husband of Daphnie, father of Yolanda Hindle, Maria Montgomery and Carol
Alvarez.
Beryl Enid Narcisse-Mair,
L.R.S.M., L.R.A.M., ,A.R.C.M.,M.R.S.T., Gold Medalist, Royal Academy of Music,
London, England. Senior music teacher at I.C.H.S.; founded the Narcisse School
of Music; the oldest member of our Alumnae in Canada, passed away peacefully in
Kingston, Ontario.
In her memory, donations may be made to:
The Beryl Narcisse-Mair Music Fund
c/o ICHSAA (Toronto Chapter)
19 Briarwood Road
Unionville, Ontario L3R 2W7
Congratulations!
Rachel-Lea, daughter of Peter & Diane Rickards, who
performed in 'da KINK in my HAIR' at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
Welcome ..........
Gabriella, sister for Jessica - proud parents Judith (Bubb-Clarke) and
Paul Williams.
Daryn Isabella, second granddaughter to Donna &
Franicis Rutty. and sister to Deni- Teresa.
Layla Elizabeth Burke Graves, born in Michigan, 1st
granddaughter of committee member Paula DePass and RobertBurke.
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