Update regarding planning for MCHS mini-reunion in Montreal in mid-August 2014

In a previous blog post I’ve described initial planning for an MCHS mini-reunion in Montreal in mid-August 2014.

We are currently working on coordination of decision making related to the exact time and venue for the event. We have an email distribution list in place for sharing of information. If you as an MCHS alumna or alumnus have an interest in being added to the email list, please send me an email at jpill@preservedstories.com

If you would like to help with the organizing of the mini-reunion, and have not yet expressed your interest, please let me know.

Background regarding planning process – we welcome input from you – for the mid-August 2014 Montreal MCHS mini-reunion

This mini-reunion is “sparked as several of us acknowledge it is 50 years since we graduated, and we were the first group to go through all 4 HS years at MCHS.”

Our key organizer, who came up with the mini-reunion concept has shared with us the following thoughts:

“It is quite some time since I lived in my fav city, and when I get back I usually just have time to catch up with family & friends, so I am not at all well placed to make any suggestions of a gathering place. I am not too fussed over any details, it will all be good I am quite sure. At this stage I plan to arrive in Mtl late pm Aug 11th, and have no plans for that week.

“As I am unfamiliar with the local customs these days, I suggested earlier a few options that would be considered around here. Such as –

• Thursday 14 or Friday 15th – (eg) 5pm drinks, dinner for those who can stay on or come later

• Sat 16th – whatever suits

• Sunday 17th – noon – 4pm

“Again, I don’t get out much in Mtl … so I’ll leave it up to the locals to follow through with that. I don’t know whether you have casual pubs, that permit folks to mingle and move around to chat, then proceed to a restaurant setting for a meal.

“Here, with our guaranteed warm sunny summers, most reunions would take place outdoors with folks bringing everything – and something to share with others. Public park in many cases, or a backyard, bring food, drink, chairs etc – perhaps a donation for host expenses. That might not be the best scenario for Mtl and this gathering.

“The drawback with a restaurant-only meal is that folks sit upon arrival and do not get the chance to move around to chat with a wider group.

“I’ve shared a few options, I have no fixed ideas, and am quite happy to let others take over, if I can make that request / imposition. There seems to be a fair bit of interest, and certainly not too much publicity that I am aware of, so that’s a great start.”

[End of excerpt]

We welcome your suggestions, questions, and comments

Please send us photographs related to MCHS 50 years ago and photos related to your life as an MCHS alumnus or alumna in the present moment

MCHS about 1960 after it was opened. Source: 1961-62 MCHS yearbook

We are keen to add photographs – from Malcolm Campbell High School 50 years ago and more recent photos as well, about any subject – to this website, and to the MCHS ’60s Reunion Groupon Facebook.

You can scan the photos as jpeg files or just send us jpegs straight from your camera.

You can send such items to my email address.

Photos and pictures are a great way to get conversations going. Conversations are a key part of planning for our MCHS mini-reunions, starting with the one in Montreal, and for the Oct. 17, 2015 MCHS Sixties Reunion at Old Mill Toronto.

I will have an update soon on planning of the Oct. 17, 2015 reunion. Before that, I have to attend to another project, part of the work that I do in putting together life stories for families. I note that all of the people involved with the planning of the Oct. 17, 2015 event, and the mid-August 2014 event, have a lot of other projects on the go as well. Their enthusiasm and assistance underlines the adage: “If you want something done, ask a busy person.”

Facebook Group for 1968 MCHS Grads

It’s been great to see discussion about the Oct. 17, 2015 MCHS Sixties Reunion at the Facebook Group for 1968 MCHS Grads. I’ve joined the 1968 group and encourage all Sixties MCHS alumni to joint that group along with the MCHS ’60s Reunion Group.

As well, I’ve joined a Facebook Group called Malcolm Campbell High School Grads and encourage you to join as well.

The idea for a mini-reunion in Montreal this year originated with an MCHS alumna in Australia. I want to add, with regard to the many countries around the world where MCHS alumni are now settled, that I have a strong interest in the history of Australia and New Zealand.

Australia

As well, part of my volunteer work for many years has involved sharing information about stuttering. In that context, I’m aware that some of the key work in research related to stuttering treatment programs for children and for adults has originated in Australia.

Some of that work has directly influenced my own life, as I attended a world-class speech therapy clinic in Edmonton in 1987. The three-week visit to the clinic in Edmonton in July 1987, when I was 41 years old, changed the trajectory of my life. It was like the proverbial Before and After. The clinic’s work, in turn, had benefitted tremendously from research that had been conducted, in the previous decades, in Australia. So many things in life are connected to so many other things, people, and chance events and meetings. It’s really a delight to contemplate how many things people are able to learn from each other.