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Tears and tributes for Father Ray, who devoted his life to needy children
Narisa
Nitikarn and
Suchada Tupchai
A tribute to Father Ray Brennan, the Catholic priest
who devoted his life to working for the poor, the orphaned, the disabled,
and other underprivileged people, was staged on August 15 at the Alangkarn
Theater.
Father Banchong Chaiyara, director of the Redemptorist
Center, welcomed guests and spoke movingly of Father Ray, who passed away
on August 16, 2003.
The
Father Ray exhibition served as a reminder of his work.
Father Ray, he said, was an American of Irish descent
who gave his full life to underprivileged children so they could take
their place as equals in society, and he never stopped finding ways of
making children happy until his last breath.
A show staged by over 80 children from the projects
founded by Father Ray was held in cooperation with the Alangkarn actors.
Every act featured colorful light and sound, and the event was enjoyed and
appreciated by over 1,500 spectators. All benefits will be distributed to
the foundation. The Alangkarn Theater staged this event without charge,
and other supporters included Pattaya Mail, Jesters Care for Kids,
Skๅl International Pattaya & East Thailand, Bangkok Pattaya
Hospital, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, YWCA, the Rotary Clubs in Pattaya,
Thai Hotel Association, and the Lions Clubs in Pattaya.
The nest day, August 16, the anniversary of Father
Ray’s passing, Father Ray Memorial Day was held at the Redemptorist
School, with Father Banchong presiding. This is the second year Memorial
Day has been held. Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn presented an opening
speech, and amongst those attending were Santsak Ngamphiches, advisor to
the deputy minister of interior, Chanyuth Hengtrakul, MP for Chonburi Zone
6, and Rewat Polluk-In, deputy chief of the Chonburi executive.
Activities included an exhibition, a disabled handiwork
competition, and Father Ray’s story in a song show. In the evening
prayers were said in St Nicolas Church, and candles were lit and placed
upon Father Ray’s grave.
Narin
Sirimanathon, president of the Redemptorist School alumni in Pattaya,
reports on the activity.
Father
Banchong celebrated mass in memory of Father Ray.
Father
Banchong Chaiyara and Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn presided over the
tribute to Father Ray.
Mayor
Niran gave the “Pha Pa”, which reached almost 1 million baht, to
Father Banchong.
Students
at the Redemptorist School in Pattaya participated in an electronic
handiwork competition
Sattahip
Wittayakom School students performed a beautiful dance.
Hundreds
of people place candles and flowers at Father Ray’s grave.
Father
Ray was remembered in a song and dance show.
The
Alangkarn performance was spectacular.
The
amazing wheelchair performers wowed the audience.
Father
Banchong Chaiyara, director of the Redemptorist School in Pattaya, spoke
in memory of Father Ray Brennan.
Problems with Elvis cloning
They produced too many of him!
The Jomtien Boathouse was the scene of a most unusual
gathering of clones last weekend, when Ib and Kannikar Ottesen held
another of their musical evenings, inviting any Elvis look-a-likes to come
along and take to the stage.
The stage was certainly well set, with an all-male
backing group reminiscent of JD Sumner and The Stamps Quartet (Elvis’
backing group from 1971-1977), except this time there were only three of
them. It is a long way from Memphis! Mingling in the crowd, and there
certainly was a very large core of Elvis fans, were the Boathouse
Jordanaires, complete with fuzzy hair, dressed all in white with
red-flared trousers. Streaming through the drinkers and diners were the
usual service staff from the Boathouse, dressed in black shirts with an
Elvis commemorative stamp on the front and the dates 1935-1977 on the
back. Looking at the fans, it was difficult to imagine that ‘The King’
died almost 30 years ago, though some of them were certainly there when
Elvis was in his prime.
 Of
course, the crowd was there to witness the rebirth, reincarnation, or
presentation of the Elvis clones, and they were not disappointed. With a
100 dB introduction for each one from the MC, Jomtien witnessed seven
Elvis, complete with colored scarves, some in rhinestone suits, and all in
sunglasses (though some were seen to be covering reading glasses, so the
older Elvis’s could read the scores!). In no particular order, we
listened to Art Elvis, Mark Elvis, John Elvis, Ib Elvis, Peter Elvis and
Llew Elvis, finally rounding the night off with Elvis Ballard, the
“resident” Elvis at the Jomtien Boathouse (Thursday and Friday
evenings) and at The Captain’s Corner (Wednesday evenings). There
actually was one other clone, Colin Elvis, but he was stricken with a
tummy bug and Elvis’s personal physician decreed that he should not
perform that night, but he did bring some photographs of Elvis to be won
by the other contestants.
It was another very successful promotion by the Jomtien Boathouse, and
one that should be made an annual event, at least until the real Elvis
returns!
Thai Scouts promote APR Jamboree
at EuroJam in Chelmsford, England
Staff Reporter
It is the National Scout Organization of Thailand’s
intention to invite as many Scouts from all over the world as possible to
the upcoming international scouting event in Thailand.
So, hot on the heels of the recent visit by members of
the Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Committee and leaders of overseas Scout
groups who visited Thailand to inspect the site of the 25 th
Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Jamboree, which is to be held in late December
this year at Had Yao in Sattahip, Sutham Phanthusak, international
commissioner of the National Scout Organization of Thailand (NSOT) and
Prakob Mukura, assistant international commissioner traveled to England to
attend the Euro Jam Scouts Jamboree for the purpose of promoting and
inviting as many of the European scouts as possible to come to Thailand
for this major event.
Sutham
and Prakob are flanked by Kai Driesch (left) and David Bull (right)
EuroJam was the biggest Scouting and Guiding Event in
Europe for 10 years. It was 12 action-packed days of new challenges and
new friends, from July 29 to August 10, at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, near
London in the UK.
67 countries participated in the event, including all
but one from the European Scout Region. With over 10,000 people on-site,
the event was an experience of a lifetime for Scouts and Guides from all
over Europe and beyond.
 Sutham
with Simon Carter in front of the Media Centre.
The world traveling Thai scouting duo carried with them
bags full of promotional materials such as brochures, bulletins, badges
and pins for distribution to participants at the European Jamboree, as
well as application forms for scouts young and old to attend the Thai
Jamboree.
During their sojourn of the enormous campsite at
Hylands Park, the team toured various facilities and attractions that make
for a successful jamboree. Security was tight, in the aftermath of the
bombings in London, but that was all conducted in a polite yet thorough
manner.
“This is a great effort by the Scout Association of
the United Kingdom and I must commend David Bull, the international
commissioner for putting in a tremendous effort to make this one of the
best jamborees ever,” said Sutham quite impressed.
Rotary
Club Past Presidents Sutham Phanthusak, Prakob Mukura and Pratheep
Malhotra at the International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians tent.
As camp chief of the upcoming APR Jamboree in Sattahip,
Sutham took the opportunity to study the workings of the campsite in
detail, from security measures to registration, transportation,
activities, souvenirs shops, all the way to accommodations, health related
amenities and assorted forms of entertainment.
Of great interest was the huge Internet tent, which
housed literally hundreds of Internet connected computers for scouts young
and old to communicate with their families and loved ones around the
world.
Sutham
was a big hit with Taiwanese scouts.
Another point of interest was the Media Center, which
is a vital link for any undertaking of this scale. Simon Carter, head of
public relations said, “It is imperative that we get the news of this
Jamboree out to all the main presses and media, be they national or
international. The message must be sent out to the world about our
scouting activities. That’s where it makes the most impact and creates
an understanding of what the scouting movement is all about.”
On his return to Thailand, Sutham told the Pattaya
Mail, “At the Euro Jamboree, I met many people who attended the
World Jamboree in 2003. All of them reiterated that they had many happy
memories of that visit and they were seriously considering coming again to
this year’s jamboree. If that can be taken as an indication of what is
to come, then we have achieved our goals and I consider our visit to the
EuroJam a roaring success.”
The 25th Asia-Pacific
Jamboree under the slogan, “Scouting: the Road to Peace”, will be held
from December 28, 2005 to January 3, 2006.
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Best wishes from the Eurojam to everyone at the
25 th Asia-Pacific
Regional Scout Jamboree. I have heard from the Welsh Scout
contingent how wonderful the World Jamboree in Thailand was, and I
am sure that your Jamboree will be great too. I wish you all the
best for future happy Scouting days all day.
Gill Clay
Granddaughter of Baden Powell
7/8/05 |
The
Thailand APR promotional booth was kept busy throughout the EuroJam.
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