It was ah State Fair

Congrats to Invest SVG foh coming strong wid “Everything Vincy Plus Expo”, de theme foh dis year’s Nah-shun-all In-de-pen dance Exhibition. Dis country has been blessed wid some great Nah-shun-all Exhibitions in de past. Ah might just stir up trouble and say dat still fresh in my ole head, way back in 1968, some fifty (50) years ago, we had ah Nah-shun-all Agricultural Exhibition with de theme “Dig ah Better Life.” It was huge, wid booths from overseas T’n’T, Guyana et al; it was like two and three stalls in every classroom at Prep School and Tommy Saunders Sec. De entire Richmond Hill Playing Field was packed wid stalls; animals were exhibited in de area now occupied by Nah-shun-all Lotto Tennis Court. It was de brain child of ah young Minister of Agriculture named James Mitchell and his untiring deputy CAO, Con De Freitas.

Dat was way back when. Dis year, however, de organizers did ah fantastic job transforming Geest Shed into ah State Fair Environment as we celebrated “All things Vincy!” De ambience, de climate, de mood was Festive, ah overs dat Joche Movements worked wid decorations etc. Great exhibits, par excellence; numerous items, products made from unbelievable materials: Grass, stone, rocks, shells, sand, beads, fruits, nuts, herbs, disposable plastics, Ah lickle booth caught my attend-shun “Tide, sand and hand” items made from stones, sand and shells. Dey was de unstoppable sister, Jazzy Dean wid all de herbal oils and creams, she got to be getting vibes foh her invent-shuns from her east-Indian ancestors. So too is my cousin on de Bailey side, Ken Greaves and wife Phillipa of SVG Distillers, de Best Rum makers. Ken got to be ah descendant of de Bailey’s Irish Cream Family; dey winning ah lot ah intern-nah-shun-all Rum Awards. Just when ah was feeling thirsty, ah bumped into Tusty Water stall, dat is water, dat is watered down wid extracts of herbs and fruits: maringa, lemon etc. Quite refreshing.

But ah still dazzled wid de colour, lights, live Vincy music, an atmosphere dat reminds me of de good ole family-friendly shopping at Christmas. Maybe we had an early Christmas in October.
On ah sour note, ah would like to hear why dey was no booth wid Arrowroot products and Bi-products like punch and even porridge to sample. Way de Madungo bakes and dough boy?. Notwithstanding, dey was de Madungo Festival on Sat-dey.

Also why was dey no booth displaying de Money-cidinal Herb, sister Marie Warner, who is today de most highly discussed person in SVG and currently debated in Par-liar-mint. Lie-Za who does not know her, went to de Fair just to sample some of her products e.g. Maria-Warner Tea, Jam, Biscuits, cigarettes. After all Miss Marie is suppose to be our next biggest money earner since de slave trade, dat’s why de Conquistadors are back to harvest and produce Money-cidinal oils. My heart cries foh we Rasta Brethren, still languishing in Jail.

PASTOR CHRISTEN HE PICK-ME LAST.

Dey was so many excellent products, too much foh me to men-shun. Right now ah should ah bin like de Pastor who suppose to christen he pic-me first and men-shun dat Searchlight was on show, actually de only media house print and electronic taking part. Lie-Za come-plain to me saying ah never told her dat Searchlight offering an App on yuh Cell Phone dat is both print and audio, yes de paper is read to yuh as yuh drive in yuh vehicle.

FROM WHENCE WE UWI CAME

After listening to Doctor Adrian Fraser at last Chose-dey Night’s Sir Dwight Venner In-de-pen-dance Memorial Lecture, hosted by de UWI Open Campus, ah have been instructed by De Love Vine Inc. to confir de title of “de Living Human Historiclopoedia” to de good doctor. Dis year UWI is celebrating its 70th year of existence, and what an exciting journey it was, ah Marathon two-hour lecture, as Doc Fraser in taking us thru de times of struggles and victories, would have removed any doubts about de credibility and soundness of our beloved UWI. And if I were thinking of an Institution to send my children, and funs were available, it would be UWI 1st, UWI 2nd and UWI 3rd. So thank yuh Doctor Fraser foh de Cream of yuh series “From Whence we UWI Came.” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.