{"id":5627,"date":"2015-01-28T13:49:07","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T13:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alps.asmlt.com\/?page_id=5627"},"modified":"2015-01-29T07:47:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T07:47:39","slug":"october-2007","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/?page_id=5627","title":{"rendered":"OCTOBER 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"

CANADA WAS A SHOT IN THE ARM<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a very happy group of ALPS members and friends that
\n came back from a three-week visit to Canada on 18th September,
\n but happiest of all must have been President George Stagno
\n Navarra, Secretary-General Alex Borg and Treasurer David Abela
\n at the unmitigated success of the trip. Who could not be happy
\n knowing that the trip had given ALPS Canada a new lease of
\n life and ALPS in Malta yet another organisational shot in
\n the arm, not to mention absolute enjoyment for all participants?<\/p>\n

The ALPS group left Malta on 28th August via Frankfurt. They
\n were met at Pearson Airport in Toronto by ALPS Canada President
\n Milo Vassallo with a small Maltese flag in hand. The ALPS
\n Malta President walked into the arrivals lounge sporting the
\n ALPS banner over his luggage trolley. After visiting Niagara
\n Falls, the next event on the tour was a top-notch garden party
\n hosted by Milo and his wife Rita, both of whom had left no
\n stone unturned to make it perfect.<\/p>\n

31st August marked the early peak of the tour programme so
\n painstakingly put together by Milo: a Grand Reunion at the
\n exclusive Ontario Club in Toronto between the visiting group
\n and 32 Lyceum past students who are settled in Canada. At
\n the end of the formal dinner George Stagno Navarra delivered
\n a heartfelt speech reminiscing about the setting up of The
\n Lyceum, the good old Lyceum days and the great Maltese names
\n that the school has produced. He then proudly proceeded to
\n present Milo with a well-deserved Certificate of Honorary
\n Life Membership of ALPS, and Mrs Vassallo with a large silver
\n frame. This was reciprocated by the Vassallos with a very
\n attractive ALPS banner bearing the slogan \u201cStill going
\n strong\u201d. The rest of the \u201cCanadian\u201d party
\n were each presented with certificates of honorary ALPS membership.<\/p>\n

It was a wonderful occasion for old friends to meet and new
\n ones to be made, complete with a number of exhibits harking
\n back to the old Lyceum school days. Catcalls of \u201cViva
\n s-Serduk!\u201d were so flying around that the only thing
\n missing was the crow of a real cock \u2013 but there was
\n a stuffed one in Lyceum colours, brought along by one of the
\n participants. <\/p>\n

A good number of the photographs taken will be made available
\n on the ALPS website.<\/p>\n

The tour continued with visits to Toronto, Lake Ontario,
\n Niagara, Calgary, the Pacific Coast, Vancouver, British Columbia,
\n a five-day tour of the Rockies and a seven-day cruise in Alaska
\n on the m.v. Norwegian Sun. It was a poignant moment when one
\n Lyceum past student who had not made it to Toronto, Eddie
\n Turner, drove with his wife Carole all the way to Sun Peaks
\n in the Rockies to rendezvous and stay overnight at the same
\n hotel with the ALPS group. <\/p>\n

An elated President George Stagno Navarra told ALPS News
\n that \u201cHistory has been written in the annals of ALPS.
\n It will be impossible to ever forget the smiles and the singing
\n when Lyceum past students from all walks of life converged
\n for the grand get-together. The Maltese\/Canadian group made
\n the most of the opportunity to reminisce on their Lyceum days.
\n The hugging and promises to meet again sealed a most memorable
\n evening that we had all envisaged would turn out to be a wonderful
\n experience. I wish and hope that we may yet repeat this extraordinary
\n event that leaves nothing but indelible memories, making us
\n all feel young at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n BUMPER GRAND REUNION ONLY DAYS AWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third Grand Reunion of Lyceum Past Students in as many
\n years is now only days away \u2013 and it promises to be
\n a bumper event. Hundreds of members and friends of ALPS, as
\n well as non-members, have applied to attend on Friday 12th
\n October.<\/p>\n

The gates of The Lyceum will open at 6.30 p.m. for attendees
\n to get together and give a rousing welcome to Archbishop Paul
\n Cremona, who started attending The Lyceum in 1956. Together
\n with Mgr Lawrence Gatt (who made it nine years before him),
\n Mgr Anton Gouder and ALPS Spiritual Director Fr William Bartolo
\n OFM Conv., as well as any number of ordained past students
\n who would like to join them, the Archbishop will say Mass
\n in the Main Hall at 7 p.m. A reception will be held thereafter.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Cremona has willingly accepted the invitation
\n to the Grand Reunion, while Mgr Gatt, Director of Dar tal-Providenza,
\n has asked to meet as many as possible of the surviving students
\n who first joined him at The Lyceum in 1947.<\/p>\n

Great enjoyment is simply guaranteed.<\/p>\n

TREE-PLANTING CEREMONY STILL OPEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been confirmed that the planting of the ALPS Grove
\n in the 34U Campaign will be held at the Kennedy Grove on the
\n morning of Saturday 3rd November. The scores of ALPS members
\n and friends who have registered for the event will meet near
\n the Bella Vista Hotel at Qawra, from where the whole group
\n will proceed to the planting area with 34U officials.<\/p>\n

There is still time for anyone wishing to join in this noble
\n gesture for posterity, at just Lm6 per tree, to contact ALPS
\n Secretary-General Alex Borg (see masthead).<\/p>\n

READ, LISTEN AND CONTRIBUTE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gorga is the first book in a new series by ALPS member Charles
\n Micallef St John. The book has received high acclaim from
\n Prof. Joseph M. Pirotta and President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud
\n Bonnici, incidentally both Lyceum past students. Charles is
\n selling to ALPS members and friends at a special price of
\n Lm4 instead of Lm4.99, and has promised ALPS a donation for
\n every copy sold. Readers can contact him on mobile 7942 9886
\n or cmicallefstjohn@yahoo.co.uk.<\/p>\n

Veteran tenor Andrew Sapiano, a stalwart of ALPS cultural
\n events, is putting on the market a CD with operatic arias
\n sung by him over the past 30 years. The CD sells at Lm3 each,
\n and Andrew will donate all moneys collected to Dar tal-Providenza.
\n He can be contacted on telephone 21 820908 or during the Yuletide
\n Dinner on Friday 7th December.<\/p>\n

Further info about the Yuletide Dinner will be in the next
\n issue of ALPS News.<\/p>\n

FOUNDATION DAY CONCERT BROUGHT FORWARD<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ALPS Foundation Day Concert for 2008 has been brought
\n forward to Saturday 19th January.<\/p>\n

Following the outstanding success of the 2007 event, a concert
\n version of La Danza delle Libellule that packed the Salesian
\n Theatre in Sliema to capacity, the 2008 event will be a semi-concert
\n version of another operetta, La Principessa della Czarda,
\n with music by Emerich Kalmann. <\/p>\n

Joe Fenech, who as usual is spearheading the efforts, is
\n inviting any ALPS members and friends, male and female, who
\n would like to join the chorus to contact him on telephone
\n 21 410632 as soon as possible. Early notification will avoid
\n missing out on the imminent start of rehearsals.<\/p>\n

FOR YOUR DIARY \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The annual Requiem Mass for the repose of dear departed relatives
\n of ALPS members and friends, teachers and students of The
\n Lyceum, as well as relatives of the Pwales community, will
\n be held at St Anne\u2019s Chapel, Pwales Valley, at 4.30
\n p.m. on Saturday 17th November.<\/p>\n

The Annual General Meeting will be held in the evening of
\n Friday 25th January 2008. More details will be forthcoming.
\n In the meantime, ALPS members who may not yet have paid their
\n membership for 2007 can ensure eligibility to attend the AGM
\n by sending Lm5 (annual subscription) or Lm30 (once-only life
\n membership) to Treasurer David Abela at \u201cJuniper\u201d,
\n Triq Ganni Vella, Tal-Qattus, Birkirkara. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CANADA WAS A SHOT IN THE ARM It was a very happy group of ALPS members and friends that came back from a three-week visit to Canada on 18th September, but happiest of all...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5627","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5628,"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5627\/revisions\/5628"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpsmalta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}