Past Events
Annual Dinner 2024
Annual Dinner was held on Friday, 6 September 2024 at Richmond Kirin Seafood Restaurant with a total of over 100 members and their guests participating.
Theme of the dinner was Sing A-Long Golden Melodies aiming to arrange an evening full of golden melodies in sixties and seventies which brought back the sweet memories of our teenagerhood. When guests entered the banquet hall, they felt like going to a concert. From the ceiling, they found colourful hanging swirl of musical notes and instruments. Sticking on all windows, there were album covers of popular bands and singers. The stage backdrop showed "2024" made of black ribbon of hollow cut musical notes. On each table, there was a big eye-catching musical symbol as table "number". The set up aroused the singing mood of all guests. ExCo members in their black top and blue jeans worked like concert crews mingling with guests and running games. Guests were amazed to see the bling bling and colourful musical symbols on their tops.
After registration at the reception, guests were busy in choosing their favourite band image card as their lucky draw ticket and selecting their five favourite songs from a list of thirty-six popular oldies. Their votes determined the playing sequence of the songs during dinner. Guests then were attracted by the ABC cards on the table. On the back of each card, there’s a song and guests who could sing out 2 lyrics won a pretty crystal pen. After singing, guests could test their memory on original singer for a song. While this sounded easy, some guests had to try several times to get it right and a musical symbol clip as prize. Guests of course didn’t miss the snack kiosk at the corner of the banquet hall; all found pineapple and cocktail sausage, chicken wings, chips, mixed nuts, jello and bubble water to be the best appetizers.
Guests liked the dinner souvenir; musical symbol shaped post-it notes and six colorful musical symbol paper clips. The elegant designed dinner program was popular too. All guests received a pack of throat soothing candy and a prize from lucky draw. All prizes were sponsored by generous members.
The dinner started with singing the school hymn. Then Theresa Wang, Chairlady of the Alumni, welcomed all guests especially the Archbishop J Michael Miller and Father Paul Chu to the dinner and introduced the ExCo members and phone coordinators. Throughout the dinner, popular oldies were played while many guests sang along.
Two more games, namely "match the original singer" and "musical ball" were organised during the dinner. Given the first lyric of 10 songs, guests had to match the original singer to each. Then "musical ball" was merely a game of luck. All at the winning tables received prizes which were sponsored by generous members.
After the games, 5-members band "Friends of Paulinian" performed six sweet oldies while ExCo were the backing singers. Once the introduction of each song was played, guests recognised the song and sang along. And all stood up and danced during the last song YMCA.
The dinner came to the end after drawing of 3 grand prizes sponsored by Sylvia Yung, Theresa Wang and Geraldine Lui respectively.
After Sing A-Long golden melodies all evening, all members and their guests left the banquet hall humming song and in dancing steps.
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Annual Barbeque 2024
Annual BBQ was held on Saturday, June 29, 2024 at the Peace Arch Provincial Park on the Canada/US border. It was a beautiful day in early Summer; sunny with breeze. We had a total of 51 members, family and friends joining the event.
The day started early at 9:00am when the chartered school bus picked up participants at the Burnaby pick up point, then Vancouver and finally Richmond. While most of the participants were on the bus heading to the border, event coordinators and several volunteers arrived the venue for set up; hung up banner, prepared tables and benches in the picnic area. As usual, we rented the Heritage Hall with 2 big-sheltered BBQ stoves, a kitchen, tables and chairs.
The bus arrived at the park at 10:40am. After singing school hymn and saying prayers, Exco members and volunteer servers helped distributing bottled water, plates and cutlery. Then, the participants were served with refreshing appetizers including coleslaw, potato salads and Chinese buns. Meanwhile, the volunteer chefs were working busily on grilling European wieners, Korean BBQ Style pork belly, beef tenderloin, racks of lamb, pork ribs, chicken wings, fish balls, mushrooms, corns and Japanese potatoes. All participants enjoyed the delicious food especially the racks of lamb and sweet corns as well as appreciated the hard work of all volunteering chefs and servers.
With a full stomach, most participants took a leisure walk to the Peach Arch. They enjoyed the picturesque landscape in the park and took hundreds of pictures at the Historical Landmark Monument. They spent around 45 minutes and returned to the group. Fruits and desserts were served at 2:30pm. Participants had watermelon, red and green grapes, mini cream puffs, delicious homemade cookies and chocolates. All gave thumbs up for the sweet treats after grilling food.
Highlight of the day were 2 interesting games: Total Recall and Charades. Participants involved in the games with lots of laughter and excitement. The winning teams were rewarded with healthy nuts/cashews. The BBQ was finished with a group photo capturing all smiling faces then the school bus carried happy and contented participants home.
One-third of the participants continued their chit-chat and eating at the Richmond Kirin Restaurant then brought home with a 12-hours sweet memories.
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SPCS 170th Anniversary: Project "Sing-Our-School-Hymn"
In March 2024, we responded to the invitation sent out by the Hong Kong organizing committee and took part in SPCS 170th Anniversary project "Sing-Our-School-Hymn". Twenty - one members of the Paulinian Alumni Vancouver gathered at St. John the Apostle Parish in Vancouver for two hours on Sunday, April 21, 2024, to rehearse and to sing the school hymn of St. Paul’s Convent, St. Paul’s Secondary and St. Paul’s Lam Tin as our members come from the three schools.
The group practised enthusiastically for an hour, followed by the video session in the second hour which was the highlight of the afternoon. Our photographer video taped the choir singing inside as well as outside the church, taking full advantage of the beautiful sunny afternoon in Vancouver. All our members dressed smartly in white pants, white shoes, and grey polo shirts with the crest of Alumni Vancouver.
We ended the day with dinner in Vancouver, reminiscent of our day’s gathering, singing our school hymn as the daughters of our beloved St. Paul’s School.
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Christmas Carol 2023
The Christmas Carol singing for seniors was held on Saturday, 16 December. We visited three seniors homes, namely Simon K. Y. Lee Care Home in Vancouver, Austin Harris Residence and Oak Tree House in Richmond.
We were happy and excited to be able to organize the visits to seniors homes this year as this meaningful event was suspended for three years due to Covid pandemic. As a precautionary measures, we wore masks during our stay in two seniors homes.
It was cloudy and warm which were good for moving around two cities in a chartered school bus. All 25 members put on smart uniforms; red sweat shirts, black pants/skirts and black shoes with blinking Santa hats. Looking refreshing and amiable, we arrived two pick up points on time then enjoyed the bus ride during which chatting and laughing filled up the air.
We stayed at each seniors home for about an hour. We sang seven traditional carols, two classic hits including one Cantonese and one Mandarin, and one extract from a Chinese opera. Once the familiar melodies of those oldies were heard, smiles appeared on all wrinkled faces. The seniors were excited and touched to listen to these acquainted oldies which reminisced about their past. After singing performance, we distributed the Christmas gifts including a pair of leg warmers and a 2024 calendar to each attending senior. Then, there was a lucky draw and all winnersreceived special gifts.
The seniors thanked us expressing appreciation of everything we did. It was an uplifting and rewarding experience for all of us. We felt blessed to have brought joy and care to the residents of the seniors homes.
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Annual Barbeque 2023
The Annual BBQ was held on Saturday, September 9, 2023 at Belcarra Regional Park in Port Moody. It was a beautiful sunny day of autumn weather which is excellent for outdoor gatherings. We had a total of 40 members, family and friends joining that day.
The day started early at 9:00am when the chartered school bus picked up participants at the Richmond pick up point, then in Vancouver and finally in Burnaby. We rented a big covered picnic shelter with eight picnic tables. Several volunteers arrived the venue earlier and helped ExCo in setting up banner and tables. The group taking school bus arrived at the park at 10:30am. After singing school hymn, the participants were served with refreshing appetizers including coleslaw, potato salads and Chinese buns. The chef team of 8 volunteers started the grilling at 10:45am; working hard on wieners, beef ribs, beef tenderloin, chicken wings, fish balls and mushrooms. Adding more variety to the grilled food, we served Korean BBQ style pork belly with lettuce and kimchi. The grilling finished perfectly with sweet corns and yams. The grilled food were paired with lemonade and water. All participants liked the food and appreciated the hard work of chefs. They gave two thumbs up to all volunteering chefs and servers.
With full stomach, 16 participants went for a trail walk while others strolled around the beach watching people swimming, fishing and crabbing. The hiking team returned to the park after one hour relaxing walk and chit-chatting all the way. Fruits and desserts were served at 2:00pm. Participants indulged in the sweetness of crunchy red and green grapes, juicy watermelon and mini cream puffs.
Highlight for the day was 2 interesting games: hitting balloons in the wind and group rock, paper and scissors. Participants enjoyed these simple childhood games with laughter and excitement. The winning teams were rewarded with healthy and delicious nuts/cashews. The BBQ was ended after a group photo and participants were heading home in the school bus at 3:30pm.
Twenty participants continued the day with dinner at Kirin Seafood Restaurant in Richmond; making the 11-hours gathering completed and memorable.
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Annual Dinner 2023
Annual Dinner was held on Friday, 21 April 2023 at Richmond Kirin Seafood Restaurant with a total of 98 members and their guests participating. The popular annual dinner was suspended for three years due to the Covid Pandemic. Members were happy and excited to see and join the dinner which could be resumed this year.
Theme of the dinner was An Evening in Carnival aiming to bring joy, fun and laughter to all guests whom experienced stress, anxiety and loneliness during Covid Pandemic. When guests entered the banquet hall, they already felt like they were in a carnival. Hanging from the ceiling, they found hundreds of colourful pennant flags. Sticking on all windows, there were bunches of bright colour carnival themed balloons. The stage backdrop showed "2023" in white and red stripes as well as two vertical banners "Welcome" and "Carnival". On each table, there was carnival animals honeycomb centrepiece. All these set the mood of jollity. ExCo members added more fun by turning themselves into cute clowns; their colorful wigs, red noses, big mouths and big eyes dominated guests’ attention and became the focus of phone cameras.
After registration at the reception, guests received a stamp on the back of their hands giving them the right to play games and eat at the food corner for free! Opposite to the reception, guests participated in the first activity which was to guess total number of tiny stones in eight genie bottles. Then, they met the fortune teller who predicted what would happen to them after the dinner and offered them a playing card for lucky draw. The fun continued in two games, namely "bean bag tossing" and "chips pitching". The prizes to winners were colorful bouncing balls which tempted guests to play several times in order to get more balls. Some guests found the food corner more appealing as there were typical carnival food like ice cream, potato chips, popcorn, sausages, fruit cups and pop drinks.
Every guest received a plastic hand clapper which they used to make sounds throughout the dinner. Guests liked the dinner program in the shape of a carnival tent. All guests were happy as they brought home with a carnival box with little gadgets including coil spring, mini pop push keychain fidget, kaleidoscope, etc. and a prize from lucky draw. All prizes were sponsored by generous members.
The dinner started with singing the school hymn. Then Theresa Wang, Chairlady of the Alumni, welcomed the guests to the dinner and introduced the ExCo members and phone coordinators. Throughout the dinner, strong rhythm carnival songs were played.
Two more games, namely "color the clown" and "ping pong plank" were organised during the dinner. "Color the clown" encouraged all participants at each table to cooperate and color a clown within two minutes. Then "ping pong plank" put the eyesight and stability of hand and arm of all table representatives to test. All games players and those at the winners’ tables received prizes. All prizes were sponsored by generous members.
After the games, seasoned juggler Elliot delivered a 15-minutes performance. Elliot did ball juggling and club juggling. Guests found the performance entertaining and were impressed by his balancing, catching and tossing skills.
The dinner came to the end after drawing of 3 grand prizes sponsored by Sylvia Yung, Theresa Wang and Geraldine Lui, respectively.
All members and their guests had a relaxed and enjoyable evening in the carnival and promised to "see you next year" on their way to leave the banquet hall.
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Christmas Lunch 2022
To celebrate the festive season, the Alumni arranged Christmas lunch on Friday, 2 December at the Quilchena Golf and Country Club.
There was snow during that week and it was cold and dry in the morning. Despite the weather, we had over 50 members and their guests joining the lunch. The lunch started with Daisy Chan leading the group to sing school hymn, Theresa Wang, our Chairlady, giving an opening address and Lucy Chan saying a prayer.
All of us had a delicious buffet with a good variety of food to choose from, including 2 salads, roast beef, wild salmon filet, mixed vegetables, fried rice, cakes, tarts, fresh fruit plus coffee and tea. Both the roast beef and salmon were so popular that the serving team were busy in refilling.
All participants had a nice surprise while enjoying their desserts. They were requested to open the pretty Christmas box in front of them looking for their gift tickets being placed under the Lindt chocolates. Some got wine, some got poinsettia and half of the guests received hand knitted Christmas tree decorations.
Everyone enjoyed the pleasant and warm environment as well as tasty food. They were happy to walk around the private function room and chit chat with friends. And they were more excited to have a group photos at the end to record a sweet memory of the gathering.
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Annual Barbeque 2022
Saturday June 25 was such a beautiful Summer day that is perfect for the Alumni Vancouver to have organised our first outdoor event since 2019.
The destination was Rocky Point Park in Port Moody where we rented a covered shelter in the picnic area. We had a total of 44 participants; majority took the convenient ride on a leased school bus while some drove directly to the Park themselves. All enjoyed the smooth bus ride and chatted along the way. As we have not got together for over two years, everyone was excited and took the chance for a catch-up.
The group arrived at the Park at 10:15am as scheduled. After settling down, we started with refreshing appetizers including coleslaw, potato salads and Chinese buns. Meanwhile, the chef team set up four barbecue stations and started serving wieners, steaks, beef ribs, chicken wings and fish balls. This year, we had the first time serving Korean BBQ style pork belly to eat with lettuce and kimchi. Then, we had two sweet delicacies, corns and yam, from grilling stations. All participants felt contented with the varieties of food as well as warm with the excellent service. They gave two thumbs up to all voluntary chefs and servers.
With a full stomach, most of the participants went for an 1-hour walk on Shoreline Trail. While it’s a relaxed walk, it’s a good exercise after a sumptuous meal. All had a wonderful time; walking and chatting along the scenic trail.
Then, all participants were energized with irresistible desserts including crunchy red and green grapes, juicy watermelon, yummy home-made puddings and mini cream puffs. The home-made puddings sponsored by a member added highlight to the day.
After the sweet treats, we had two games, Ring Toss game and Catching the Ball. All participants were excited and had lots of fun. A group photo taken at 3:30pm ended the outdoor event perfectly.
Seventeen participants continued the eating and chatting during dinner after BBQ at a seafood restaurant in Richmond. All had a happy and enjoyable day and were asking when we would meet again!
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Christmas Lunch 2021
Christmas Lunch was the first event the Alumni organized since the pandemic started in March 2020. With the Government’s lifting of certain restrictions, the ExCo aimed for a small gathering to celebrate Christmas.
As soon as we sent out the announcement email on the Lunch, we received overwhelming responses and number of registrants exceeded our targeted 40 participants by 50%.
The Christmas Lunch was held at 12:30pm on Friday, 17 December 2021 in Richmond Kirin Seafood Restaurant. Despite the threat of new variant Omicron, we had 6 tables with 55 participants. The high show up rate gave encouraging support to the ExCo.
All participants were happy to receive a box of homemade Christmas cookies to start the Lunch. While participants could not go around tables to greet all known friends, they enjoyed chit-chatting with those at the same table. There were too much to catch up and share as most of the participants have not met for over 20 months. The Lunch was a 8-course menu including dim sum, beef, vegetables, fried rice, soup noodles and dessert. During dessert time, all participants were surprised by having a lucky draw! The winner of each table received a bottle of red wine which was sponsored by the ExCo.
The Lunch ended at around 2:20pm with cheering and laughter. Participants brought home with festive joy in addition to a full stomach.
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