By Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterOCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
THE 2004 St. Mary Home-coming celebration came to a grand climax on Saturday night with citizens of the parish honouring nine of their own, who have distinguished themselves in various fields both locally and internationally.
The awards banquet was held at San Souci Resort and Spa in Prospect, St. Mary, on the spacious beachfront lawn of the upscale resort property. The distinguished honourees were former Speaker of the House of Representative and Minister of Government Alva Ross; former Bank of Jamaica Governor Herbert Walker; former Mining Minister Horace Clarke; former Mayor Noel Walker; Ambas-sador Probyn Marsh; Dr. Ruddy Shoucair; businessman Alfred Haffizula, singer Beres Hammond and current president of the Senate, Syringa Marshall-Burnett.
THE ACHIEVEMENTS
The citation lauding the achievements of the honourees were read by four distinguished St. Mary women, former Member of Parliament Hyacinth Knight, Elizabeth Phillips, Carlene Murdock and Eugenia Robinson. Plaques were presented to them by Dr. Francia Chen and Coleen Pottinger.
Mr. Ross was absent due to illness and his wife Joan was presented with his award. Also absent was Beres Hammond, due to previous commitments, but his sister and brother were present to receive his award.
Chairman of the St. Mary Homecoming Committee and Custos of the parish, A.A. 'Bobby' Pottinger, in his address to the large gathering, heaped praises on the honourees, describing them as, "the cream of the crop of a generation that has given so much for the development of St. Mary and Jamaica in general."
He said that rewarding them for their efforts was part of an attempt to address the gap between the past and the present, and said work had already started in developing a museum in St. Mary at the Civic Centre in Port Maria.
BOOKLET
"Every one of our awardees here," Custos Pottinger said, "will appear in a little booklet with their photographs telling us much more about them than what we could possibly tell you in one night." This is the first step towards creating a story of the past, he added.
Replying on behalf of the awardees, Mrs. Marshall-Burnett said, "Tonight the daughters and sons of the parish thank you. Thank you for recognising us and thank you for having this splendid occasion where you honour us. We are deeply touched and we are very humbled by your graciousness."
Mrs. Marshall-Burnett described the group as only a microcosm of what St. Mary is capable of, what the parish has contributed and continues to contribute to Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world.
He thanked members of the Homecoming Committee for recognising their efforts and pledged to continue to be good ambassadors for St. Mary.
OUTSTANDING SON
Guest speaker was another outstanding son of St. Mary, Michael Chen, the general manager of Texaco Caribbean Incorporated. Mr. Chen spoke about the rapid changes taking place throughout the world, especially in the area of trade and commerce, with the introduction of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the likely impact these institutions could have on this country "if we are not fully prepared to embrace them."
Pointing to the urgency of the situation, Mr. Chen said the people of Jamaica are already paying the price for not catching up and said the time to act is now. He said the nation needs to develop a dream for the future, believe in the ability to achieve, develop a strong vision as well as an ability of purpose to move forward successfully.
"If Jamaica cannot generate economic growth, the prospects for betterment for our quality of life are remote and we will end up being the losers," Mr. Chen said.
Saturday night's award ceremony was chaired by another outstanding St. Mary son, journalist and director of operations at the RJR Communications Group, Gary Allen.
