Minutes of 20 June 2009 get-together in Niagara Falls

Aziz Shalaby opened the meeting by thanking the attendees from England, Germany, Australia, Canada and the US. The committee, John Dahdaly, Rafik El-Far, Nick Neaimi, for the get-together, did a great job by choosing a wonderful place. We all thank you and the Dahdalys for the “Asrony”,   more like a dinner,  of cold meats, “mchallelat”, Kibbe Nayeh, drinks and music. 
Aziz relayed greetings from all who wished to be with us or sent us their greetings: Emil Aude, Nimer and Lamia Haddad, Hartmut Brenner, Klaus Maurer, George Haddad, Yeghia Yeghiaian, Joe Habr, John Naim, Ghassan Shehadeh  and Rasheed Fakhr. We missed you all and wished you were with us.  Our thoughts and prayers went to the friends who could not make it due to ill health. We remembered John Dahdaly’s mother with our prayers.  She passed away this year.  

Basil Rischmaui read the Schneller Hymn. We all sang it with pride and enthusiasm.
Housekeeping and old business items:
1.       The 2010 get-together will be held in Germany prior to November 7th, it is the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Schneller’s founding in Palestine. Basil and Eva Rischmaui were kind enough to accept the responsibility of arranging the meeting for all the alumni from Germany, US, Canada and Australia.  As soon as the dates are firm, Aziz will circulate the information. We are all looking forward to the celebrations.
2.       Volunteering: An application from US for volunteers was sent to Rev. Haddad. Other possibilities have been proposed by Nimer Haddad to the EMS in Germany. More applicants are still in the exploration stage.
3.       The school has a new website www.schneller-school.org  
4.       Please visit www.ems-online.org  and download the Schneller Magazin either in German or English. New Business:
5.       Ramzi Otaki led a discussion about sponsoring 3-4 students from Schneller on an annual basis by contributing $1,500.00 per student. Please let Ramzi know the amount you can commit to annually.  The commitment needs to be treated like a promise to a child, which cannot be broken.
6.        The establishment of a non-profit organization in Canada was revisited. Kameel Rahal will look into the ICF, and Ramzi will check with a local Lutheran church to see if we can channel donations from Canada to Schneller through them.
7.       Basil Rischmaui presented the Schneller Mosaic project. The project was well received. We decided to commit to and support the project. Basil will supply us with the bank account numbers in Canada and the US. Visit www.schneller-mosaik.de
8.       John Hamzo , keynote speaker,  discussed in great detail all the aspects of estate planning. John was peppered with questions about insurance, wills, and succession plans. He explained step by step all the issues in three life’s stages: Survival Stage, Growth Stage and Maturity Stage. Some of the points that John brought to our attention in business: Key person protection, buy-sell agreement, critical illness and management transition. In personal matters he explained power of attorney, trusts, and philanthropy, to name a few.
9.       Ramsay Bisharah, guest speaker who came from London and talked to us about the only book in English about Johann Ludwig Schneller. Dr. Bisharah translated Elias Nasrallah Haddad’s  Arabic book into English. He told us how he came across the book. He told us about his admiration for Schneller and his message, while he was growing up in Jerusalem. Dr. Bisharah is very accomplished. He comes from two great families: Palestinian and Lebanese. The paternal Palestinian side is steeped in Government and writing, the maternal Lebanese side,  Kurban, is steeped in Lutheran evangelical religion. The group enjoyed Ramsay and his wife Renee and listened to his wonderful stories of lifetime experiences in government, business, education, and now research. We thank him wholeheartedly and  wish him every  success and we love to say he is an honorary Schnellerite.
10.   Nick Neaimi recited a poem, ‘ Jazal’. Nicola, as we called him at school, is a master in describing the minutest detail of our existence in Schneller. He took us back to the bittersweet Schneller days. He reminded us of words that we only used at the school: Kiste, ‘Harfeh, Kunderat, and Shathah.  The Shathah was meant to be a leisurely walk on a Sunday afternoon just for sight- seeing and recreation. You came on the Shatha, marching like a foot soldier, and never looking either left or right. The poem ends sweetly with: there is no success and ambition without sacrifice and hard work.  Thank you Schneller, we definitely learnt that..
11.   Open Discussion: Everyone in attendance had a chance to air hers/his thoughts about any subject. The dominant subject was the education at the school and the composition of the student body. There was a conclusion that the education and the student body composition is changing with the environment in Lebanon. Currently it reflects the confessional composition of the Lebanese society.  The mission of the school emanates from years of experience therefore it deserves our focus and support.
12.   Contributions made by:  
                       For Science Lab
                         Cash
                         John Hamzo             US$250.00
                         Charles Estfan                 500.00
                         Pledges to LBMS  
                         Aziz Shalaby                  1,000.00  
                         Total                         1,750.00
13.   Get-together concluded.                                                       

See you in Germany


Aziz B Shalaby 61, Tel.: 360.260.3070,
16205 SE Evergreen Hwy,
Vancouver, WA, USA.
e-mail:  ashalaby@comcast.net