Ah pair ah soccer boots and his picture

Full marks foh ah “Baard” Editorial in choose-day’s Mid-week edition of de Searchlight entitled: “Will a National Hall of Fame Help?” Hall of Fame reminds me of de late Hon. Randolph Russell. He was no Acade-mayah or verbose-sayah, just ah man of act-shun wid great vision and wisdom who, quietly and widout fan-fair or publicity, used his own resources, and established ah mini-version of ah Hall of Fame, next to his Cinema within the Russell’s Shopping Mall, in Stoney Ground. Ah commendable exercise and as Ole people say: “standing close to every great man is ah woman.” Accompanying Mr Russell every step ah de way on dat project, is/was his dear wife June, SVG’s former Girl Guide Commissioner for many years, now retired.

But Searchlight Editor’s appeal foh ah Nah-shun-all Museum would have been triggered by de passing of Rudy Boucher. Undoubtedly one of dis Nay-shun’s greatest Sporting Icon, (SVG has its full Quota of Icons) Rudy however was ah Footballer, captain of de Nay-shun’s team and later our most successful Nah-shun-all Coach on record. Is ah lot ah names floating around foh Nah-shun-all Hero, none of whose contribution matches any-way close to Rudy Boucher’s selfless commitment to Soccer in SVG and de USA. He did it all foh Free. As compensation while he represented de Nay-shun, Rudy’s highest paid job was not ah Coach but as ah Postman/Office Attendant distributing mails at de front desk. Dat’s how it was. So yes to de Hall of Fame, wid a lickle glass box containing ah pair of Rudy’s Football boots and his picture.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS WID US

Years before U.S Vice President Al Gore, den dubbed ah “Prophet of Doom,” de “modern-day Noah” was preaching de message of “Climate Change” and its inevitable devastating effects on “mother earth” and mankind’s survival, our very own, de late Calvin Nichols, ah former Chief Forestry Officer in charge of Crown Lands at de Agriculture Dept. in SVG, was preaching ah similar message using different language. De long and short of our problem back den, was dat we had been indiscriminately cutting valuable trees to burn coals and to plant both legal and illegal crops in areas that were specially reserved as Forests. Forest trees help to control flooding and also prevent erosion. Another problem we faced over de years was insufficient or inadequate funding foh staff to patrol, protect and reforest de hills. So when rain falls in de mountains especially under de Soufriere, expect nothing but flooding, landslides, damage to roads, bridges and properties. Dis problem has been around foh years but de recent Volcanic eruption everything turned upside down in de Re Zone.

WILL ULP SUPPORTERS VOTE BO-ROB-US

Lie-Za firmly believes dat de spirits of our Carib and Garifuna Ancestors are raging mad wid de Big Man, and may have kicked over ah couple troughs wid water in Heaven dat causing all de flooding. How de Big Man went up de Red Zone area and chastise supporters, saying dat two parties were formed on de first Holy Thursday night: “De Ole Criminal Bo-Rob-us Party” whom de majority asked foh. Den he offensively laid charges dat some ah de folks above de Dry River who benefitted greatly, saying give dem Bo-Rob-Us. Continuing he said dat de same Holy day de Jesus Party was also mobilized, and he warned dat dey better mek sure Jesus Party is mobilized.

Lie-Za not easy, she say de Big Man losing it, he said de majority asked Pie-Lot foh “De Ole Criminal Bo-Rob-Us.” Now he’s in trouble, if he wants de majority vote he will have to Calm-Pain foh De Criminal Bo-Rob-Us. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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