ST ANNE FEAST AT PWALES CHAPEL
The feast of St Anne at the Pwales Chapel on Saturday 12th July was the usual success. It was the eighth time that the Association of Lyceum Past Students was celebrating the feast. ALPS Spiritual Director Fr William Bartolo, OFM Conv., said Holy Mass with the participation of the ALPS Choir under the direction of Mro Joe Fenech.
In line with the ALPS tradition of always doing something new to mark each feast of St Anne, this year’s event was marked by the publication of an eight-page booklet, designed by Bonavia Printers of Sliema and ALPS Publications Editor Laurence Vella, bearing the fruits of research that has been going on into the chapel’s history over the past several months. The research, ably led by Roderick Busuttil with the collaboration of researcher Walter Glynn and the childhood memories of Lyceum past student Aldo Leone Ganado, was also put on line in the Kappelli Maltin website to coincide with the feast. The website, www.kappellimaltin.com, is run by Lyceum past students Joe Brincat, Roderick Busuttil and Noel Ciantar.
Mr Glynn and Mr Busuttil each gave a short talk about the chapel just after Mass.
The ALPS Choir then entertained those present with a selection of songs that its members have been preparing for various activities. The singing was followed by light refreshments for all.
BACK TO CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Although the administrative and organisational inner circle of the Association hardly ever lets up, even in high summer, September brings with it the opportunity to start afresh on ALPS activities. The first cultural visit for the season will be to Palazzo Falson in Mdina and the Domus Romana at Rabat on the morning of 20th September.
We shall meet at 9.45 for 10 a.m. in Cathedral Square, Mdina, and then proceed to Palazzo Falson for a guided tour of this fantastic showpiece of Maltese heritage. After Palazzo Falzon we shall proceed to the nearby Domus Romana outside Mdina (nobody will be holding an umbrella aloft in typical guide fashion!) for another guided tour. The total price for the two visits will be €8 per Kantanzjan holder, otherwise €11. The entrance fees will be paid collectively.
An optional light lunch is being thrown in for good measure at the Peristyle Restaurant, just opposite the Domus Romana. For just €8 each, patrons can have ravioli or tuna salad or chicken salad, as well as gateau. Drinks will be extra.
Booking is open with ALPS Secretary-General Alex Borg on 21 386812, 21 376387, 9988 8579 or e-mail info@alpsmalta.com. Advance payment by cheque will be appreciated to avoid the unsightly spectacle of Council members going around tables picking up money.
LAST CHANCES FOR TURANDOT
There is still a small number of tickets available for the ALPS group attendance for the performance of Turandot, by Giacomo Puccini, at the Astra Theatre, Victoria, on Saturday 25th October at 7.30 p.m.
For €126 the package put together by ALPS Cultural Commission Chairman Joe Fenech includes first-category opera tickets, one night’s accommodation at the Downtown Hotel in Victoria, three meals at the hotel (high tea on the Saturday afternoon, breakfast and lunch on Sunday, drinks not included), and transport from Valletta to Cirkewwa, Mgarr to Victoria and back. Ferryboat fares are not included, and patrons with their own transport will get a discount of €8.
There is also a limited number of tickets available, at €60, for a performance on 23rd October at 7.30 p.m. Accommodation can be arranged on request.
A special offer of an extra night on Friday 24th October is available at €25 bed and breakfast or €35 half board per person, with a single supplement of €7 per person.
Please call Joe Fenech on 21 634034 or 21 410632.
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Attendance is highly recommended to all opera lovers. Such activities in recent years have invariably been very successful and enjoyable, so this year should be no exception, especially in the light of the 150th anniversary of Puccini’s birth.
COMMEMORATING PUCCINI
By the time this edition of ALPS News is received in homes, members of the ALPS Choir will be close to restarting rehearsals for the upcoming concert in memory of the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who was born in 1858.
As has already been announced, the concert will be held on Thursday 30th October, 2008, in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Phoenicia, Floriana.
Booking for this event is open at €10 per person with Secretary-General Alex Borg or Joe Fenech (details of both already given).
GRAND LYCEUM REUNION 2008
As has already been announced, this year’s Grand Lyceum Reunion will be held on Saturday 4th October at the Main Hall of The Lyceum in Hamrun, with the kind permission of the Headmaster. As usual, all Lyceum past students, irrespective of membership or otherwise of ALPS, will be welcome to attend alone or with their spouses or partners, but the guests of honour will be those who left or entered The Lyceum 50 years ago, in 1958.
ALPS Membership Commission Chairman Tony Aquilina has already sent out a number of application forms to all known Lyceum past students who do not receive ALPS News. Those who do receive the newsletter in hard copy again found a form attached to each copy. They are being asked to refer names of any former schoolmates with whom they may still be in touch.
The form has been meticulously prepared to make it an essential tool for the greatest possible success of the Lyceum Grand Reunion. It is very important to send the applications in, both to receive formal invitations nearer the date and to help the Council of Administration plan catering requirements.
CONGRATULATIONS
The ALPS Council of Administration is pleased to congratulate former Dar tal-Providenza Director Mgr Lawrence Gatt on his appointment as Chancellor at the Archbishop’s Curia. The announcement was made just as ALPS News July was being mailed, hence the belated congratulations.
“SUWED ULIED IL-LEJL”
Charles Micallef St John’s second book in his four-volume saga Suwed Ulied il-Lejl – Tumas has been selling well. As with the first volume, he is again offering it to ALPS members at a reduced price of €9.30 instead of the retail price of €11.65, and will deliver the book personally.
The 500-page first volume was a best-seller and award winner. A limited number of that first book are still available, unless they run out of print sooner than expected. Charles, a Lyceum past student, does not intend an immediate reprint – definitely not before all four books are published.
Any ALPS members who may have missed the first opportunity, but still wish to avail themselves of this last chance, can contact Charles on 7942 9886, 21 310121 or cmicallefstjohn@yahoo.co.uk.
FAREWELL, MELITA!
It was with deep shock that ALPS Choir members received the news of the tragic death of 81-year-old fellow singer Melita Bonnici on 14th July – just two days after she had sung with the choir at the annual feast of St Anne. Her funeral was held at the Senglea Basilica, and the ALPS Choir was there to animate the function as a last tribute to its hard-working and enthusiastic member, who also unofficially served as secretary. On the same day a moving appreciation penned by ALPS President and choir member George Stagno Navarra appeared in The Times.
George wrote that Melita made everybody happy with her smile, as if exhorting them to be united, love one another and stay together. As a member of the ALPS Choir she had certainly kept the group alive, singing with great love and flair and expressing with her gentle voice the inner feelings of a refined and happy person. Appropriately, the appreciation ended with an expression of condolences to her family.
CONCERT AT CASA ARKATI
On 1st August the ALPS Choir featured prominently in an open-air evening concert to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the official opening of Casa Arkati, the old people’s home at Mosta. Singing with the choir were sopranos Karen Camilleri and Louiselle Pace Gouder and baritone Lewis Cassar.
After the sorrow of Melita Bonnici’s funeral, the concert was a good way of wrapping up the season’s work before a month’s holiday for the choir, which will now meet on 4th September to continue with preparations for various activities.
CHILDREN’S LIBRARY AT KAREN GRECH HOSPITAL
An appeal is currently on for the donation of suitable books and videos to the child patients receiving medical care at the Disneyland Ward of Mater Dei Hospital. These unfortunate children certainly deserve all the help they can get to while away the long hours in hospital – not to mention the physical pain of the treatment in some cases. Please give all the help you can. Telephone 2545 4920.
OUCH!
It has been learned with regret that Mr Tony Caruana Smith, the Headmaster of the Dun Guzepp Zammit (Brighella) Lyceum, has had a mishap resulting in a broken leg.
On behalf of all members ALPS News wishes him a speedy recovery.
LIGHTNING VISIT
ALPS Canada President Milo Vassallo made a lightning visit to Malta as this edition was going to print. He was treated to a BBQ dinner by ALPS President George Stagno Navarra, Secretary-General Alex Borg and Treasurer David Abela and a few other friends who had gone to Canada for the ALPS Tour and Grand Reunion in August/September 2007. Naturally, talk dwelt largely not only on the ALPS visit and reunion in Toronto but also on the Lyceum days of old, which Milo remembers with astounding clarity. Au revoir, Milo.
Lyceum
Grand Reunion application form
(Kindly dowload and send to ALPS)
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