Mas to honour fallen soldiers

Come 2009, competitors in the King and Individual of the Band categories will be competing for titles named after local mas legends.

At Wednesday’s Carnival Development Corporation press conference, Chairman of the Mas Bands Association Hugh Raguette indicated that these two categories would be named in honour of men who have contributed to those divisions over the years and have since passed on.{{more}}

The King of the Bands competition will be renamed the “Roy Ralph King of the Bands Competition” and the Individual of the Band will be named in the memory of Vibert deShong.

Roy ‘Dragon’ Ralph passed away last Monday June 16th at his home, while deShong died July 27th last year.

Apart from making significant contributions to mas and other components of Carnival, both men were multiple winners in the divisions being named after them.

Ragguette indicated that the decision was made so as to ensure that the contribution made by deShong and Ralph be remembered for generations to come.