Roald Ekholm

Boys, Roald Ekholm passed away a couple of weeks ago in Helsinki, Finland. I wrote a rather extensive story of how Roald came to Newfoundland during the war. His father enrolled him at BFC where he stayed from 1943-45 and in his own words said, "he liked it alot'. I will send a card to his family from the college to let them know he is still remembered here. He was a close friend of the late Bill Titford and June and they enjoyed good times and chats when Roald was here in 1994 for the reunion. See the April blog on the main page for his full story.

165 year of the College

Believe it or not 2009 represents the 165th. year since Bishop Edward Feild, upon his arrival in St. John's, started a school that was to become BFC. The current staff of the school has struck a committee to organize events for this auspicious year. Boys, we would like to have your ideas, thoughts, suggestions or help to make this a memorable year in the life of the school. Please think about this:
Suggestions for clothing to sell
Suggestions for other swag
Should we have a gala, dance, variety show, big band etc.
WHAT ARE YOU THOUGHTS????

Boys what year was this staff shot taken and what are the names of the teachers? I have some of them.

Dinner a Success

Last night at The Elk's Club we had A Feildian Dinner. We hope that it will be a yearly event around this time of the year. There were about 40 people present. Among them was the oldest living Feildian, Dr. Nigel Rusted. He spoke during The Beaumont Hamel presentation and told us about several of his friends who had joined up and went over to France to fight. He has such a prodigious and sharp memory.

Bill Neal was present along with his son George. Bill's brother, Ford, and his wife Kathleen came in from Corner Brook and their son Chris, came too. We wanted to recognize these elder Feildians for the contribution they made to the college. All three, although up in years are still vibrant and eloquent. It was a great joy to have them with us.

Bill Rompkey and Art May gave an overview with slides of The Beaumont Hamel trip this past spring. They talked about how emotional it was when they visited Beaumont Hamel and installed our commemorative plaque in the museum there. Jim Edgar found his uncle's grave after a long search and some nifty driving by the bus operator.

Charlie Riddle and Gordon Breen were present as well as Tols Chapman who is hale and hearty, thank God, after his bout with cancer. Chris Facey was the Master of Ceremonies and he did a great job tying the whole thing together. It was a fine evening and we will start planning the next one to be bigger and better. Many of you were busy with business or out of town. With more notice I feel sure we can hit the 100 mark next year. Watch the website, blog and e-mails after Christmas for more information. Below are a few pictures from the dinner.

Left picture shows Ford and Kathleen Neal. Middle picture shows Dr. Rusted. George Neal, Gordon Breen and Dr. Art May are next. Bottom photo shows Bill Neal, Dr. Rusted and Jim Edgar.










Master of Ceremonies Chris Facey chatting to dinner guests.

E-mail from Eric Suley

Eric sent me the following e-mail the other day which was quite interesting and informative. He made a supreme effort to become a Feildian. Here's how he tells it.

He says: 'I stumbled on your website by accident while I was browsing The PWC website. I am not an alumnus of the venerable old school, rather a product of The United Church System of the 50's and 60's. I began in Grade 5 at Curtis Academy and graduated from PWC in 1965.

However, I have an Anglican connection that I am very proud of. I went to Springdale Street School until Grade 4 and that would be my ticket to becoming a 'Feildian' after I graduated. I had played Junior and Senior Hockey at PWC and would have naturally gone on to play with The Guards in the club league in the city. But a 'win at all costs' attitude by Howie Meeker at the time turned me off a little, so I went to the Feildian camp. They welcomed me but had to show I had had some Anglican school background. I had to bring my report card from Springdale Street School to the stadium to prove it. That was in 1965 and I was offically adopted by a great bunch of guys. I played two years with the Feildian Junior Hockey and Baseball Teams. At 19 I left home to join the RCMP.

My highlight as a left-handed picture was to be called up by Charlie Riddle, the Feildian's coach, to play senior ball in the summer of '66. My first game turned out to be against the powerhouse Guards with Ian Campbell and John Winter to name two and we won!!! I was thrilled to be in the dugout with the likes of Tols Chapman, Stan Breen, Bob Cole and Don Yetman.

After 40 years with my career I have moved back but still have my Feildian MVP 1966 baseball plaque. I have always been proud to be a 'Feildian'.

I think Eric has earned the right to be a Feildian!!

Web Site

Hello Boys,

The web site problems have been overcome and in the next while I will be updating the site. I ran into Gordon "Dodo" Breen at Pam Babstock's funeral and we had a great chat. Gordon is coming to the dinner on November 8. We will have the tickets available soon for that dinner. Remember it is Saturday, November 8, 2008 at The Elk's Club, Carpasian Road, 6 PM for 7PM. See you there. Please call Dick or me to reserve your seat as space is limited.

Web Site Problems

Hello, for some reason I have not been able to get into the administrative end of our web site and thus have not made any updates. I am working on this problem so please bear with me.

DON'T FORGET THE FEILDIAN DINNER IN NOVEMBER.

Dinner Set For November

Boys we have finally nailed down definite dates for the fall dinner. Here is the information.

OLD FEILDIAN DINNER

Elks Club Carpasian Road, St. John's
Saturday, Nov. 8
6 PM Cocktails
7 PM Dinner

Please call to reserve your seats as SEATING IS LIMITED!

$40.00 single.$75.00 double
Contact
Dick Cook 685-7979
Peter Chalker 237-1528 or 765-2776

Boys, I am looking forward to seeing you there.

Fall Dinner

Boys, Dick Cook, Chris Facey and myself will be getting together shortly to plan the fall dinner. It looks like it will be close to the November 11 celebrations for Remembrance Day. More information to follow.

The new web site (www.bishopfeildarchives.com) is up and running and will have more articles as we move along and more photos. If you have any photos please send them to my email:
pchalker@nl.rogers.com as jpegs. or pchalker17@gmail.com. I am moving house so expect delays in seeing new articles. I will get online again ASAP.

All the best.
Floreat semper Bishop Feild

Bishop Feild Legacy Fundraiser

Inaugurated a number of years ago to raise much needed funds for the school another Bishop Feild Legacey Fundraiser is set to go tomorrow night, June 12, at The Elk's Club in St. John's, 7:00 PM. I have it on excellent authority that there will be many fantastic items in the Silent Auction. Several of these being Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and personally signed by the author.

On hand also with his unique style of humour will be Andy Jones who always makes himself available for these efforts at Bishop Feild.

Tickets are available at the school for $20.00 which includes finger food and 1 drink ticket. See you at The Elk's Club.

Bits and Pieces

The boys are back in town and as I said in a previous Blog they had a great time. If any of you who went have pictures make sure to send them to Bill Rompkey as he is preparing a disc of the photos. Ford Neal called me last night and he and Kathleen had a fabulous time. Dick Cook, Chris Facey and I will be getting together soon to start planning our Fall Feildian Dinner. It maybe, do not hold me to this now, the first Friday in October. We will keep all informed as plans develop. This is something we should have every year to celebrate our old school while we are here.

I asked in an e-mail if anyone has a crest they could send me. David Mercer has one but it means cutting up his hat to get it so if anyone has a crest please let me know. Our Old Feildian in Finland would like to have one of the old school crests.

Last week a teacher at the school found about 30 photographs in an old cupboard dating back to 1899. Remember if you have any Feildian memorabilia that you would like to donate to the archives, please get in touch.

Anyone know Peggy Hoddinott in Gander? that is Bull Anderson's daughter.

Bye for now.

Old Feildian Obituary

On May 11, 2008 Old Feildian, Ernest Shute (Ern), entered into rest at The Palliative Care Unit of The Miller Centre. Left with beautiful memories is his wife of 51 years, Ruth and his daughters Laurie and Renee. Also mourning Ern's passing are his lovely grandchildren and a host of other family and friends. All Feildians send the deepest sympathy to the family.

Non Moritur Cujus Fama Vivit

Beaumont Hamel Trip a Success

I just received a call from Dick Cook who told me the trip to Beaumont Hamel went off without a hitch. Everyone was impressed by Gerry Squires' and Boyd Chubbs' art work which now proudly graces the walls of the museum there. It hangs as a perpetual reminder and memorial to those Feildians who made the ultimate sacrifice of themselves and their futures for peace at that terrible place for Newfoundlanders. We will remember them.

Dick said the weather was good and the ceremony was Feildian in all respects. Thank you Rex Anthony for sponsoring the reception afterwards; it was most appreciated. Thank you to those who took part in the ceremony of installation. I could write more now but I will be saving it for our new web site where we will have pictures and text.

Thank you Bill Rompkey for the idea and Dick for your tireless efforts over the past two years to make this a reality. Any Feildian who goes to Beaumont Hamel in the future as a tourist will be reminded of his alma mater's contribution to peace in the world when he sees our painting hanging there and the words of the motto should then resound in his ears, "Non Moritur Cujus Fama Vivit"

The Terrible Trio

I found in Edgar House's book a reference to "The Terrible Trio". They were the double blue's line of Bud Duffett, Stan Breen and Doug Squires. They were fast and could change the score in a hockey game quickly. Does anyone have any stories about their hockey exploits. If any of the Terrible Trio are reading this get in touch with a story or two. I watched them at the stadium but I was only 6 or 7 at the time.

Feildian Clothes

Boys the current school is selling Feildian jackets, T-shirts and the like over the next few weeks. They have samples there to try and you can then make your choice. Drop by and see the range of clothes they have.

Alfred (Alf) Brown Obituary

Boys, it is with sadness that I advise you of the passing of Alfred Brown, class of '56. Below is his obituary notice.

BROWN, Alfred Philip George— Passed peacefully away at his home on April 26, 2008, Alfred Brown age 69, P.H.D. Chemical Engineering (Queen’s University) and Bronze Bridge Life Master. Predeceased by his parents Jessie and Tom. Remembered by his brothers: Bill, Tom (Evelyn), Don (June), sister: Mildred (Tony Dearness), also a circle of nephews, nieces and friends. Resting at Carnell’s Funeral Home, 329 Freshwater Road on Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Alf’s memory may be made to a charity of one’s choice. To send a message of condolence or to sign the memorial guest book, please visit www.carnells.com.

To the Brown family we send our deepest sympathies.

Roald enrols at Bishop Feild College

When the coal cargo had been loaded, the Oddvar II sailed Northward from Newport News destined for Newfoundland. At that time the situation in Europe at the beginning of 1942 had become desperate. The Nazis had overrun Finland and the Russians were massing on its borders.
Before landing at the wharf in Botwood to discharge their cargo of coal The Oddvar II had received other orders to steam to The U.S. Marine at Argentia and to await further instructions. Unknown to Roald and his family, Britain had just declared war on Finland and The Oddvar II was summarily confiscated by Newfoundland authorities. All passengers and crew were taken ashore and transported to St. John's. The Ekholm family which included the ship's master, his wife, daughter and Roald were installed in The Balsam Hotel for the next three and one half years. This is a direct quote from Roald's letter: "And the Master's son attended Bishop Feild College and became a Feildian from 1943-1945 and he liked it!!"

New Port News The Roald Ekholm Story (cont.)

With so many extra people aboard the Master of the vessel had to find a port as quickly as possible and so he made for Newport News in Virginia. This place proved to be better than Vera Cruz and so Roald's family disembarked and stayed there for about a month. As I have already told you the Oddvar II was stationed on the eastern seaboard of the USA and so Roald's father joined his ship, with his family, in Mobile, Alabama. The Oddvar II had to spend some time in dry dock for repairs and so after two months in Alabama the ship proceeded in ballast to New Orleans and picked up a full cargo of military vehicles for Balboa, Panama Canal.

From Balboa after discharging the vehicles they proceeded, empty, to Manzanillo, Cuba to load a full cargo of sugar in bags for Jack Frosts Pier in Albany River, New York. After discharging their sugar the ship steamed in ballast to Newport News once more to load a full cargo of coal for Botwood, Newfoundland. By this time we had reached the end of 1941.

Roald Ekholm's Story

Having met Roald during our reunion of 1994 I was curious how he became a B.F.C. student in 1943. How did a Finnish boy end up going to Feild?

It is 1941 and the war is raging in Europe. The Russians are threatening to invade Finland. Roald's father was the master of a 3 500 ton cargo vessel of Norwegian ownership but was under a Finnish flag. The owners kept their vessel the Oddvar II on the other side of the Atlantic and thus Roald's father was away from his family much of the time. While on a trip home to Finland Roald's father decided that it was far to dangerous for his family to remain there so he made plans to bring them to North America.

The problem was that the Baltic and North Seas were practically closed to commercial shipping so he had to try and get them to the northerly part of Finland to a port called Lilmahamari. First they took the train from Helsinki to Ronaviemi and then by bus to Lilmahamari. In the group were Roald's parents, his sister and Roald himself.

This trip took several days but they finally arrived and embarked on a ship called the S/S Hammerland. She was destined for Vera Cruz in Mexico. Roald tells of the cabin he was in which was filled with emergency equipment in case the ship was attacked by German U-Boats and sunk. It was not a comforting feeling at all. However, the S/S Hammerland was never to make it to Mexico

Roald Ekholm

Well, I have finally received a response to my letter that I sent to Roald several months ago. He has replied with the story about how he came to be a student at BFC from 1943-45. He has also included a picture of a much younger Roald at that time. Over the next week or so I will put the highlights of that adventure for that is what it could only be for a boy of 12 or so at that time during the war on the high seas.
Below is a picture of Roald in his uniform with the BFC crest just visible on his blazer pocket.

Anyone For Cricket

As you can see from the above picture Cricket was played at the college in 1910 and we won the championship that year. Cricket would be a natural game for English boys to play and since our founder came from England, I am sure cricket followed him here. I did some research and found that Mr. Job of Job Brothers Ltd. also "introduced" cricket to St. John's. It was played in the Pleasantville area where there was a large flat piece of land.

Cricket is no longer played here and that goes back to the early 1900's, after 1910. It seems that the weather was not conducive to playing cricket and games sometimes took a week to finish. In one edition of The Feildian there was a hue and cry when cricket was removed from the college's list of sports and replaced with basketball. Several articles were written saying how could this be allowed to happen; the national game of the mother country cast aside in the oldest colony. Shame! Shame!

But we Feildians did play it and played it well as can be seen from this picture. They are a smart lot!!

More Feildians

Boys, have a look at some of the pages from The '55-'56 Feildian. I am sorry that the cover is inverted. Maybe you can fix that in your browser. REMEMBER TO CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON TO RETURN TO THE BLOGSITE.

Feildian 1955-56 (1)

Feildian 1955-56 (2)

Feildian 1955-56 (3)

Stores Around Feild

Boys, do you remember Connors' Restaurant on the corner of Flavin and Bond? Many's the time I went there for chips, dressing and gravy and could hear the college bell ringing for afternoon class. Then with the burn of vinegar on my lips beat it down Bond Street to get in school before Mr. French took out the thick, green Latin book and started talking about The Punic Wars. Sometimes I made it other times he visited the strap upon my gravy soaked fingers. Here's an ad from the '56 Feildian.

Remember Jack English's taffy(sp) apple shop on either York or Wood Street. He made the best taffy apples. They cost 7 cents and they were delicious. Up on Rawlins Cross was a store called The Book Mark that sold all manner of pencil cases, erasers and the like. Do you remember it? Were there any other stores in the vicinity?

HAPPY EASTER!

Hello Boys,


HAPPY EASTER TO ALL FEILDIANS, YOUNG AND OLD, NEAR AND FAR. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

1954-55 Feildian

Here are some pages from the 1954-55 Feildian. I will attempt to upload the whole edition in parts. Bear with me.

1954-55(1)

1954-55(2)

1956 Graduates

Hello Boys,

The Feildian is a treasure house of interesting articles and photographs of times past at the old school. Look what I found in the 1957 edition. It shows the graduating class of 1956. I have only put up a few until I get used to uploading PDF's.

I have now put the whole class of '56 on the blogsite and will be uploading other classes as I get them.

CLASS OF '56

CLASS OF '56 CONT.

Please hit the back button on your browser to return to THE BLOG.

The Coat of Arms

Below is The Bishop Feild Coat of Arms which has been associated with the school since its inception in 1844.
Notice the cross in the lower section. It divides that section into four areas. In the upper left as if looking at it is the lamb bearing the flag. This represents St. John. In the lower left is a sheaf of corn representing the Feild family. This sheaf of corn is prominent on the coast of arms of the Feild family. In the upper right is the lion rampant which represents the Jones family. In the lower right hand corner is a fore and aft schooner which represents the fishing industry of the then country of Newfoundland. Notice the rose just below the bishop's mitre and the thistle and the shamrock. These represent the three countries of the British Isles; Ireland, Scotland and England. The mitre, itself, is symbolic of the church. In the riband below is our motto-Non Moritur Cujus Fama Vivit" which in English means, They are not dead whose fame lives after them.

BEAUMONT HAMEL TOUR

Hello Boys,

Our tour to Beaumont Hamel (BH) is nearing its final stages. Old boys and significant others are signing up to go over to France from May 17-25. The highlight of the tour will be the installation and dedication of the Gerry Squires painting to commemorate those boys who died at that battle. There is still some room on the bus so please get in contact with me as soon as possible. My email is at the end of this blog.

The tour will begin in Paris and then move to many of the sites where Newfoundlanders fought during WWI. Beaumont Hamel will be our focus as there is a museum there that displays artifacts of our boys who made the supreme sacrifice there.

In an earlier blog I posted the complete itinerary so just look at the left navigation area and click on the tour title.

I sometimes wonder if doing this kind of thing is important in peoples' lives. It is important to remember those who have laid down their most precious gift, their life, so that others might live in freedom and peace. But as we go about our daily lives we do not think of those who made this sacrifice. Thus it is important that we focus on it at least once in a while through the year.

As I have been working in our archive during the past three years you come to realize that these boys were as we are now. You can see them in various sports pictures at the college. You imagine you know them. You know that they did the same things as we do today, eat breakfast, dress for school, miss homework, upset their parents and teachers and generally behave as boys do although at a different time.

Then came the time when many of them decided to go to war, a war that many at the time thought would be over in a month or so. We know it wasn't and many of them died well into the conflict. Many looked upon it as a grand adventure and could not wait to get into the thick of things. Many lied about their age although would they not have had to produce a birth certificate at enlistment? That's the story though. They badly wanted to have an adventure and war was their ticket to that excitement.

Now we remember their sacrifice and in May we will remember the sacrifice of a special few-Old Feildians. There were seven or eight killed outright at Beaumont Hamel on that fateful day, July 1, 1916 and about 55 others during the war itself. Almost 300 Old Feildians fought in that war. Of that number about sixty were killed. That's 1 in 5 who went over did not come back. If you include all those who went over from Newfoundland it is easy to see that for such a small place we made a significant contribution.

I suppose when you go to war you must think that there is a possibility of being killed albeit an adventurous time. But in the face of that many of our boys left hearth and home to fight in foreign climes.

And so we remember them. We must continue to remember even though the event is long ago. We must pass on to the next generation the importance of remembering. We must never forget them.

Beaumont Hamel Tour

Hello Boys,





This week saw the finishing touches to our Beaumont Hamel Tour which will take place from May 17 to May 25. If you have read the earlier blogs you will know that our small committee commissioned Gerry Squires and Boyd Chubbs to develop an idea that we could use as a memorial to all OLD FEILDIANS who died at The Battle of Beaumont Hamel and also those who were killed during WWI. Close to 300 Feildians enlisted in the early days of the war. Many of them came from C Company of The C.L.B. Of those 300 there were close to 67 who did not come home and of that 67 there were 7 who died at The Battle of Beaumont Hamel.
Several of the enlistees were masters at the college when war broke out in 1914 and I am thinking of A.E. Barnard for example.

An old boy who enlisted at the beginning of the war was 2nd. Lt.Robert Bruce Reid. He was 21 and was the son of Sir William Duff and Lady Reid of "Bartra", Circular Road, St. John's. His body rests in Memorial Park very close to Beaumont Hamel.

Here is the itinery for the tour.



Dear Old Feildians and Friends of the school,

At long last we have the information finalized, to the extent possible, for the trip to Beaumont Hamel to bring the painting that is to be dedicated and mounted in the museum there in memory of all the Old Feildians that died in World War 1.

As you are aware a beautiful painting has been completed by two of Newfoundland’s best artists, Gerry Squires and Boyd Chubbs, and it will be delivered by us to Beaumont Hamel on behalf of all Old Feildians both past and present.

The trip will include more than just the dedication at Beaumont Hamel, although that is our main purpose. It will include over two full days to see Paris, as well as a five day tour of the Normandy and Somme Valley. Two days will be in traveling to and from Paris, a total of nine days.

The dates are: Leaving St. John’s on Saturday afternoon May 17th, and returning on the evening of Sunday May 25th.

The tour is limited to 50 people, 25 couples, which is restricted by both the tour bus capacity and the number of hotel rooms we have been able to have held for us in Paris.
It is therefore most important that anyone interested in participating in the tour respond by January 31st., as we will be using a first come basis for our bookings.
A credit card will be required at the time of booking from which the required deposit can be taken by our travel consultant.


The costs outlined below are now approximately two to three weeks old and may vary slightly when the actual bookings are made. We expect however, that any difference in the price will be slight.
The total price shown is based on double occupancy in all hotel accommodations but prices are on a per person basis.

AIR FARE: Air Canada ……………………… $1,146.15 including taxes
( St. John’s to Paris – via Toronto – return )

HOTEL in PARIS: Hotel Alexander http://www.hotelalexanderparis.com
Three nights ( night of arrival on May 18th and …,
May 23rd, and 24th, prior to our return )
Cost is 173 Euro/n or approximately $260.00 C$ which is $130/p/n
Cost for the three nights in Paris is $390.00 per person.

FIVE DAY BUS TOUR:
* Includes four nights in a Holiday Inn 3 star hotel in both Amiens and Caen.
Dinner on three of the four nights. Breakfast each morning.
All site entrance fees … and a bilingual guide.
Cost is $ 995.00 per person.

The total of the above, which are the major expenses, is $ 2531.15

Notes:
1. A deposit of $1500.00 will be required at the time of booking or no later than January 31st. Balance within 60 days.
2. You must obtain your own travel and medical insurance. This may be already covered on your credit card if used to pay for your flight.
3. An up to date PASSPORT.
4. Make allowances for contingencies, personal and unforeseen expenses.
5. It should also be noted that the dates of the flights to and from Paris is flexible and that they can be earlier or later to suit individual schedules. The only fixed dates and times will be the beginning and end on the bus tour itself. Anyone interested in making special arrangements need only contact our travel consultant.
6. Finally, please be advised that the airline and bus tour operator requires a minimum number of people for us to get the prices that were quoted, so your earliest response is required for us to maintain these rates.

To book on this tour you are requested to call Holly Rideout at 687-3892 and have your credit card number to give her. Any specific questions can be sent to her e-mail address which is holly-rideout@coldwellbanker.ca



On behalf of Old Feildians we are Dick Cook, Peter Chalker and Bill Rompkey.