Asia

Reunions

Asia Reunion 2021

On April 8, three Old Boys joined six Selwyn House School staffers for the school’s first-ever Asia Reunion. It was the cocktail hour in China but breakfast hour in Montreal, which made it a 7 a.m. Zoom call for staff at SHS.

James Soutar ’83 and Taylor Dixon ’02 joined from Hong Kong, while David McKinnon ’95 joined the group from his home in Singapore. Old Boys’ Board Vice-President Sean McKinnon ’98 dialed in from Toronto, while OBA President Josh Wisenthal ’99 joined from Montreal.

Staff members present were Headmaster Mike Downey, Athletic Director Mike Maurovich, and Sharon Cozens, Mary Ann Cloherty and Richard Wills from the Advancement Department.

And, of course, no Old Boys’ Reunion would be complete without Coach Pete Govan, who remembers—or figures into—all the best stories from the past half-century.

Sean McKinnon recalled being out with classmates after an Old Boys’ reunion and standing in line hoping to get into a packed club, when who should come out the door but Coach Govan. Spotting his former students, Govan takes them to the head of the line, where he says to the bouncer, “They’re with me,” and they all go back into the club. Turns out the DJ at the club that night was Old Boy Tommy Hazithomas 2001.

“You guys show up anywhere and everywhere in the world,” Mr. Govan said.

James Soutar said his fondest memory from Selwyn House was winning the city football championship at Molson Stadium against a heavily-favoured Loyola team. Before the game had even started, an over-confident Loyola had announced the location of their victory party, but a last-second touchdown swung the win over to SHS.

“The winning pass was Gavan Drummond ’82 to Tommy MacFarlane ’83,” Soutar recalls.

There is a lot of institutional memory here, especially where sports are concerned.

The evening broke up with pledges to “do this again,” proving that geography cannot break up the Old Boys’ camaraderie. “The farther you get from home, the tighter it is,” said David McKinnon. In fact, they took it even further, pledging for the three to meet soon to help map out the SHS Asian Chapter with a focus to bring even more Old Boys together.

Letter from Keith Fischer ’97

“I attended Selwyn House for 4th through 6th grade, from 1989-1992. My two brothers attended, as well. We moved to Montreal as American citizens while my father worked at Johnson & Johnson. We returned to the States afterwards, and I have not been in touch with anyone from school since then. However, Selwyn made such an impression on me at a young age, and I have carried that with me and think about it often. Ultimately, it led me to working at an independent school in New Jersey as Director of Admission and Head Football Coach. Very different school, but I like to think I bring the values that SHS taught me. I would love to be included on any email newsletter about current students or alumni.”