1. John King
REMINISCENCES

[This wasn’t prepared in advance, so I’m just trying to reproduce what I blurted out on the spur of the moment!]

Fifty years ago this month I started at Shrigley – on the first day of the new academic year, the 6th, to be exact.
In many ways I was rather untypical material for Shrigley to work on.  Unlike many of the boys who went there at the age of 11 or 12, I was already approaching my 15th birthday.  Two of my main interests were girls and pop music.
Again unlike the majority of new entrants, who had been Catholics since baptism at least 11 years ago, I had been a Catholic for only 1 year 5 months!   I had been baptised in April 1957 in the chapel at the Salesian house in Aberdour.  (Donald MacDonald who is here today, was also there then!)  I had immediately expressed an interest in becoming a Salesian, but was told I’d have to be a Catholic a bit longer!
(I could perhaps add at this point – because it also makes me a bit different from most “old boys”, and although it's maybe somewhat audacious to say so in the present company – that by the time I was 30 I was no longer a Catholic.  This was not because I lost interest in religion.  My life  has always been a spiritual quest and continues to be so.  It’s just that my path did not continue to coincide with the Catholic way.  It goes without saying that I have total respect for those who continue genuinely and out of conviction to find that theirs does.)
The following Easter, 1957, I came with a group of boys to spend a week at Shrigley.  I was instantly caught up in the wave of high, happy energy that ran tangibly through the place.  I was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm and humour two clerics, Bro. John (Darwell) and Bro. Eric (Baggaley, sitting here in the front row!).  And, as I’ve said, I came back as a Form IV boy in the September.
Unlike my form-mates, all but one of whom had 2 or 3 years at Shrigley behind them, I had done very little housework!  That was about to change!Also unlike them, I had played very little football and was hopeless at it.
I quickly discovered that my companions were not, shall we say, “picky” eaters – unlike yours truly, who’d hardly touched vegetables and many other foods.  Within two weeks, the prospect of starvation had transformed me into a voracious omnivore!
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So I was in some ways atypical material.  What effects did the experience of Shrigley have on this material?
There were many, and I’ll mention only three of them.
For one thing, I have always said that no boy was happier at Shrigley than I was.  (Equally happy they might well be, but none was happier.)  Like all other boys I had certain talents, whose full development was wholeheartedly encouraged by the regime and by the staff.  In my case these included music (violin-playing and singing) and drama; and  I was also good at some academic subjects, especially English and languages.  Other aspects were also developed, however: sporting ability, physical fitness, ability to tackle manual work, etc. 
Secondly, I absorbed something that I only later learned to identify and describe to myself.  It was summed up in something that in later life I heard a very wise man say.  Happiness cannot be sought or acquired directly.  Happiness is a by-product of totality.  Doing something with total energy and attention is what gives a feeling of happiness.  This enthusiasm was the feature of Shrigley life that had irresistibly drawn me, whether the activity was work or play or prayer or whatever. 
Lastly, people related to one another at what I would call the level of the heart.  When we arrived here for this reunion weekend, this can still be felt when men greet  one another: when they say “It’s really good to see you!”, you sense that this comes from their heart and they really mean it.  I think another word for it is love.

2. Fr. Felix Glowicki S.D.B.
Fr. Felix intended this e-mail to Mike Kilduff to be used at the Reminiscenses during the 2008 reunion

Dear Mike and all my dear friends of the happy years we spent together at
Shrigley, it was there that my vocation developed, it was there that it grew
under the loving care of the Holy Spirit, it was there that I met so many
wonderful friends - YOU to help me grow as a happy, fulfilled and active
Salesian. Although most of you have not reached the goal of the priesthood,
nevertheless you, too, are Salesians.

My last and only attendance of our re-union some years ago, has shown me
how deeply you appreciate the training we received, and how happy and how
proud you are as Salesian Alumni - now involved in your own environment as
apostles of Christ in the Church and as followers of our dear Father and guide
St. john Bosco.

I feel really happy that you, from time to time, keep in touch with
me, lost somewhere in the jungles of the 7000 Philippine islands - so to
say. Actually, we run large and prestigious schools with high quality of
education and I have been holding varoius responsible positions - Principal of
Makati with 3600 boys, Cathechist twice, Rector for 25 years in several schools
and Administrator-economer for some 30 years - a lot of experiences,
but I want to tell you something, believe me; If I have been so appreciated
with so many works and projects in the past, I attribute so much of it to the
formative years I spent in England . and though the Good hand gave me a lot
of gifts and qualities - they could have remained dormant, had I not have the
opportunities to develop them - and thanks to our superiors and all of you
who had been extremely kind to me - as also to Wledy and Morek
in our first days with you. I do remember the first days in Shrigley, when
we arrived that cold evening of Nov. 25, 1947, without knowing a word, well
... some words of English and how you tried to make fun at our expense!
Those were difficult days for us, but at the end you made it so much easier.

Yes, I have just visited your - our website on the internet, and was happy
to see many of your faces - which, I am afraid, I could not recognize! Well,
the age is catching up - Felix is still young and the same! Congrats to all
new officials of our Association - Peter, Teddy and others.

I wish you a wonderful re-union and I'll be there for the occasion - in spirit
of course. Please, count me in.

If everything goes well, I may be in England next summer. In the meantime let
us keep in touch and let us keep that Bosconian spirit not only in our hearts, but live it with our lives.

Best regards and love to all of you, your families and our friends.
with fond memories

affectionately,
Felix

FR. FELIX GLOWICKI, SDB
 
NOTE: This message was sent last September 15, on time for the reunion
            because I really want to be there in Spirit!!!! But something went wrong
            on sending it.