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!!