What serendipitous good fortune, our plans for passage through the Trent Severn placed us in Orillia two days before the AOFB reunion on Strawberry Island.

"Of course we will come," I told Bud Pare' my old classmate, "We will arrive by boat and anchor out."

"By Boat?" he sounded incredulous.

"Yes we are coming by boat and will sleep there... No need to put us up on the Island."
 

Strawberry Island is a summer place owned by the Congregation of St. Basil.  Before the congregation acquired it in 1922, it had been a summer excursion destination with a hotel and cottages for rent. It was also reported to have been out of the reach of those law enforcement persons that would stop the gambling and other illicit activities being tolerated there. The hotel still stands. ===>> I went there when I was in the Basilian congregation 1952 - 57. I left the community after completing my BA at University of Toronto. The Association of Former Basilians (AOFB) is a group of fifty or so members who left and pursued other careers. Most are former priests but there are a handful, like myself, who never got to ordination.  All were my contemporaries (+/- 5 years). By my rough count there were 44 at the reunion. There were six priests still active in the order, Twelve former Basilians who came alone, and thirteen who came with their wives.

We came in the afternoon after most had arrived. There is a pier out from the shore but not enough deep water for Remedy.  I dropped anchor despite protests from the shore. It was too far for conversation, so I lowered the dinghy and went in to the shore to discuss accommodations.  "You will be much more comfortable in the lee of the island," insisted Neil Smith, "there is a cove over there where you can anchor." I had studied the charts, and there is a 2 foot shoal extending almost to the mainland. "Will you please come with me and show the way?" I asked. "Be happy too," he said, and he climbed into the dinghy to be my guide. We took a wide sweep out into the lake watching the depth all the way. We entered the cove. About fifty yards from shore he told me this would be a good spot. With the north wind, it was quite calm.

When we finally were settled, we went ashore to meet everyone. I did not know what to expect.  I remembered a few names from 43 years ago. I thought maybe I would know three.

I was overwhelmed. There were at least a dozen I remembered well, and all had stories they would tell on me.  Marion had been apprehensive, but she immediately started making friends with the wives who were there.  Most of the time was spent getting to know each other once again.

The congregation is mainly a teaching order; many in the group were still teaching or in academic related positions. Several others were in people helping organizations. Having been in a member of the Cold War Military Industrial Complex and Space Biz,  I was a bit of an anomaly.
 

No one discussed why they left, and that was a great relief.  All were happy in their lives, positive and forward looking.  We had a light hearted business meeting followed by a deep and insightful presentation by Gregory Baum. He is an author and lecturer at McGill University.  His topic was about the changes going on in the church. The recent admissions of guilt by the pope for sins committed by the church against the Jewish people was used to point out some positive response to social problems. I did not sleep through that lecture; I was in total imersion.

That evening the wind piped up and moved around to the south. The peaceful cove became a bouncy overnight ride.  The anchor held, and next morning we got a little wet in the dinghy on our way to breakfast.
 

We spent the last few hours together swapping contact information and promising to stay in touch. There was also a Photo Op for the whole group on the front steps of the hotel. My camera took this little picture.  ===>> Click for a larger size.

Count us in for the next meeting in 2002. We had a great time.