DE LOVE VINE AH-WARD

Ah-Ward and Ah-nah is not really my thing, nevertheless ah does be happy foh those who get New Years Ah-ward and Queen’s Birthday Ah-nah. The choices this year turn out to be quite deserving. My Art Teacher Lady Dacon was “Lady” long time ago. Basil Charles organizer of the Blues Festival, de Lickle Black Boy who today owns ah world ranking Bar where he began as ah waiter. Basil never got ah secondary education, but he raises funds to ensure higher education for as many kids as possible. {{more}}

Much the same could be said of Gurney Gibson. Ah-prentice boy in his ole man’s workshop, today he is the biggest contractor in the land with two hardware stores. When humility was sharing Mr. Cain the Principal at the Community College, with all his Degrees in Education took all what was on the table. Ah mek no apology to today’s nurses, but we could never repay them ole nurses of yesteryear like Sisters Sprott, White, Alexander, John to name ah few. Sis Cozier was one ah them too. Last and by all means least in age, Laura Browne, excellent Public Servant, my kind ah girl. Lie-Za say she is the only one that does tell de Come-red like it is, ah would ah give she de Knighthood foh dat! Congrats all!

Well those are de Come-red’s choice sorry, de Queen’s choice. How ‘bout my six Love Vine Ah-wards foh 2004?

HIS LORDSHIP DE JUDGE

Andrew Cummings said it all foh Justice Adrian Saunders, my God Brother. Ah could only endorse those sentiments and add that the stuff that this erudite Judge was made from ran out years ago, that’s why he is so special. Good works come in all shape and fashion, some people do it with the hands, ah lot ah waving and clapping. Some with dey mouth, ah lot ah M.T boast and chatter, but Adrian does it with silence from ah pure Heart, no clapping, no mouthing.

He abandoned the ride to riches and pull-it-tek-all office in exchange foh an opportunity to introduce Conscience into Justice. His landmark decisions to date clearly indicate that our good Judge is on ah mission to Right de Wrongs in the Justice Arena. Adrian Boy ah Love Vine Ah-ward is all ah have, but yuh will know that de Love Vine is ah thing that does spread all over!

YOUTH IN SPORTS

Ah lot ah names on my list foh ah Sports Ah-Ward. Most ah them have been Ah-war-did before and moving on. But there is ah youngster that is holding his own in Squash that needs to have the Searchlight beamed on him, Diarra Venner the Local and Caribbean Under 13 Champion. This is what the Grandfather of Squash Mr. Cyrus had to say of Diarra : “He’s ah natural, definitely one of the most promising youngsters!” So young Venner gets ah Love Vine Ah-ward!

GOOD JOURNAL-IS-HIM

Anyone who reads the Vincentian newspapers regularly, will readily observe that there is ah great Journalist in the making by the name of Kenton Chance. Kenton has ah “sniffer dog” instinct foh gathering news, writes well, manages to get the good stories and best of all he is pull-it-tek-all-he balanced. Ah Love Vine Ah-ward foh Kenton.

ENTERTAINMENT

Yes we have Cable TV with channels from one to ah hundred, there’s ah Channel foh everything: Love, War, Health, Sports, Religion, yuh name it and it’s there in any language. But when yuh see the clock strikes 7:00 p.m. they could be showing how to mek Gold out ah white sand on the other Channels, ah switching to Channel 9, SVG TV. And as the survey report says, ninety percent ah the country does be watching this local station from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. That TV station came about some thirty years ago by one Alves, ah young man from T ‘n’ T who was blessed with business I-daze. He was one ah them ” now yuh see me , now yuh don’t ” kind ah guy. First he brought ah powder foh killing cockroaches, and we nicknamed him de Cock-ah-roach Man! He disappeared and then returned with the mobile Snow Cone carts and we name him Snow Cone Man! Miss him again, he returned like madness trying to find out the depth ah the Bequia Channel, he had plans foh ah bridge. We couldn’t find ah land mark high enough on both sides from which to launch this bridge so he rigged up an antenna at Dorsetshire Hill and started SVG TV. Alves didn’t have the cash to expand the station plus, he had ah wild Jumbie, and when that Jumbie say jump, he uses to fly. That’s when ah group of serious businessmen headed by a very brave youngster then, Paul Mc Leish took over the TV station. It will tek ah whole column to list the woes and licks and criticis-him that Paul got and still getting to keep us up with Hit-z Radio and Tele-land. He survived them all and is doing ah one-day-ful public service and therefore gets ah Love Vine Ah-ward.

I-TAL IS GOOD FOOD

He has been around way back when Rasta first came to SVG, cooking I-tal in Pauls’ Lot. Right now he is at ah all time high! Ah took ah visitor at Ras I-tal’s place foh lunch and she was stumped, couldn’t mek up she mind what she wanted to eat. She commented on de presentation, de taste, de sweet smell sorry, aroma, most of all de clean environment. Ah would love to eat by Ras I-tal more often, but ah love me pork bad, and the only pork he does serve is Fish! He still gets ah well earned Love Vine Ah-ward though!

DE ONSLAUGHT

After Fidel Casto’s Revolution in 1959 and Maurice Bishop’s in Grenada, the word Revolution was like an expletive in various circles. So when de Come-red along with his Minister Mike Browne from the ole Camp Revolt announced that there will be ah Revolution in Education, man didn’t know way they coming with. This program is good and continues to excel itself, Joshaua’s Feeder Road Program in the 1960’s was the last time this country saw any such attack on ah social need…. ley me use Hugh Wyllie’s description “Onslaught on Illiteracy”. As ah parent of kids still in school, ah can exhale ah breathe of relief, knowing that my children have ah 100% chance of getting free Secondary Education and 90 % chance foh University level. And if this does not deserve ah Love Vine Ah-ward, ah might as well cut down the VINE! Maybe de Come-red needs to have ah Revolution on Health and Jobs. Lie-Za was saying that it will be nice when every body could read and write, but fears we will then need ah Revolution on Ignorance, there is no Fool like an educated Fool.

And with that is gone ah gone. Mek sure and learn to read and write…. Better!