NY President's address at 26th Annual Reunion & Awards Banquet
By Robert Kelly
NY KCOBA President Robert Kelly
I am privileged to welcome all of you to the Kingston College Old Boy’s Association's 26th Annual Reunion and Awards Dinner, a tradition that began in 1982 when we hosted our second headmaster, Mr. Douglas Forrest.
We do not take this gathering lightly because in many ways it represents the culmination of a year’s work of all our associations and a celebration of the Fortis family. Although our leadership may change both within the institution and on the part of the Old Boy’s Associations, our Fortis spirit has remained.
At a time of both economic uncertainty and turmoil, there must be a heightened sense of urgency if Kingston College is to claim its rightful place as the preeminent secondary institution in Jamaica. Our need for committed support both financially and actively is as critical as it has ever been on the campus continues. To date the devastation resulting from the Hardie House fire of the 1970’s has not been addressed, nor has the library been built that the Vicar Bishop of New York City, Don Taylor, our third headmaster called for in 1972.
The school remains over-crowded, the science labs ill-equipped, the computer labs are sub-par, and our athletic facilities nonexistent. However, our performances continue to confound our critics, exceeding all expectations. This does not occur by accident. It is driven by a dedicated staff and a group of boys who have embraced the Fortis tradition for excellence.
It is important to know that there remains one constant in this equation, the much maligned KC old boy, whether he is in Atlanta, South Florida, Montreal, Jamaica, Toronto, New York, or our newly emerging Tampa Chapter. It is the KC old boys who train the rugby teams in obscurity, it is the KC old boys who transport the boys to sand training early Saturday and Sunday mornings, that paid off in our 31st. victory at the Intercollegiate Boys and Girls Track and Field Championships (Champs). It is the KC old boys who spend exhaustive hours preparing the boys for School Challenge that paid off in their dominating triumph a month ago.
Ambassador Johnson makes a presentation to Bishop Taylor
It is the KC old boys whose generosity has allowed us to provide scholarships to boys at KC and in universities in Jamaica and abroad and provide more than $ 800,000 Jamaican dollars annually to this most important cause. It is the KC old boys, who have launched a similar fund to assist teachers in earning their second degrees, highlighted recently in the Gleaner, where $ 300,000 Jamaican dollars was pledged. It is the KC old boys’ who offer awards for excellence at prize-giving, who fund a nutrition program, who provide teacher’s incentive awards, who renovated the bathrooms on the Melbourne campus, who contributed the construction of a Social Services building, who made the restoration of St. Augustine Chapel possible, who provide equipment and uniforms for our many sports teams.
Finally it is KC old boys who will purchase the new school buses, who will build the second and third floors of the Douglas Forrest Building and who will replace the outdated canteen at North Street. Tonight we continue the tradition of honoring exemplary old boys: Keith Daley, Winston Harvey, Errol Lecky and Maurice Lewis. All four gentlemen have left their mark on the College, its alumni and Jamaica.
NY Director Alton Brown and Natasha DePaul at the banquet
Fortunately for KC, they are really not unique, Montreal has Musey Gray, Toronto has Ruddy Hart, Florida has Audley Hewett, New York has Calvin Hibbert and Norman Scott. As for Jamaica, we are blessed with a dedicated group of old boys who have allowed a sometime chaotic environment at KC, to operate seamlessly. These are but a few of the examples of the gentlemen Bishop Gibson envisioned that KC would produce.
Tonight we further recognize Bishop E. Don Taylor, who in lieu of West Palm Beach, has chosen to retire to Kingston Parish Church. Some say that his work has only now begun. Of course, our Bishop’s departure means that there will no-longer be invitations to attend services at that great Cathedral on Amsterdam Avenue.
The time is now gentlemen, our course is clear, our cause is just, and our future will be transcendent, as long as those who love Fortis continue to meet the call. I wish you all good health and good fortune until we meet again.
