Editorial
September 1 - Scottie Sheffler wins the PGA tour championship and a cool $25 million first prize. Many people carp about the prize money in golf has gotten out of control but when compared to salaries in other sports like football, basketball, baseball and even hockey it pales by comparison. Perhaps 50 players on the PGA tour make in excess of $10 million a year and the completion is stiff with no guarantees. Besides I like golf.
September 2 - Labour Day, cool, sunny and we got to play golf but maybe I should have stayed home, probably my worst game of the year - I hit two tress and a yardage marker and ended up taking ten on both holes. On the first hole I hit the tree dead center from about forty feet away. The ball ended up ten yards behind me. After chipping out from the trees on number seven and going for the green I hit the yardage marker and ricocheted 30 yards left over a small hill and behind a trap. To top it off the course was wet with standing water on every hole after the Saturday and Sunday storms.
September 6 - Every second Friday we put our recycling Blue Box out by the curb waiting to be picked up and emptied. I don’t know if you have ever watched the guys who do this job but it seems to take them less than 10 sends to complete the task - the handling can be pretty rough. In my case I went out to retrieve the box and put it back at the end of our driveway only to discover that one of the wheels had be smashed off the axle. These things are not small, about 10 inches in diameter and weighing 2 or 3 pounds. One can only imagine how far it was thrown after emptying. I called the City of Brossard and reported the problem and told them I would pick up a replacement wheel if they would tell where I could get it. I was told no they had to send a service technician to do the repair. In the meantime I was asked to supply the Blue Box serial number, my street address and postal code. I suppose they need to verify that that particular box was assigned to me. Anyway after everything checked out I was told to leave the box in the driveway where it was visible from the street and the technician would show up in two or three weeks to fix it. It is now month end and it is still sitting there with the wheel missing I have been putting the recycling out by the curb in clear plastic bags.
Sept. 7 - early dose of fall temp 8 C two days later we were back to normal with slots of sun.
Sept 10 - Great debate for Kamala not so much for the Donald. Republicans got upset when the moderator corrected the record two or three times. The best was him stating that the city of Springfield Ohio’s city manager told them no one had reported missing pets or had claimed they had been eaten by Haitian immigrants. Don’t worry your dogs and cats are safe. This lie has now taken on a life of its own being amplified by VP candidate Vance and Trump even though they now know it is false. Bomb threats have forced the closure of schools on several occasions causing major disruption in the city.
September 15 - Another whack job was arrested near Trump’s Florida golf course after the Secret Service saw him with a rifle hiding in the bushes waiting for the ex-President to approach.. He was shot at but not hit before being arrested. I hope this is the end of it although my friend (to remain nameless), who predicted a second attempt, says it will probably happen again. I hope not.
September 20 - I finally moved a new batch of beer from the warm bedroom upstairs to the cold cellar. It takes almost 10 days of plus 23 C temperatures to complete the brewing process once a batch has been bottled. Ready for drinking in about two weeks
September 22 - After a record amount of rain in August we are experiencing a drought with no appreciable rain for two weeks and unseasonably high temperature
September 23 - The good weather ended today with plummeting temperatures and lots of rain. The original forecast called for sun and cloud with showers moving in later in the day. I thought I could get a game in and when I teed off a 9:00 it was 17 C and cloudy. When I got to the 5th hole it started to sprinkle but I persevered. By the time we finished the 9th. I was wet and miserable with temperatures down to 14 C. Took me the rest of the day to warm up. Isn’t golf wonderful?
September 24 - Can’t wait to see how the US election campaigns unfold next month. It is a tight race but Harris is building momentum and seems to be pulling ahead. If you want to watch some real dark comedy tune into a Trump rally for a few minutes and see if you can keep track of the lies. Alternatively you can go to CNN or MSNBC and they will show you just the highlights
I am just about done for the month but would like to make a special plea to our readers to submit material – photos, a story or anything that might keep the newsletter going. You will read below that Rod Brown has decided to retire the Memory Corner because he was not getting the response he had hoped for. The same fate could happen to the newsletter - we need your input.
Thanks to all those who did contribute Bob Wrigley. Jim Baxter Winston Evans and Pamela Storr.
Until next month stay safe.
Stay Strong Ukraine
Welcome New and Renewing Alumni Association Members
New Member
Diane Guichon (Amyot)
Class of 1972
From: Calgary, AB
Renewing MemberDiane Loucks (Macfie)
Class of 1974
From: Ottawa, ON
Renewing MemberPeter Bashaw
Class of 1964
From: Pickering, ON
Renewing MemberDebbie McLean (Boutilier)
Class of 1967
From: Bridgewater, NS
Renewing MemberStephanie Ault (Collins)
Class of 1963
From: Woodstock, ON
Expiring Memberships
Joyce Whitelaw
Carol Gribben
About Alumni Association Membership
Have you let your membership lapse, if so we urge you to renew. There is no penalty for being late, just the same reasonable fee schedule that is outlined on the website.
Are you one of the many subscribers you receive the newsletter but have yet to join the association? What is holding you back, what are you waiting for? We need a healthy membership to keep the association viable and allow us to continue our good works such as our bursary program and help with special school projects.
Taking out membership easy. You can use your credit card or, if you are reluctant to pay online, you can send us a cheque. Just go to the website chamblycounty.com and check the details.
LETTERS AND MORE
The Memory Corner
It is with more than a touch of sadness that we say goodbye to Rod Brown’s memory corner. Due to a lack of response from readers this feature will no longer appear in the newsletter. Rod has taken down his special email address and is now devoting his time to more productive endeavors.
We would like to thank Rod for his effort and certainly share his disappointment that more of our readers didn’t heed the call and sent him a memory or two.
Appeal for New Content
School may be out for ever, but your Alumni Association newsletter is back again with our latest edition. Harvey and I work hard on this thing. As that happens, I don't think you should assume it will go on forever. Rod Brown has called it quits on Memory Corner due to a lack of response.
Thanks to everyone who has supplied content in the last year, but frankly, we need to hear from people who haven't contributed before. We need our younger alumni to get involved. I'm looking at you, classes of the 70's and 80's. Send us some content. Pictures, words, artwork, passions, inventions, remembrances. Show us your creativity. Let's infuse some new life into this puppy. We have another big reunion coming up in the Spring. Tell us what you've been up to the last 40/50 years. Living in another part of the world? Tell us about it. Been on a dream vacation? You know what to do. Got a story about the payback you get from volunteering? Know about an alumni who has done something remarkable? Let's hear it.
Send content to harveycarter363@gmail.com
Harvey CarterClass of 1961
Saint Lambert’s Masonic Temple
Source: Google Maps Exterior View before start of Demolition
Source: Le Courier du Sud - How the interior looked just before demolition
Mid-September - New Foundation being dug. Source: The editor
The Masonic Temple on Elm Street was converted from the original St. Barnabas Anglican Church and was constituted on December 8, 1920. My memories (some of them false maybe) of the building include attending movies and a few dances but nothing after 1960. I suppose there was some use after that but not much. The St. Lambert Lodge was moved to Greenfield Park.
Not used or properly maintained for decades, it was eventually sold to the City of Saint Lambert in 1998 who intended to repurpose the building but were unable to come up with a viable plan. After years of neglect it fell into a sad state of disrepair and was finally sold to a private developer. The building was beyond the point of rehabilitation and the only alternative was to tear it down and start over.
There was a lot of opposition from citizens to a number of proposal put forth by potential developers, including one that would have seen a mini Atwater market put up on the site. Although I couldn’t get a clear answer from anyone on what the current plan is, I think it will be some commercial establishments on the ground floor and 3 floors of condos above. You can see that they are already digging out a new basement/foundation but it looks like they hit shale. Hope it doesn’t disturb and overwhelm the Anglican Church next door.
SCHOOL NEWS
The 2024 graduating class you probably never heard about.
One fine day spring day a Mallard Duck decided to take up residence in the Alumni Garden, a peaceful relaxing environment away from all the dangerous predators, noisy traffic and whatever else might disturb her.
She built a nest under an inviting evergreen tree in the north east corner of the garden near the library. She then produced a clutch of 13 eggs – a very prolific duck.
Teachers who had been monitoring her activity cordoned off a section of the garden so the mother wouldn’t be disturbed by noisy students or careless lawn mowing. Twelve of the 13 eggs hatched and those very cute, fine looking ducklings thrived in their unusual but ideal setting.
It was nice while it lasted but then came decision time. School was ending and the building, including the Alumni Garden, would be closed for the summer. What would happen to the ducks?
It was decided to move them out of the Garden to the field in back of the school. How did they do this? They had to get the ducks through the library, down the corridor beside the gym and out the back door. My description can’t do the process justice. Click on the Duckling Grads video below. What amazes me is how calm the mother duck appears and how obedient the ducklings are as they waddle to freedom.
THE ARTS CORNER
Suddenly Last Summer
by John Charlton
Class of 1973
Submit your artwork by email to harvey.cchs.ca@gmail.com or john.charlton@gmail.com. Don't forget to include a short description.
2025 All Years Reunion
Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 16, 17 & 18, 2025
2025 Reunion Meet & Greet Begins
Day(s)
:
Hour(s)
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Minute(s)
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Second(s)
Be sure to check our two new videos
Bernie Praw's message to former students and Peter Peets’ call for Ambassadors
Tickets will go on sale December 1, 2024.
To get up to date information visit the 2025 Reunion Page. You don’t need to wait for the next newsletter.
OBITUARIES
Wayne DespresClass of 1958
Wayne Despres
While visiting my parents in Mount Royal Cemetery earlier this Summer, I came across a headstone for my old school chum, Winston Wayne Despres. And as we shared the same first name, I knew instantly that this was indeed Wayne's resting place.
When we were boys, he lived on Pine Avenue on the East side, just below Green, next door to Russell and Doug Oates, and across the street from the Bleakleys and the Hardings. My brother Derek and I lived on Maple just above Green
I could not glean any information about Wayne's interment from the cemetery administration, but I saw that the name he went by, when we were in school, was misspelled, for he always spelt it with a single 'n', Wayne.
I believe he resided for considerable time in Columbia, South America, alternating between there and Ottawa, ON. If indeed he was transported back to Canada in 2020, misunderstandings may have occurred between his Spanish speaking Columbian family and English or French speaking stonemasons here, leading to the misspelling on the headstone engraving.
I last encountered Wayne and his wife at the 2005 CCHS Reunion. I recall he had an older sister who graduated in the early 50s from St L HS or CCHS, although I do not know the year or what became of her. You would have her grad info. Wayne is buried with Bruce Despres, another member of the family who was with the West Nova Scotia Regiment in Kentville, NS, which explains the military headstone.
I searched online, Harvey, but was unable to find any update to the sparse information I've given you. Perhaps you had prior knowledge of his passing, which I may have missed. Nevertheless, Wayne deserves to be mentioned in the list of Honorable CCHS forebears and classmates.
Winston Evans
CCHS '60
Lilian JacobsClass of 1981
Lilian "Lily" Miriam Cherry-Callipari
Peacefully passed away, surrounded by her family, on Friday, October 8, 2021, Lilian Miriam Cherry-Callipari, of London, at the age of 57. Cherished and devoted wife of Steve for 20 years. Proud and loving mother of Anjali. Lily will be dearly missed by her mother, Alice and her late father, Jacob Cherry; brother, Allan and wife, Brijini, their children, Sonaly and Raveena; father-in-law, Dominic Callipari; sister-in-law, Sina Giugno and husband, Tony, their children, Joseph, Andrew, Lauren; and brother-in-law, Guy Callipari. Predeceased by her mother-in-law, Concettina.
Visitation will be held at Westview Funeral Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North, London on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 from 6:00-9:00 p.m., where the funeral service will be conducted on Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. Interment to follow at Woodland Cemetery. Registration will be required to attend the visitation and service. The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the staff at Victoria Hospital, 6th floor Palliative and 7th floor Oncology, for their hard work and support. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a donation in memory of Lily are asked to consider Autism Ontario
Nick GianiosisClass of 1987
Nick Gianiosis
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Nick GIANIOSIS,1970-2023 at the age of 52.
Brian KolthoffClass of 1987
Brian Kolthoff
(1969-2013)
My name is Derek Kolthoff and I am the older brother of Brian Kolthoff. Unfortunately I have some bad news to share with you and all of Brian's friends.
I'm sad to say that Brian passed away June 28, 2013, just before his 44th birthday. Thank you for your thoughts and understanding.
And Finally...
Take that Englishmen
An Irishman is sitting in a pub. In the same pub are three Englishmen.
"Look how angry I'm going to make this Irishman," says one of the Englishmen. He goes up to the Irishman and says, "Saint Patrick was ancomplete jerk."
"Oh my," says the Irishman. "I didn't know."
The Englishman returns to his friends, disappointed. "Let me try," says one of his friends. He in turn goes up to the Irishman and says, "Saint Patrick was a coward, a liar and a thief."
"Oh really?" says the Irishman. "I didn't know."
The Englishmen are disappointed. "I have an idea," says the third one. "You'll see how angry he'll get."
He goes up to the Irishman and says, "Saint Patrick was English."
"Yes, I know," says the Irishman. "Your friends have already explained it to me."
Random Thoughts
Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.
If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"
When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"