1970s
Former Rotary Exchange student
Petra Krekola Vidgren ('77) wrote
from her native Finland, where she
has been married to husband Mika
for 33 years. The couple has four
children: Laura, the eldest, is 31; two
younger daughters live in London
studying economics and fashion
management; and son Simo, 30,
"follows the footsteps of his parents in
the school of pharmacy" and is married
with a three-year-old daughter, Venla.
"We all can be seen in Bermuda on a
regular basis two to three times a
year," says Petra, a Senior Year
student back when the one-year
programme was jointly coordinated
by Saltus and BHS. "Not only is
Bermuda my second home, but also
our daughter Anni had her Rotary
Exchange year with the same family
and in the same school (BHS) as I
did!" Petra has a PhD in Pharmacy;
since 2002, she has owned and
operated three pharmacies in Kuopio,
Finland, employing 25 people. "I love
my work, and also work hard at the
national level to improve professional
services we offer to our clients." She
and her husband took up golf five
years ago and the game now "takes
all our time and money (and nerves),"
she jokes. "All holidays are spent on
golf courses, mainly in France and
Spain. Of course you can play night
and day in Finland in the summertime,
with 24 hours of sun. We are healthy
and happy and wish you are too."
Ray Charlton ('75), who ran as the
One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) candi-
date for Sandys North in last year's
general election, has been named
chairman of WedCo.
Richard Weinacht ('77) is a digital
imaging/metadata specialist currently
working at the National Museum of
Ireland. He is a member of the Irish
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Paul Maddern
('79), pictured centre with English teacher
Phillip Wakefield
,
left, and English/Drama teacher
Padraig O'Reilly
, returned to Bermuda to
receive the Cecile N. Musson Prize for Poetry in the Bermuda Literary
Awards 2013. Paul's 2010 collection, The Beachcomber's Report, won
the biennial award, presented by the Department of Community & Cultural
Affairs. In Ireland, where Paul was a creative writing tutor at Queen's
University, Belfast, the collection was shortlisted for the Eithne and Rupert
Strong Award that recognises first collections published in English or
Irish by Irish poets. Paul has also received grants from the Arts Council of
Northern Ireland. He is currently a teaching fellow in creative writing at
the University of Leeds, UK.
While on the Island, Paul spoke to SGY students about poetry, read his
own and others' works, and presented copies of his book to the Secondary
Library and to English teacher Phillip Wakefield. Among poems he read
aloud was his "Bodysurf for Erin"--inspired by the daughter of alums
Jane Maddocks Vickers
('80) and
Ken Vickers
('79) and selected among
204 poems from countries competing in the 2012 London Olympics by
BBC Scotland and the Scottish Poetry Library Archive.
Born and raised in Bermuda of English and Irish heritage, Paul lived in
Canada, the US and England before moving to Northern Ireland in 2000.
His Saltus connection began at birth--his father,
Carey Maddern
, was a
teacher in the Saltus Junior School at the time and the family lived in an
apartment on campus nicknamed "The Bus" (due to its long, narrow
shape). His father later became Head of the Junior School and designed
a version of the Saltus tie, as well as the original wrought-iron gates at the
St. John's Road entrance.
"It's always lovely to be back," says Paul. "It's rewarding to have an
opportunity to read the Bermuda poems in their homeland, and particularly
to students at the School. In our journalistic age, in which the idea of
`culture' is something instant and disposable, it's often a hard job
convincing students--and the wider public--of poetry's worth, that it's
worth the bother. But as the late Irish poet/critic Dennis O'Driscoll
suggests, poetry (and all art) offers something more permanent."
Continues on page 38