Joy Benson (Alexander)

Thank you Marion, Gord and all that put together such a wonderful reunion.  It was great to catch up with many of you - I had a smile on my face the entire weekend as I thought about all the good conversations.  I am all for doing it again when we turn 75 or maybe sooner on our 55 grad reunion.  Cheers, Joy

Ron Harrison

Barbara Raphael

Many Vaartnou

Hi Barb,

Good to here. Will try to be there. Many

Many Vaartnou

Hi Carolyn, Now that Donny is Donny, any luck with Orange county (I thought Jack Nickolson destroyed that in "China Town"). Cheers, re Donny (we have enuff with Christy fighting the NDP & Greens). Cheers, MV

Lewis Beck

Just talking--well, texting--with Judi Miles (Paget) tonight and it came to light that both our moms were war brides.  Judi wondered who else among us had mothers who were also war brides so I volunteered to ask here. 

Mine met my dad, Jim Beck, on a blind date back in '40 or so.  Dad was a Canadian soldier.  They married shortly thereafter and my sis Sue was born in '43.  After the war, Dad returned to Canada and Mom followed shortly thereafter, carrying my unborn older brother Bill on the trip.  Mom landed in Halifax at famous pier 21 in '46, I came along in '47 (of course) and the rest, as they say, is history.  So be it.

Anyone else have a story to share?

Philip Allingham

Well, Lewis, your mother may have been a WWII bride; mine was an after-the-fact WWI bride! My father left the Territorials in 1918 and, after serving a stint as an engineer on tankers plying the route between the Persian Gulf and the UK, went to work for British Petroleum in Persia. He then placed an ad in a personal column of a London newspaper. My mother responded, they corresponded, and eventually met and married. My father even took her back to his oil rig for a Persian wedding with the Bedoin. However, that was not a particularly congenial place for a Western woman, and they were back in England by the late 1920s.

Alan Weller

Boy...the stuff we find out 50 years later is amazing...Al

Sandy Waterman (Chernoff)

My parents met at a dance in Montreal that was for servicemen heading to the war.  They married a short time later and my dad ended up in the Dentat Corps and was stationed in Prince Rupert.  They ultimately moved to Vancouver, where his parents had retired, and the rest is history.

Glen Driedger

1. Sorry to have missed the 70th Birthday Bash - it's a long way from Nova Scotia.  I'll be 70 next April.

2. My mum and dad were both from Saskatchewan. They were both in the RCAF in London, where they met in a bomb shelter. They married in London after V-E Day. 

Carolyn Gamble (Wright)

As a surprise to no one, my father was a musician during the war.  He played in the US Navy Band and as an Announcer for their programs.  Mom & Dad met at a dance in Harrisonburg, Virginia at my Mom's alma mater, James Madison University. It was a girl's-only university at the time, but the Navy boys were allowed to attend the dance.  And the magic happened there!  They both moved to Washington, D.C., separately, of course, and attended the same church, New York Avenue Presbyterian.  They both sang in the choir .  Coincidentally, the Minister was Peter Marshall, who married them on June 10, 1945.  And it is the church that Abraham Lincoln attended.  His pew remains there still. 

Lewis Beck

Wow--what awesome stories.  Very cool how an awful global conflict brought our parents together and came up with us lol !   Thank you for sharing, eveyone.  Any other stories?

Yes, too bad you couldn't make it, Glen.  Next time?!

Susan Chambers (Mussellam)

Both my mother and father were born here met at Victoria High School.  Dad went off to war, returned and they married and moved to Vancouver where the 4 of us were all born.  I have to say my family celebrated 200 hundred years of being in Canada on August 14th 2016 after arriving from Ireland in 1816 they settled in Kyuquot Vancouver Island and owned all the fishing canneries on the West Coast at one time.  Lots  of history !

Barbara Borthwick

I don't know how many of you saw the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai but if you read the newspapers across Canada on November 11th, you will know a different story line.  My Uncle Roy (my brother named after him) was the Fighter Pilot in a CANADIAN aircraft that shot it down.  Not the British or the Americans.  My brother Al and cousin Steve were also shown in the article looking at a scrap book of all his efforts during the war (which Al made for his cousin).  He was shot down another time but actually survived.  Just clarifying a little bit of history.  Barb Borthwick 

Greig Soohen

Thankyou for the added insight Barb! I enjoyed the article.  Even a little more of the history of those events would be interesting to me.

I trust you are doing well.

Greig

Peter Schubert

Hey guys (and Barb)

This is not the first time that Canadians have been misrepresented.  The movie Argo made in 2012 was one of those that gave the glory to the Americans and can't remember if Canada got an honorable mention.  But then look at the representation we have in Ottawa ... make Canada Great Again?

Glen Porter

Thanks for the link, Gordon. There is a lot of info on that site for those who poke around.

I've been following the pandemic on this site, which also summarizes world data graphically and informatively: https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Lewis Beck

Yes, 1000 thanks, Gord, for reaching out to us all at this critical time!

Here's my take on what's happening with the corona virus crisis. It may seem like an unmitigated calamity: "fire and vengeance" on the outside but on the inside, it's "light and mercy".  How?  Across the entire planet, people are reaching out to each other in ways great and small; performing unselfish acts of kindness, generosity and self-sacrifice. Old prejudices are going by the board and a spirit of "we are in this together" is taking over--all over.  People in every country are praying to their Creator like never before.  What's not to like about any of that?  Without a doubt, we'll emerge from this crisis a better, more united race of people--I'm talking the human race here. Watch and see :-).

Donald Crompton

Hi Friends,

We hope you and your families are doing well in the midst of these frightening times.  Don and I arre hunkered down in Kelowna.  As you may know, our son Dan is an ER doctor at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock.  We want to make a plea on behalf odf Dan, his wife Stephanie a GP, and all the medical personal and first responders who are putting their lives on the line in the fight against the virus.  They must feel helpless and angry when they hear about people not takingg the situation seriously and ignoring the guidlines put out by the government officials.  Lack of compliance will mean more people being infected.  That could mean shortages of medical personal and protective equipment for them.  There could also be shartages of ventilators for people who become gravely ill.  We know we are all so grateful for the efforts of front line workers.  But if we aren't abidingby guidlines, we are really telling them they don't matter - that our pleasure or convenience is more important that their lives - that can't be a good feeling.  We are terrified when we see comverage of people congregatingin parks etc. because it seems like a direct assault on our heath care heroes, some have come out of retirement to serve us..

it's disturbing to hear people deciding Canada's strategy doesn't apply to them, in some cases because they don't aree with the measures taken.  But really that's sabotaging the plan - and whether we approve of the plan or not - its the only one we've got.  It's as if somone on a basketball team has heard about a great defensive  strategy employed by another team.  She decides to use that strategy defying he own coaches plan for the game.  The results is chaos - the team goes down in flames.  Yikes!  Another rationalization for sloppy compliance can be assuming you might get sick, but chances or dying are low.  True (unless you're over 70 - egad that's us!!), but think of the other people put at risk - think of the doctors and nurses who will care for you.

Continued

Donald Crompton

In the sex education game, we used to say that when you have sex with someone, it's as if you're havving sex with everyone that person has had sex with in terms of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.  The same applies here.  If you have close contact with someone outside your isolation group, consider that you are exposing yourself to everyone else that person has had contact with.  That's just one person - imagine what it's like on a crowded bus or or a bunch of kids hobnobbing on a beach.  The number of potentiallydangerous contacts goes up exponentially.  So for you and your household, the safest thing is to isolate - come in close contact with NO ONE ELSE - hunker down.  We are sad tjat we may mpt see ppur grandchildren for months. .  But right now, staying away is the way to love them.  Thank goodness for Face Time and Zoom

Please pass this on to all your contacts, friends and families - this could go vira! (Bad Joke).

Stay healthy, Steady onward,

Vicki and Don Crompton

Lewis Beck

Thanks for all that, Gord; a few good chuckles there!  Here's a little sequel; let's say it comes from one of our english classes!

A teachers asks his class to come up with the difference in meaning between the words "complete" and "finished".  Here is the best answer:

When a man marries the right woman he is "complete".  When he marries the wrong one, he is "finished" 

When the right woman catches him with the wrong one, he is "completely finished".

End of joke. Laugh here!

Lewis Beck

Here are are a few old Magee alumni (and a couple of honorary grads) who congregated on Sept. 14, 2020 at site 46 in Bear Creek Campground, just north of Kelowna.  Back row, L-R: Dave Pacey, Elayna Grace (aka. Elaine Berry back in the day), her partner Scottie.  Front Row, L-R: Peter Schubert, his friend Gerda, Louise Beck.  Out of sight behind the camera, Lewis.  Dig those cool t-shirts!  I wonder who made them ;-)?  It was a fabulous "micro-reunion", I'm calling it, with a pot-luck barbeque, music, jokes, funny stories and a whole lot of reminiscing about "the good old days" which our respective partners, with exemplary patience, put up with.  It was so much fun we're planning to do it again next year.  If covid-19 restrictions are lifted, others may join!

Carolyn Gamble (Wright)

Hello my dear Canadian alumni (alumnus?).  WE 🇺🇸 DID IT!!  I just wanted you all to know how this one American feels about our presidential election.  I’m sooooo happy that Joe Biden is our President-elect.  To gain back some of our respect and honor after what we’ve been subjected to for the past 4 years.  Thank you all for your prayers  and crossed fingers.  They worked!  It looks like the drama will continue (not the kind that I like) through January 20.  That should be a much-watched TV day for sure.  And our country has a big job ahead to draw our seriously divided selves together.  And Joe Biden is the man for the job.  So more prayers and crossed fingers are needed, please!  Always looking forward to our next reunion, whenever that may be, Carolyn 🥳 🔴 ➕ ⚫>/p>

Dave Clark

To the Committee:

Like a watcher in the woods.  Sitting still and watching, cloaked in water proof camouflage.   Noting with relief that I am not “In Memoriam”.  Taking note of those who have passed, and those who remain 'off the grid’.  The few who I remember fondly, the many who were and have remained shadows in my life, and those that remained my friends, mark a time I do not regret leaving behind.  

Peter Schubert

In an age where most people can't express themselves anymore, where I comes before others, i.e. "me and my friend", it is truly refreshing to read a well expressed message,  Maybe all is not lost on what we had learned.  I however fear for this new generation.

Peter Schubert