new church life: september/october 2016
This Charter Day many reunion classes and others will come back together
with one common bond that never fails to connect them: their shared Academy
experience and the lifelong friendships established here – still connected not
only through the Academy but the Church.
It is the same each year. Every class’s experiences are unique, but share
common touch points. Below is a poem I wrote for a video made to celebrate
our reunion which is offered here only because so much of what we remember
resonates throughout the Academy experience.
Across the vale of 60 years
The echoes beckon and everyone hears.
Images surface from times gone by
That may be past but will never die.
In Stuart and Glenn Halls memories dwell
With the tolling of the Bean Hall bell.
Be still and listen and hear the calls
Of haunting voices filling the halls –
Stan, Sig and The Rick still connecting with you;
Lyris, Morna, Miss Wilde and Dordo too.
Close your eyes and perhaps your memory goes
To those old chapel seats pinching your toes,
KOBs breaching the third-floor wall,
Roller skating in the Assembly Hall.
Campus cleanup, coal pile, a scholarship crew,
Gilbert & Sullivan, dance cards, the JD too;
All a part of us still that never wanes –
Those precious ANC “remains.”
Here friendships were forged, some marriages made,
Dreams were dreamed and plans were laid.
Our lives are blessed because they are based
On values instilled and faith embraced.
Our yearbook portrayed “The Lion’s Roar”
Now it’s more of a contented purr,
With gratitude and a humble prayer
For the blessings we all share.
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