Fifty years later, the Grace Five give thanks
Five teen-aged North Shore, Pembroke boys became the envy of their peers a half-century ago when they were chosen by Grace Methodist Church to spend their summer vacation at the church affiliated Atlantc Christian Training Centre (ACTC) in Nova Scotia.On July 1, 1962 Hilgrove Trott, Keith Smith, Clayton Busby, Munro Smith and Wendell Trott embarked on their first trip outside of Bermuda. On Sunday of this month, exactly 50 years later, the five gathered around the altar of Grace Methodist Church, with humility and grateful hearts giving thanks for the way the church had impacted their lives.In Nova Scotia the Bermudians joined other racial and cultural groups known as Caravaners in study, worship, games and such character-building activities as caring, integrity, responsibility and restraint.Returning home with increased religious faith and dedication to Grace Methodist, they embarked on their seperate careers. Keith Smith, a happily married man with two sons, entered gGvernment service. He retired recently as the Senior Youth Development Officer in the Department of Youth and Sports.Wendell (Joe) Trott became, among other things, a star soccer player for the North Village Community Club, and a member of the national soccer team. Hilgrove (Peter) Trott is a retired Telephone Company draughtsman. Munro Smith is a qualified auto mechanic. And Clayton Busby is back home after working as an accountant many years in the US.Pastor of Grace Methodist, the Rev Ms Dameris Lowe, welcoming the five to participate in Sunday’s service, cited them as living proof and good examples of the yield from well-planted church seeds.Keith Smith, invoking the congregatonal prayer, thanked God for enabling them “to celebrate this momentous milestone with fellowship and renewed friendship, and honouring and remembering those youth leaders in 1962, Mrs Helen Burchall and Mr Francis Fox who have reurned to Your eternal care.” They were both former ACTC students.Mr. Smith recalled after the service that it was Mrs Burchall who accompanied the teenagers on the flight from Bermuda by way of New York and Montreal for an overnight stay, and another flight to Moncton, New Brunswick and a 100-mile car drive to their camp in Tatamagouche in Nova Scotia. He said the trip was unforgettable, and ‘an eye opener.’