WEEKK ENDER
WEE
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
Business, Culture & Leisure
By Montague Kobbe http://mtmkobbe.blogspot.com
It is some Ɵme aŌer the break of yet it offers the exhausted revellers
dawn, Sunday, August 29. The sun of the Rototom nights a welcome
hovers, orange and soŌ, slightly middle ground where to relax and reabove the hills that stretch to the cover from previous excesses. Most
northeast of the coastal town of conveniently, the fes val village, loBenicassim, near Valencia, Spain. cated on a large plot of land by the
The cleaning crews have been roadside just outside town, is only a
drenching the acres of concrete few hundred yards away, along the
and asphalt floors before each of main road, from the beach and the
the five music stages, and pres- square, and all the ameni es Beently they move towards the final nicassim has to offer. Thus, although
Rototom is prac cally self-sufficient,
corner of the complex.
there is a feeling during the event
y a solitary tree, a lanky that the whole town is at a party, a
man with a ragged beard sense of inclusion, of belonging, that
lays sleeping, or in a trance. adds to the good vibe prevalent at
Not far from him, a couple seeks the fes val.
shelter from the morning dew in
a warm embrace, his long dreads THE BEGINNINGS of Rototom go
covering large por ons of her bare back to the early nine es, to an oldskin. In the distance, the drubbing school disco in a small town in Italy,
of the Dub Sta on con nues to between Udine and the Austrian borpierce the air, and a small, but der, where, improbably, some of the
enthusias c crowd jumps up in most important names of the dub
the air, roughly to the tune set by and reggae scenes, from Linton Kwethe selector. It is the morning a er si Johnson to Inner Circle and Black
day nine of Rototom Sunsplash, Uhuru, found a welcoming stage
Europe’s largest reggae fes val, to perform their art. By 1994 a fulland some wild (party) animals s ll blown, three-day fes val was being
organized at the nightclub and the
haven’t had enough.
adjoining garden, but soon enough
This, the 17th edi on of the fes- the popularity of the event outgrew
val, is the first one ever to take its original loca on and the fes val
place outside Italian soil. Be- had to be moved to a remote seaside
nicassim is a typical resort town, town near Venice. Between 2000 and
plagued with a row of rela vely 2009, Rototom grew steadily, finding
high buildings along the shore- a stable venue at the footstep of the
line, behind which there is li le by Italian Alps in the recondite town of
way of infrastructure other than a Osoppo, where the fes val acquired
main road that leads to a square, its present shape as a nine-day boa church, a post office. The beach nanza, offering a wide spectrum of
is hardly a Caribbean dream, and ac vi es and combining its musical
B
focus with other forms of entertain- village is crowded with environmenment and cultural projects.
tal elements and cultural tents that
explore the roots of various African
While the musical component is its tradi ons, that examine the details
most prominent, its most high profile of Rastafarian faith and that showaspect, Rototom Sunsplash is above case various ar s c produc ons,
all an ini a ve to prac se and dis- from sculptures to pain ngs to films,
seminate a culture of tolerance and related to reggae, to the fes val itself
responsible freedom. In this sense, and to the issues it wishes to highac vism is an important element of light. However, the most surprising
the fes val, close to its core, which feature of the non-musical agenda
might not make the headlines, but addressed at Rototom is an extensive
which, to its organizers, quite obvi- programme of seminars, interviews
ously makes a difference. Thus, the and debates in what has come to be
WEEK 36
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
known as the Reggae University,
concerning a broad range of issues, spanning from ques ons
of diversity and alterna ve social
structures, to poli cal violence,
drugs, sound systems and Bob
Marley.
NEVERTHELESS, MUSIC remains
Rototom’s trademark and its
most engaging aspect. Five stages
provided a great variety of styles,
from dub to dancehall and, for
the first me, also ska. The Lion
Continued on page 8
INSIDE
By Lucinda Frye
Imagine yourself standing before
a seated group of children. Their
eyes are on you, mouths hang open
slightly. They are listening to your
every word. Even the teenagers in
the group are hanging on your every word. You are a storyteller.
Y
3
Terry DeWitt, sports enthusiast
2 Commentaries/Bestsellers
our chance to learn the magical art of storytelling from a
master in the field has come
to St. Maarten. Come, but not gone.
If you missed last week’s workshop,
don’t fret. The library is planning to
make an ongoing series of lessons
with Wijnand Stomp. A theatrical
storyteller, Stomp uses humour, infectious naughtiness and a touch of
3 Focus on 10-10-10
4 Will Johnson on the Heyligers
6 The New Vocational Training
School
7 Book Release: Church Affairs
9 St. Maarten Week in Review
10 Puzzle/Business Week
11 Church News Bits/Brenda’s Corner
11 Backyard Gardening
12 Let’s Travel to Washington D.C.
Wijnand Stomp
sagacity to hold young and old spellbound, riveted to their seats with his
folk tales and myths from afar, as well
as from the Caribbean. The workshops last week were quite involved;
meeting at the library every evening,
culminating in a performance at the
Cultural Centre. The next sessions
are due in a few months time and,
with interest, may extend throughout the next three years. Contact the
library for information.
ticular society from one generation
to the next. Of particular interest to
our culture are the stories originating from Africa. Those ancient tales
were, and still are, told and retold
under the shade of a tree or around
a village campfire, passing on the
history, philosophy, and moral laws
of the people. African culture is rich
with many stories, songs, poems,
and religious and tribal customs due
to the diversity of people living on
the vast continent. Entire complex
Storytelling is oral tradition, not cultures have been carried down
only speaking but also gestures and through the centuries by the spoken
expressions. Through the art of sto- word.
rytelling, cultural values are passed
on, but also the listeners are enter- Now-a-days stories can be told in
tained, educated, and taught moral the same way, or in a theatre, during
values. Crucial elements of stories a tour bus, or anywhere else for that
and storytelling include plot, char- matter. One of the subjects which
acters and narrative point of view. play a prominent role in many stoSome storytellers tell stories from ries is animals. Especially in Africa,
their own imagination. Other sto- animals played a prominent role in
ries have been gathered, sometimes people’s daily thoughts, conversaadapted from books and other sto- tions, and oral literature, due to the
rytellers. Folklore stories such as fact that the people lived in close
myths, epics, legends, and fables proximity to the wild animals that
continue to be favourites.
shared their land. In many of these
tales, Africans attributed human
EVER SINCE ancient times, story- feelings and desires to particular
telling has been a way of passing on animals, and even derived ethical
the traditions and beliefs of a par- ideals from their behaviour.
THE SPIDER is commonly found in
many African stories and myths. The
spider was depicted as a great hero
in many African folktales. He was
extremely cunning and was capable
of overcoming every plot. In West
Africa, where the spider is called
“Anansi,” he was portrayed as the
cleverest of animals and often appears in myths where he is the chief
official of God among men. The spider was thought to be the one who
was commanded to spin a delicate
thread that reached up to God in the
sky, so people would have a path to
heaven.
Wijnand Stomp is a modern day storyteller who, over the years, has developed a style of his own. His ability
to be clearly telling a story with many
characters is awesome to listen to,
as he is a wonderful mimic, with a
voice that is conspiratorial and mysterious. Growing up in Curaçao and
Suriname, Stomp heard the stories
that were originally passed down
from Africa and upon investigating their origins he perfected his
storytelling ability by incorporating
that well known character, the spider Anansi, into his own character.
Turning the African expression,
Continued on page 8
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
2
THE DAILY HERALD
WEEKENDER
Vote! It’s your civic duty!
The word’s out that more
than 19,000 persons are
eligible to vote in the Island
Council elections come September 17; the million dollar question is “How many
will exercise their civic responsibility and vote?”
U
nderstandably many
persons are discouraged with politics in
general, but a low voter turnout on Elections Day is always
depressing, and it’s sad really
to hear the flippant excuses
people toss about as reasons
for not going to the polls:
“Politics is dirty.” “I don’t
want to be involved.” “One
less vote won’t make a difference.” “I don’t know who
to vote for.” “All politicians
are corrupt; it doesn’t matter who wins.” “I don’t have
the time.” “I’m fed up with
politics; I don’t care.” “My
vote doesn’t count.” “I’m too
busy.” “My party won’t win,
anyway; so I don’t see the
point of voting.” “I don’t feel
sufficiently informed to cast
an intelligent vote.”
For so many contemplating
whether they should vote
and for whom, there seems
to be that recurring theme of
frustration; apathy; cynicism;
indifference; disillusionment;
hopelessness;
resignation
and even a hint of fear. But
with so little time left before
elections, we must know that
entertaining these negative
thoughts won’t help anything. The truth is that when
we decide not to vote, we are
shirking our civic responsibility and jeopardizing our future liberty.
We just may discover that
what we need more than any-
thing else is a renewed sense
of gratitude for the many who
fought and gave their lives to
secure us this priceless freedom – the democratic right
to vote! We need to feel awed
all over again that within our
hands lies the power to elect
our leaders; to choose the
candidates we want to govern Country St. Maarten. I
can’t even begin to imagine
what it would be like to live in
a society that prohibited me
from exercising my constitutional right to vote. Yet every
election, hundreds even thousands of eligible voters show
what little regard they have
for democracy by simply failing to vote.
That’s why when you vote,
you show that you understand that voting is vital for
democracy; you show yourself to be a responsible citizen
What we should do
who fears God and honours
His word; you show that you
value your freedom and want
to protect it; you show that
you care about St. Maarten’s
future and the direction it’s
heading; you show that you
are concerned about your
fellow citizens, the issues
they face and which public
officials you think most capable to lead this country;
you show that you’re not just
another apathetic, indifferent citizen who prefers to remain uninvolved; you show
that this election matters and
your vote can indeed make a
difference!
So if you are yet undecided
about which candidate to
support, pray and ask God
for wisdom and He will direct
you. But whatever you do, be
sure to vote; it’s your civic
duty!
By Kenneth Cook
By Sharon Van Arneman
To contact Sharon,
write to P.O. Box 484,
Philipsburg, St. Maarten,
Netherlands Antilles.
Email:
roseofsharon1966@
hotmail.com
Phone:
543-0229//554-9590
www.graceinternationalbaptist.com
What’s Hot
www.vimeo.comishot.Thisvideosharingsitedefinitelyhasmorehighqualityvideos
thanYoutubeandisthespotforyoungfilmmakerstoplacetheirshortfilms.My
talentedclassmatesinHollandalsopostmanyoftheirvideosthere.Somevideosby
them and others over the world to watch are:
Fiction Shorts
A story about a broken heart, called Zielveels, by Director Ivo van Aart.
Op Stoom, by Director Rianne Haak, a short about a boy who loves trains.
Music Video
Nachtshaede – Haatlied music & directed by Lou Lou Peren.
B-Boy Vs Boys Noize! by cinematographer Wouter Verberkt, filmed with a RED camera.
Stop Motion Animation
NoCorrasTantoasandanimationbyCesarDiaz,whospentthreemonthsworkingonthisanimation
without added effects or post production. He used a photo camera, light table & sand.
Documentary Short
Elfstedentocht,filmedbyLuukvanStegeren,adocumentaryaboutaDutcheventthatmanylookforward
too, but has not been able to take place in 11 years.
Isuggestyoubrowsethroughthesiteyourself.Somerealtalentedpeopleareshowcasedthere.
~ Laura
Anticipation.
We
awaited
the arrival of
Hurricane Earl
and later in the
week Tropical
Storm Fiona.
We waited and
wondered what
our fate would
be.
Having
prepared
as
best we could,
we
huddled
in our homes
Whenweobtaincountrystatus,
weneedtofocusonpreparing
ourselvesforthenextstepafter
becomingacountry.Whatwe
should do is to prepare ourselvesforindependenceforat
least10to20years.Oneofthe
firstthingsthePrimeMinister
ofCountrySt.Maartenshould
doistomakecontactwithothercountrieswiththeintention
to forge diplomatic ties.
A
lthoughtheDutchwill
beinchargeofforeign
affairs, with their supportweshouldseektodothis.
Thisisoneoftherequirements
needed to help St. Maarten
navigateproperlyininternationalrelations.Interestingly,
many Caribbean leaders in
theEnglish-speakingislands
establishedtieswithcountries
beforegainingindependence.
Oncetheyhadmadediplomatic
links,theycementedtheirnew
relationshipaftersecuringindependence.Anexampleofa
leaderwhousedthismethod
wasthefirstprimeministerof
theBahamas,LindenPindling.
AnotherareathePrimeMinister
ofSt.MaartenandtheCouncil
ofMinistersshouldfocusonis
diversifyingSt.Maarten’seconomy.BeforetheBahamasgained
independence,thegovernment
oftheBahamasdiversifiedthe
economy of the Bahamas by
encouragingoffshorebanking
andattemptingtodevelopagriculture.Anextstepthatthefirst
PrimeMinisterof St. Maarten
can take is to hire full-time researchers.Researcherscanhelp
the parliament gain insight
into, for example, what mistakestoavoidmakinginareas
suchashealthcare,education,
sports,etc.TherearethreepersonsIpersonallyknowofwho
are trained researchers.They
attendedUniversityoftheVirginIslands.Theyweretrained
byoneparticularPoliticalScienceprofessorwhoworkedasa
researcherandconsultantinthe
Virgin Islands to many politicians for a number of years.
Whyletthetalentsofsuchpersonsgotowastewiththecoming of Country St. Maarten?
As Country St. Maarten will
soonbecomeareality,weneed
toreallyprepareourselvesfor
the next logical stage. I am
sayingthisbecausewecannot
becometoocomfortablewhen
wegetcountrystatus.Wewill
notcontrolmuchforourselves.
Therefore,uponthispremisewe
shouldandmustgoafterthelast
form of decolonization.
and watched the weather
updates. Sunday being the
five-year anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina, all the
cable TV channels featured
images of wind run amok,
floods inundating homes,
and even death – it was too
real for those of us facing
the imminent threat of another tropical storm.
power outages. A hassle,
but no real heartache.
Neighbours interacted on
Monday morning as they
surveyed the damage and
cleared their broken vegetation away. Tuesday night
without power and without Until next weekend
breeze was a long and hot
~ Lisa
one, but the music of the island was heard, strong like
a heart beat: dogs barking
Thank the Lord we were in the distance, generators
fortunate to only have to humming, and the constant
deal with trees down and drone of tree frogs.
Offered by:
The WEEKender
is a publication of
THE DAILY HERALD’S
BEST SELLERS LIST
FICTION
Coordinator
Lisa Davis Burnett
[email protected]
Journalist
Laura Bijnsdorp
[email protected]
Lay-out
Chanaz Calor
Proof Reader
Sharon Van Arneman
The
WEE
WE
EKe
ende
de
de
er
1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
By Stieg Larsson.
“A hacker and a journalist investigate the disappearance of a Swedish heiress.”
2. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
By Stieg Larsson.
“A Swedish hacker becomes a murder suspect.”
3. CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
By Ben Sherwood.
“Years after a man survives a car crash that
kills his brother, their bond endures; originally published as The Death and Life of Charlie
St. Cloud.”
4. NINE DRAGONS
By Michael Connelly.
“Los Angeles Detective Harry Bosch fights
crime at home and in Hong Kong.”
5. WATER BOUND
By Christine Feehan.
“A diver rescues a drowning man who has no
memory of who he is or why he has the instincts of a trained killer.”
6. DEAD AND GONE
By Charlaine Harris.
“Sookie Stackhouse seeks the killer of a
werepanther.”
7. THE LAST SONG
By Nicholas Sparks.
“A 17-year-old spends the summer with her
father in North Carolina and finds many kinds
of love.”
8. THE PARIS VENDETTA
By Steve Berry.
“Former Justice Department Operative Cotton Malone searches for Napoleon’s lost treasure as he battles a cabal manipulating the
global economy.”
9. FANTASY IN DEATH
By J.K. Robb.
“Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the murder of a
fantasy-game entrepreneur; by Nora Roberts,
writing pseudonymously.”
10. DAYS OF GOLD
By Jude Deveraux.
“A rugged Scotsman helps an heiress reclaim
her inheritance; the second book in the Edilean series.”
All above books - NY Times Book Review
WHAT’S HOT
1. TOUGH CUSTOMER
By Sandra Brown
“When a deranged stalker attempts to murder her daughter Berry, Caroline King knows
who to contact for help: Berry’s father. It’s
been thirty years since he last saw Caroline.”
2. 61 HOURS
By Lee Child
“A bus crashes in a snowstorm and lands Jack
Reacher in a deadly confrontation. In a small
town in South Dakota, one brave woman is
standing up for justice. She will need help if
she’s going to live long enough to testify.”
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
3
Businesswoman Zahira Marchena:
Education, Labour and Crime should be priority areas
As St. Maarten makes the final lap towards its new constitutional status as Country
within the Dutch Kingdom
on October 10, Businesswoman and mother Zahira
Marchena is hoping that the
change would mean an improvement across the board
for the community.
leaflets, should have been
used more effectively. She
also thinks it’s very important that students at schools
are aware of what’s happening at the constitutional level and that information also
need to be trickled down to
them as well.
Marchena says there are
persons in St. Maarten, who
are capable of leading St.
Maarten into its new status and she is hoping that
these capable persons will
be given the opportunity to
steer St. Maarten from being an Island Territory into
Country.
Marchena says country status can be a very good thing
for St. Maarten, but it can
also be a very bad thing if
the Island Territory is not
sufficiently prepared for the
changes and the new responsibilities it will assume.
“As a born Antillean, I would
like to see the best develop- Labour
ment for the country.”
As
a
businesswoman,
Marchena is particularly
She says the process to at- hopeful that the constitutain a new status should tional changes will bring
have been pursued in stages, drastic improvements in the
with the community being labour situation, so that emfed the relevant information ployers can run their busias the process moves along. nesses more efficiently.
“Something really needs to
“I know they have been busy, be done about the labour
but their priority should be situation,” she said. “We
to inform the general pub- have to face reality. It is hard
lic on the conditions un- to get local workers to do
der which we are receiving certain jobs for you and the
rules change too often,” she
country status.”
added.
She says authorities could
have made more use of the Marchena, whose businessprint and electronic media, es include three nail salons,
for example, to get more says she encounters chalinformation across to the lenges finding local persons
public. More sessions could to work in her establishhave also been held in the ments and when she does
various communities to find non-locals, she enmake the access to informa- counters difficulties obtaintion easier. Other means of ing employment permits for
communication, such as them to work legally.
“Once I had placed an ad in
the newspaper and only one
local person responded,” she
said. “I think that they need
to be a bit more flexible for
business persons. It seems
as if there is a new rule every
day,” she notes.
Her specific concerns are
the lengthy waiting period
for businesses to obtain requested permits, what she
sees as high processing fees
and the constantly changing
rules.
“I strongly believe that our
local persons have the first
priority for employment,
but if we can’t find them to
work for us, then we should
be able to hire someone else
for that position,” she maintained. “And you don’t want
to take any risks, because
the inspectors can come and
go with all of your workers.”
Marchena says businesses
play a pivotal role in St.
Maarten’s economy and not
being able to fill vacancies
in a timely manner can have
adverse effects on businesses, which can trickle down
to the economy.
Also, in the area of business,
Marchena would like to see
the business license procedure, which she sees as too
cumbersome, streamlined
under Country Status.
Education
There are approximately
1,200 students at South Reward-based Milton Peters
College, which houses four
educational streams in one
compound.
Marchena says that when
many students from different levels of education are
housed in one location, as it
the case at MPC, it can lead
to challenges such as those
that the school experiences
with violence and clashes
among students. “If we can
build malls, then we can also
build a school for our future
generation,” she contended.
Authorities have announced
plans to build three new
schools in St. Maarten.
These include a new Secondary Vocational Education (SBO) school in Cay
Hill, an elementary school
in Belvedere and a school
adjacent to the still to be
constructed SBO School in
Cay Hill.
The businesswoman also
believes that authorities
should consider granting
more scholarships to students.
and having police presence
would make business perCrime
sons feel safer. “Their presLike many other persons in ence should be felt during
St. Maarten, Marchena is the entire day.”
uneasy about the crime situation of late. She says the On the environmental front,
spike in crime makes her as she would like St. Maarten
a business woman uncom- to be an island without sewfortable.
age water running on the
She would like to see more streets in all districts when
police patrols on the streets it becomes a Country.
and more in areas where
businesses operate, par- Fears
ticularly in districts such as Marchena knows that a new
Back Street at closing time. status comes with a price,
She says this is a time when but she is hoping that it
businesses can be targeted would not mean that resi-
dents will be burdened with
higher taxes. “I know that
we will have to suffer [in the
beginning]. At what price, I
don’t know, but I am hoping that it won’t be through
more taxes.
As St. Maarten moves closer
to its new status, Marchena
is keeping her eyes focussed
on the developments and
is hoping that through it
all, a better and brighter St.
Maarten will emerge.
St. Maarten’s Terry DeWitt and tandem partner set new record
Won North America’s longest and largest river race!
The Missouri 340 is a paddling endurance race that
extends 340 miles across the
entire state of Missouri.
the 340-mile (547 kilometres)
race within the 88 hours of allotted time. The teams are required to safely navigate river
obstacles and dutifully report
St. Maarten/Amstel Bright at nine checkpoints along the
sponsored athlete Terry course without exceeding
DeWitt and her tandem pad- pre-determined cut off times.
dling partner Loreen Mattson of St. Louis, Missouri, The newly formed team of
recently competed in this DeWitt and Mattson were inrace, navigating a 19-foot, trigued by the race concept,
plastic tandem Kayak. This though neither of the athultra marathon event chal- letes had prior experience in a
lenges paddlers to complete paddling event of such magni-
Start up line.
tude. “We decided to give the
MR340 challenge a chance,
knowing that we were facing
some very difficult odds” said
Dewitt.
“We did not have the superior
level of equipment that our
competitors were going to be
racing with and our minimal
knowledge of river paddling
resulted in us having to rely
heavily on our endurance
skills to pull us through.”
wakes, heavy fog, daytime
heat, night time chills and entrapping bridge pilings during
their long and winding journey across the state. Many
paddlers and their boats were
flipped, crashed, tossed or
turned as the mighty Missouri river ran its natural and
rugged course. Oddly enough,
there was even one paddler
who was unable to finish the
race after being knocked from
his boat by a large, jumping
The race began at 8:00am on Asian Carp!
August 24 in Kansas City,
Missouri, with a firelock start- The DeWitt/Mattson team
with all the boats in the water took the women’s tandem
crossing the congested start lead on the second day of the
line
simultaneously. Pad- race by travelling through
dlers faced high, fast water the night without stopping
conditions on the Missouri to rest. “This move surprised
river this year, due to re- the other boats and allowed
cent
flooding. Teams nav- us to take a three-hour lead
igated
treacherous river in the race.” They maintained
obstacles, which
includ- their position until the final
ed floating debris, danger- hours of the race, when their
ous wing dikes, swollen river more experienced competibanks, hidden bouys, indus- tors put on the “heat” and
trial barge boats’ passing moved ahead.
“We continued to paddle,
though we were sure we could
not match the other team’s
sleeker racing kayak. To our
surprise, we caught the other
team and were able to sneak
up and pass their boat, and
again take the lead. We had no
idea as to where our second
wind was coming from” said
DeWitt. “We were dead tired
from padding with no rest for
over 48 hours. We were disappointed and discouraged to
see our competitors pressuring us so strongly at this late
stage of the race. We needed
to give everything we had
left in our bodies, minds and
souls to get our heavy craft
moving and successfully win
the race. We put up a tough
fight, and our competitors
were unable to keep up the
pace after working so hard to
catch up to our boat. In the
end, we managed to win the
race in record breaking time.”
The St. Maarten/St. Louis team finished the race in
49 hours and 17 minutes,
breaking the record for the
women’s tandem division by
over 11 minutes. The ladies
finished 19th overall out of
over 250 boats participating
in the race.
“We can never say enough
thanks to our support crew,
sponsor and families for making this all possible” concludes
DeWitt. “It was an amazing
adventure!”
Team Sedna
4
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
WEEKENDER
THE DAILY HERALD
Under the
Sea Grape
Tree
BY WILL JOHNSON
The Heyliger’s in the Windwards
Many of you will remember
the Roman Catholic Priest
Father Alphie Heyliger. But
most people do not know
the history of the Heyliger
family in these islands.
Henry B. Hoff, in his introduction to his article on the
“American Connections of
The Heyliger Family of the
West Indies,” has the following to say: “The purpose
of this article is to outline
known American connections
of the Heyliger family. This is
not intended to be a full genealogy of the Heyligers, one of
the few West Indian families
to be the subject of a recent
well-documented genealogy.
The family lived primarily on
six of the Leeward Islands:
the Dutch islands of St. Eustatius, St. Martin and Saba
and the Danish (now U.S.)
lands.”
Virgin Islands of St. Thomas,
St. Croix, and St. John. This
article also provides a genealogical bibliography for the
six islands.
Mr. R.H. Calmeyer did
an extensive study on the
Heyliger and other related
families from which he is
descended. It is in Dutch
and entitled “The Heyliger
Generation” Planters, Ship
Owners and Regents in the
Windward Antilles.
“An indication of the close
relationship between the six
islands and the United States
is the fact that 75% of the
Heyliger males in the third
generation either came to the
United States or apparently
had descendants who did.
Johannes Heyliger ( 1736 to 1786) from a painting in the family
Church.
Not surprisingly, trade (es“The founder of the Heypecially sugar) was the basis liger family in the West Inof this relationship. West In- dies was Guilliam Heyliger
dian merchants in New York (died circa 1734) who eviand Boston married Ameri- dently was on St. Eustatius
can women, while New York by about 1670 when he marmerchants on St. Eustatius ried Anna Ryckwaert. From
and St. Croix married West her surname it appears that
Indian women. Moreover, she was the granddaughter of
the economic decline of the Mathieu Ryckwaert, who was
six islands in the 19th century among the first settlers on
caused many West Indians the island in 1636. As St. Euto immigrate to the United statius was colonized by the
States. Another reason for the Zeeland Chamber of their
relationship was education. Dutch West India Company,
Impressed by the missionary it is likely that both Guilliam
work of the Moravians in the Heyliger and Mathieu RyckDanish Virgin Islands, many waert came from Zeeland or
local planters sent their chil- Flanders. Guilliam and Anna
dren to the Moravian schools (Ryckwaert) Heyliger had
in Bethlehem, Pa. In addition six sons and five daughters,
a few sons were sent to Amer- and their descendants subican colleges.
sequently formed one of the
largest families on the six is-
By order of Jan Snouck
from Vlissingen, who as
“patron” had obtained a
charter from the West India
Company, came Pieter van
Courcelles on 25 April 1636
on board of an armed cruiser accompanied by a herring
boat in the roadstead of the
uninhabited Caribbean island St. Eustatius (originally
called by him New Zealand)
and took possession of the
island. His troop debarked,
consisting of the lieutenant
Abraham Adriaensen (one
of my (WJ)’s ancestors), the
flag bearer Matieu Rijckewaert, Jan Haet, supposedly
the secretary, Hans Musen,
commies on behalf of the
Chamber of Zeeland of the
West India Company, the
surgeon Louis Thomas, and
further 1 sergeant, 3 corporals, 25 armed citizens,
and 6 boys. Van Courcelles
became Commander; the
four first mentioned formed
the Judiciary. This body
later became the Council,
consisting of five of the inhabitants of St. Eustatius
(and from 1721 -1733 also
of Saba) to be appointed by
the Commander from ten
nominated persons by the
citizens, as well as the captain or lieutenant-captain of
the citizens, who “qualitate
qua” was a member. The
Continued on page 5
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
5
WILL Continued from page 4
latter replaced the Commander in his absence.
Even though the members
of council were appointed
for life, it became customary that they made their
seats available on the arrival
of a new Commander. The
citizens then presented a
double amount, from which
– except in special circumstances – usually the same
people were reappointed.
The Council assisted the
Commander in an advisory role and was then also
known as the Council of
Policy and Criminal Justice,
charged with the administration of justice which
took place in accordance
with the laws of Zeeland.
The Commander had an
official at his disposal with
the title of Secretary.
In contrast to the situation
on Curaçao, where they
had a regime of civil servants, a situation developed
- especially on St. Eustatius
- completely modelled after the situation in Holland, whereby an oligarchy
of the elite developed that
helped each other in the
saddle and kept them there.
From the original simple
colonists in the 18th century
when St. Eustatius became
the “Golden Rock,” powerful regents held the reins,
among whom the Heyliger’s played the first violin. As “primus inter pares”
they occupied along with
the three other families
the de Windt’s, Doncker’s
and Lindesay’s, with their
extended families, all seats
on the Council and most
public functions, as well as
the positions of Commanders and Vice Commanders.
Aforementioned island was
also, because of the prime
location for sailing vessels,
in the first place a commercial center, whereby in
1779, with the transit trade
with the British colonies, the
top figure of 3551 vessels
were given clearance from
the harbour. The Heyliger’s
took part herein, in family
companies, an important part
and even had their own large
sailing fleets which carried on
trade even unto the Mediterranean Sea. Besides that they
were the family which owned
the most plantations. In 1775
they owned 15 of the 75 plantations on St. Eustatius. On
St. Maarten the government
developed along the same
lines whereby from 1748 onwards three generations of
Heyliger’s played a leading
role, but here the prosperity remained more moderate,
though more stable, based on
sugar cultivation, livestock
raising, and gathering of salt.
When at St. Eustatius on
September 30th, 1779, Adriana Heyliger, daughter of
Johannes Heyliger and Elizabeth Molineux, married William Moore, the teacher J.
Hall made a document which
was decorated with the coatof-arms of the bridal couple
of Heyliger and “Moore,
descended from the earls
of Drogheda.” It contains a
legendary tale concerning
the forebears of the family Heyliger (according to the
document in former times
also spelled as Highlegger,
Highlager, Hylager or Hilygar)
descended from three brothers who had been knighted
by Charles the Great and
presented with the following
coat-of arms.
“On a shield argent quarterly. In the first grand quarter three human hearts flamboyant-guies. In the second a
cross potent-azure. In the first
inferior quarter three passion
naies azure. In the second inferior quarter a demi Catharine wheel pierced in point
by a sword proper guies. The
crest is a demi Catherine
wheel pierced in point by a
sword proper also guies. The
motto is “Cor magnum timit
nihil.” In the Sands papers
in The New York Historical
Society a female descendant
of Catharina Heyliger (17211799) and her husband Bertram Pierre de Nully there
is a history of the Heyliger
family.
One of the family members,
Johannes Heyliger, was Governor of Berbice (1764-1767).
The Heyliger’s intermarried
with other prominent families such as the French Huguenot Godet family. And
so for example we had at the
same time a Theodore Godet
Heyliger living on Saba while
at the same time there was
one living on St. Eustatius.
The one on Saba died on October 16th, 1907, at the age of
73. He was born on July 2nd,
1834. His father was Engel
Heyliger and his mother was
Rebecca Beaks Dinzey. His
wife was Ann Louisa Simmons. Her mother Ann Fantose Taylor was from Scotland. I have their family bible
at home. The one on St. Eustatius Theodore Godet Heyliger was born on Statia on
October 3rd, 1854, and died
on April 18th, 1935, at the age
of 80. His parents were Gideon Godet Heyliger and Ann
Rebecca Holm. His wife was
Isabella Cornelia Hodge, who
at the time of his death was
living in the United States.
The name Gideon Godet
Heyliger also existed on Saba.
He married Mary Every. The
Heyligo name was also given
to former slaves. However,
the name eventually became
Heyliger. Gideon’s son was
William James Heyliger, a famous boatman. The Heyliger
family was also prominent on
Saba. Theodore Godet Heyliger was the King’s Attorney
and Engel Heyliger was also
prominent here. They intermarried with the Simmons,
the Dinzeys and so on.
The last of the old white Heyliger’s on Saba was Mr. “Dory”
or Theodore Sidgismund
Heyliger, who in 1900 married Leila Winfield and when
she died he married Olive
Simmons, but he had no children. Mr. Dory’s parents were
John Joseph Dinzey Heyliger
(brother of Theodore Godet
Heyliger) and his mother was
Mary Ann Simmons. Where
the Windward Islands Bank
is now located in The Bottom was the former location
of Mr. Dory’s Rum shop and
Grocery Store. The name Engel also frequently appears in
the Heyliger family both on
Saba and on St. Eustatius.
Coat of Arms of the Heyliger family.
The Heyliger’s had their
good times as well as their
bad ones. The following letter
resembles one of those face
book episodes and is worthy
of presenting to our readers.
At the age of 15 Adriana
Heyliger was asked to marry
the sixty year old rich merchant Charles Haggart, to
which request her mother
Elisabeth Molineux, widow
of Johannes Heyliger, was
in favour. The daughter had
made up her own mind and
her choice fell on William
Moore. They eloped and were
married on September 30th,
1769. The rejected lover and
the aggrieved mother sought
consolation with each other
and they in turn married each
other and had a son. This led
to a break in relations between mother and daughter.
Years later Adriana Moore
(born Heyliger) now being in
not the best of financial circumstances decided to write
the following letter to her
mother, who was now living
in Scotland.
The letter is dated St. Eustatius, November 24th, 1815, William James Heyliger, famous boatman, great-grandfather of
Commissioner Theodore Heyliger.
and reads as follows:
than I am that you have made mation on the Heyliger
“Dear Mother,
over all that you are worth to family and the interrelated
him. I wish not for a farthing families. There was also a
For the last time does your that he can justly call his, but Peter Heyliger born on St.
unfortunate daughter takes the property which you pos- Eustatius in 1707. He was
up the pen to address you sessed when you married a plantation owner on St.
urged by no mercenary mo- his father I have a just and Maarten in 1728 and also
tive, but by feelings deeply right title to, the more so as managed there a plantation
wounded by injustice and he does not stand in need of for his father. In a rebelunmerited neglect. Has my it. What I have written will lion against John Phillips
conduct ever brought a blush probably displease, but I owe on June 17th, 1736, the Vice
in your cheek for an unwor- it to myself and children to Commander of St. Maarten,
thy daughter? Have I ever recall those circumstances in which the rebels chased
offended you except in the to your recollection. If you him to Scotland, Peter was
single instance of preferring act justly to me and to them chosen to be captain-lieuthe man I loved to one more I shall be grateful, if not, my tenant by the citizens. After
wealthy? No, with truth I can poor children will I trust have he heard from his brother
say I never have. Why then enough to prevent their being Johannes Heyliger, then
have I been treated as if I was a burden upon their generous Secretary on St. Eustatius,
a disgrace to you? Why then friends and at all events they that the Council of that ishas the only surviving child will never ask any favors from land had asked for the help
of the man who sacrificed my selfish and ungenerous of a Man-o-War from Curaçao to come and put down
his fortune and his health for brother .
the rebellion, Peter together
you and yours been so cruelly
forgotten and overlooked. Farewell Mother, my chil- with two other councillors
Mother I now no longer look dren I am convinced will ever from St. Eustatius offered
for anything from you, but I show you the respect that is his surrender. The aftermath
think I have a right to remind due to you. For myself I shall of this rebellion went on unyou of a few facts which you never cease to remember that til March 20th, 1744, when
seem to have entirely forgot- I have a Mother, though that Johannes Heyliger, who in
ten. When my Father married Mother has forgot that she the meantime had become
(Governor)
you he was independent and has a daughter. May you enjoy Commander
had good expectations from much health and happiness of the three Windward Ishis Parents. That indepen- and may that son for whom lands, pardoned all who had
dence the portion of which I have been so unkindly ne- taken part in the rebellion.
came to him on the death of glected be as attentive and (These documents are in the
his mother and a great deal of affectionate as I would have Bancroft Library in Berkley,
what he had a right to on the been is the fervent wish of California.)
demise of his Father went to your still attached daughter.
And oh yeah! I nearly forgot
extricate your family in Montthis one. And then you have
serrat out of their difficulties. Signed: Adriana Moore.
that fellow on St. Maarten
The consequence was that he
left his children thousands No shaking Mamma. In the known as “The Golden
poorer. Of all his fortune you Scottish Record Office in Boy,” namely Commissioner
never gave me a single piece, Edinburgh in her last testa- Theodore Heyliger, carrying
for even a few chairs, the use ment of July 5th, 1817, Mrs. on in the tradition of his ilof which you gave me, my Elisabeth Haggart, born lustrious ancestors. Not so
husband had to pay the value Molineux, leaves to her son much the Wathey’s who are
of on your being about to quit Thomas Haggart the com- of more recent vintage, but
the island – you disposed of plete inheritance of 21.413.6 now that you know somemany fine Tradesmen, the pounds. That was a consider- thing about the Heyliger’s
property of my different able sum of money for those you will say to yourself; “No
brothers and I was not one days. Not a word in the will Wonder.” If he does well, I
will tell him more about the
dollar the better for it. May I mentions Adriana.
Heyliger’s, if not, I will keep
justly ask you if Mr. Thomas
There is much more infor- the rest to myself.”
Haggart is more your child
6
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE DAILY HERALD
WEEKENDER
by Judy H. Fitzpatrick
The St. Maarten Vocational line, it should be granted full
Training School (SMVTS) is PSVE status.
getting a new lease on life.
Being a recognised instituAfter 27 years of operation, tion is beneficial to the school
the institution is on its way in more ways than one. It
to becoming a legally recog- means that the institution
nised school, with new edu- will be able to tap benefits
cational streams and certified that come with being a leprogrammes that cater to stu- gally recognised institution,
dents with special education- which includes being able to
al needs. A development that tap government funding for
Leader of Government and needed upgrading.
Education
Commissioner
William Marlin says is long This is welcomed news for
overdue and one that he says the school, which has been
will go a long way in better scarred over the years by
moulding students that the reports of violence among
programme caters to.
students.
While the institution has
been churning out skilled
labour for over two decades,
it was never officially recognised as required by law, and
as a result its diplomas were
not officially recognised outside of St. Maarten, though
its students have been solid
contributors to society. Some
have also been able to pursue
tertiary studies abroad.
The school has also not been
able to introduce specific
programmes to cater to students with special needs.
But this is about to change.
The school is upgrading its
facilities and curriculum to
introduce two programmes
to bridge the deficiencies that
had existed: Labour Market
Oriented Education (LMOE)
and Preparatory Secondary Vocational Education
(PSVE) - two streams that legally the school should have
had all along.
As a result of initial work
to achieve these goals, the
school received a temporary
PSVE status from government earlier this year. Once
it has passed the necessary
education inspection when
the new programmes are on-
“It is definitely a plus,” says
SMVTS Director Vernon Richards. “It will open doors
for the school and will fill the
void that has existed to a certain extent. Not everything
will be 100 per cent perfect,
but we are working hard at it
and in due time, if we do it
the right way, we will reap
our benefits.
He said the SMVTS has
“been setting the trend when
it comes to vocational education and we have set the tone
when it comes to persons
who were set aside and not
accepted into other schools.
These students have gone on
to study professions such as
plumbing and have become
skilled in areas such as electricians and are making a
name for themselves.”
“It’s long overdue,” adds
PSVE Coordinator and
former Coordinator of LMOE
Zuleima Salmon, who is
overseeing the introduction
of the programmes. “The
school has been doing a great
job and many students have
gone on to do great things. I
can’t imagine that as a society we let this happen for so
long,” she said referring to
the school being without sta-
A section of the St. Maarten Vocational Training School building.
tus for so many years.
History
SMVTS began as a training
institution in 1983 through
the efforts of, among other
persons, Camile Baly, Walcott Richardson and John
Finney.
It was referred to as “alternative secondary education,”
at the time and filled a deficiency in the community, Richards explained.
Students who were not accepted into mainstream education and who had no other
educational options were admitted and trained. It started
with a class of between 20
– 25 students, most of whom
were drawn from then John
Larmonie School (now Prins
Willem Alexander School for
special education).
It has blossomed into much
larger institution boasting a
student body of close to 225,
but its growth has not been
without hurdles.
The odds were stacked up
against the institution from
the onset. It was stigmatised
and its students labelled as
misfits. But officials were
focussed on their goals and
bent on proving naysayers
wrong.
Despite the challenges, they
forged ahead and did their utmost with limited resources
to train students in a career
skill that they could use.
“Our students are no misfits,
because they have chosen
something in the line that
they can function in,” says
Richards, who has been Director of the institution since
1986.
“I tip my hats to students who
entered Vocational Training
School and chose a job in the
vocational field, because it’s
important. These days tilers
and bricklayers are the ones
who are reaping the harvest
of our society and if we can
transfer certain skills onto
them and stop them from
working in places like casinos, we will be doing justice
to the island. Areas such as
carpentry and bricklaying
are really taking off in St.
Maarten.”
Overtime the need for the
institution to obtain a status
and to streamline its programmes has been noted and
over a year ago concerted efforts began to achieve this.
Why LMOE
LMOE is a skill oriented programme that focuses on the
individual student and their
needs and capacities. The
first part of the programme
focuses on the general personal development of the
student, the second part on
preparing them for the labour
market and the final part is to
provide specific job training.
The programme is geared
towards students’ personal
development and aims to
strengthen their social independency skills, so that they
will be able to live on their
own and improve their communication and civil skills.
LMOE is necessary, because
some students are not able to
follow the normal vocational education streams. Students who are successfully
in such a programme are at
least three years behind in
Language and Maths development compared to students of their age, explains
Salmon. Students with an IQ
between 60 and 80 and those
with severe social emotional
problems that prevent learning are eligible for LMOE.
Most of these students are
drawn from special elementary education and Foundation Based Education (FBE).
The St. Maarten Vocational Training School.
Students cannot be automatically transferred into LMOE.
The process for admission is
very specific, says Salmon.
FBE and primary schools
identify possible eligible stu-
dents. Details about the student and his/her performance
will need to be collected. The
potential student application
is forwarded by the FBE
school, with full knowledge
of the student’s parents. Approved tests will have to be
administered, before is it can
be determined that the student is eligible for the programme.
A Referral Committee is being set up to refer eligible students. The Committee should
have a psycho-diagnostic and
educational/diagnostic professional and persons with
practical knowledge about
elementary education, PSVE
and LMOE.
Each student will have a
portfolio containing proof
of their achievements at
the end of the programme.
Students who complete the
programme will receive a
certificate Labour Oriented
Education.
Salmon said students often
lose interest in their studies
when they are beyond their
level. These students end
up dropping out of school
or failing. LMOE is hoping
to reverse this trend when it
comes to the students it caters to.
Richards said an average of
between two to three students drop out of school annually. This can fluctuate.
He said in the past many
SMVTS students also transferred to other institutions
off island that cater more to
their specific needs, which
is what LMOE will provide.
Introduction
Introducing a PSVE stream
is being worked on and is expected to come online in the
2011 – 2012 academic year.
Continued on page 7
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
VOCATIONAL
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
Continued from page 6
Regarding
the
LMOE
stream, based on extensive
research conducted by consultancy firm For A Change
N.V. on how it can best be
introduced, the Department
for Education Research Policy and Innovations (DERPI)
started the implementation
with a bottom’s up approach
in 2009.
Head of Curacao’s education innovations department
FIDE Maia da Silva is assisting DERPI with the implementation by sharing their
expertise and in an advisory
capacity.
A series of information sessions have already been held
with stakeholders, including
SMVTS’ board, teachers and
staff, public education, the
Department of Education
and FBE schools to enlighten
them about LMOE and the
process being embarked on.
Their reactions were positive, says Salmon.
Work also began to adapt
two curriculum subjects
(Maths and Man and Society) that needed the most revamping to reflect an LMOE
stream. Work will also start
to prepare the school’s infrastructure for the introduction
of the programme. Subjects
necessary for LMOE are
Maths, English, Information
Technology, Physical Education, Man and Society and
Technical Science. Salmon
said while Arts and Craft are
not mandatory, it was seen as
a core subject and will also
be included.
The adaptation of the curriculum, which Salmon says
is a work in progress to be
developed over the next four
years, will reflect the “think,
do and check” method. A
similar method is used in
Curaçao and it is aimed at
helping students to focus and
concentrate.
teach LMOE. However, the
school’s existing teachers
have been trained in mentorship, classroom management
and in other areas in an effort
to assist them to work with
these special students.
The introduction of LMOE Richards said LMOE will
and PSVE are being funded start this year with one class
by Dutch Development Fund of 15-16 students.
USONA. The upgrading of
several classrooms as well He stressed the need for busias several departments such nesses to be aware of the proas the school’s computer lab gramme as they will have to
and technical science and arts play an integral role in terms
and craft textile room are ex- of training students.
pected to enhance the intro- “And not just training them
duction of LMOE, because for training sake. If there is
currently these departments a need for bell hops, then we
do not meet the minimum re- will have to train students to
quirement.
be bell hops,” he said, adding that teachers are taking
The building material for the on the extra work that comes
reconstruction of classrooms with the introduction of the
has been tagged at about new programmes in stride.
NAf. 50,000, while consultation, workshops and con- Richards says it is his opinferences that are still to be ion that the education system
held will cost approximately needs to be more in tune with
NAf. 25,000, and the contin- the job market. “I think that
ued curriculum development only then will we be doing
about NAf. 30,000. About the children justice. A lot
NAf. 50,000 have already of things need to come into
been spent on consultation play such as the Labour Defees, conferences, work- partment’s role. If the labour
shops, resource materials market is requiring that we
purchases for the school.
train skilled workers then
The entire classroom build- that is what we have to do.
ing project is estimated to Only then will we close the
cost NAf. 200,000, excluding gap on the labour market and
classroom material. The en- will be going down the right
tire project has been tagged path.”
at NAf. 350,000.
The Island Council has also In the meantime, stakeholdrecently approved funds for ers involved are convinced
the purchase of materials for that SMVTS is moving in the
the school’s Man and Society right direction, which will
and Maths units to facilitate give it a new lease on life and
LMOE.
an improved overall image.
Salmon said challenges
have been encountered in
finding special education
teachers who are equipped
with the skills necessary to
PSVE Coordinator and former Coordinator of LMOE Zuleima Salmon.
Commissioner Marlin, an educator by training, is particularly happy that this initiative
is finally off the ground.
SMVTS Principal Vernon Richards explains the renovations scheduled for one of the divisions in the school.
Highly an cipated first novel violent history that catches his
by Montserra an Theo Sem- eye, but her past may just be
per
their undoing. Pastor Grant
has troubles of his own, as
Struggles of the heart, faith he is unconvinced that God
and troubled pasts abound in has called him to the ministry
Church Affairs, the debut nov- and being on the inside at St.
el by Montserrat na ve Theo Luke United Church leaves him
Semper.
with thoughts that the church
may be nothing more than a
“Church Affairs doesn’t read “racket.”
like a novel from a first me
author,” says Jeevan Robin- “There is nothing but drason of mnialive.com. “Semper ma surrounding church and
handles the story like some- church people and I have heard
one with two or three books enough real life church-stories
already under his belt.”
to fill a couple of books. It just
seemed like an obvious choice
The 300-page book is set in when I started,” said the auDaytona Beach, Florida, and thor. “There are obviously
delves into the lives of three other themes in the book beambi ous young women, sides church people and their
Jynene, Shivon and Stephanie, drama, but that was a good a
whose journeys become inter- place to start as any.”
twined as they help each other
deal with their troubled pasts. Church Affairs explores the
Semper, a licensed pilot now
mely issues of domes c violiving in Arlington, Texas, in- lence, religion and love against
troduces handsome and char- the backdrop of the church—
isma c Pastor Robert Grant, and forbidden affairs. You
who can have his pick of the can take a sneak peek inside
women in his congrega on. Church Affairs on amazon.com
However, it is Jynene with the and other online retailers.
7
8
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE DAILY HERALD
WEEKENDER
LET’S TRAVEL Continued from page 12
the Beach Boys, who were
performing at Wolf Trap –
a 6,800-seat indoor/outdoor theatre – and America’s National Park for the
performing Arts. We had
tickets on the lawn, so we
just hung out on blankets
and we brought our own
coolers with sandwiches
and drinks. It was a really
great experience!
If you are an avid golfer
and you are used to the
golf course in St. Maarten,
then you will love the golf
courses in the USA. Not
only are they very affordable (especially if you are
a junior or a senior), they
are very scenic and wellkept. We played 9-holes
one morning at Pohick
Bay Golf Course in Lorton, and the nature surrounding the course was
just beautiful, very green,
huge trees and little squirrels all over the place.
We really enjoyed spending our time with some
family members we had
not seen in a long time,
sightseeing, boating/tubing on the Potomac, eat-
ROTOTOM SUNSPLASH Continued from page 1
Stage hosted the semi-finals of
the European Reggae Contest
on Wednesday night and remained a venue for lower profile performers and local bands
to perform their material.
On the main stage big names
were featured on a daily basis,
including the likes of Bob Andy
(Sunday), Morcheba (Monday)
and Marcia Griffiths (Saturday,
August 28). For me, however,
the highlight came on the final night of the fes val, when
Etana, the rising Jamaican
star, came on stage. She had
engaged earlier in one of the
conferences addressing the issue of poli cal violence, and
she was clearly in tune with
the audience of the fes val.
Despite only communica ng
in English, the predominantly
Spanish and Italian crowd responded enthusias cally to
her interac on and slowly the
arena began to feel small, real
small. Her rendi on was both
touching and conscious, not
only of the social issues that
characterize her lyrics, but
also of the musical tradi on
that had been celebrated over
the previous eight days. She
combined her original work,
clearly rela vely alien to the
crowd, with emblema c songs
stages and s ll con nuing after sunrise out of the Dub Staon and a nightclub of sorts
called the Juanita Club. But
the climax had been reached,
and what remained were just
the ripples, the a er shock,
of an extraordinary party, in
which over 125,000 people
had cavorted peacefully and
responsibly for nine days. No
And yet, her boldness, her vig- mean feat.
our and also her talent made
for a thoroughly enjoyable It has already been confirmed
hour-and-change that, in my that Benicassim will host the
view, crowned a thoroughly next ediƟon of Rototom Sunenjoyable Rototom fes val. splash in August 2011 and,
There was s ll more to come, even at this embryonic stage,
with Marcia Griffiths, with the I can tell you, if you can make
Abyssinians, with music blaring it, it’ll be a trip to remember.
into the night from the other
by Jimmy Cliff, The Beatles
(Don’t Let Me Down) and, of
course, Bob Marley. Indeed,
it was almost a shame that
she burdened her performance with the distant echo of
so many iconic tunes, against
which she inevitably cut a less
prominent figure than she
might have done otherwise.
ing tons of strawberries,
blueberries,
raspberries, and blackberries
each day, sightseeing in
Washington D.C., golfing in Lorton, ice-skating
in Arlington, shopping
at Ikea and at Potomac
Mills, singing along
with the Beach Boys
at Wolf Trap, playing
ping-pong, air-hockey,
foosball (table football
ed.),
water-baseball,
water-volleyball
and
everything else… and
there are still hundreds
of other things you can
do in Washington.
There are always things
happening in theatres,
nightclubs and sporting
venues. Wind down after a day of sightseeing
or business meetings by
catching a concert, a
basketball game or a
provocative play. After
all, D.C. is a city that
makes history. Washington D.C. is a great
place to visit for young
and old, so if you have
not been there yet, my
recommendation is to
put it on your map!
STORYTELLING Continued from page 1
“It takes a village to raise a
child,” into, “It takes a story
to raise a child,” he set about
starting an educational programme that aims at stimulating storytelling and reading. Anansi the Spider creates a never-ending tale, like
the unlimited supply of the
spider’s thread.
WIJNAND’S WORKSHOPS
cover all aspects of becoming a great storyteller by acting out many different characters in one story and then
being able to make contact
with the audience and get a
strong communication between the audience and the
storyteller. It is not uncommon to hear someone in the
audience call out to the storyteller, making a remark to,
not the actual person, but to
the character being played.
Trying to get audience participation, especially children, whereby the audience
starts to participate in the
story and start telling their
version of the story and then
moving along by incorporating these interruptions into
the story is a remarkable feat
of a good storyteller and at
Wijnand’s workshops you
can learn to do just that.
“The BIG secret,” says Wijnand “is to become one with
the characters in the story
you are telling.” As a storyteller you don’t need any props,
masks or costumes. You just
need your voice, positioning
yourself in the right place to
depict this character, using
body language and believing
in this character. In one story
you could switch characters
two or three times, but you
also could switch characters
five or six or more times, all
depends on the story.
LEARNING TO be a great
story teller is not only fun, but
it could benefit many in their
careers. A well-developed and
presented story can cut across
age barriers and will hold the
interest and reach its listeners. The workshops are great
for teachers, but also excellent
as teambuilding for businesses, and great for taxi drivers,
public speakers, tour guides,
day charter yacht crew and,
of course, mothers, uncles or
anyone who has to deal with
people in his/her daily life, as
it encourages better communication skills. Stories will be
remembered long after other
orations.
These workshops also teach
how to read a written story
with more spark; how to
read, yet let go of the book;
how to stay in touch with
the present day and relate to
the experiences of children.
Reading stories to children
using these storytelling techniques may actually inspire
children to pick up a book
themselves and read.
Wijnand’s stories can also be
found in book form. His stories are compelling, mischievous and fun. They deal just
as much with tricks and deceit as with vulnerability and
identity. They always make
for moving performances
spiked with a great sense of
humour. His book is called
Mr. Anansi is in Dutch and
will soon be published in
English.
ONLY IF a story is told with
passion, courage and dedication does it have true impact.
Effective storytelling is a fine
and beautiful art. Knowing
and applying the basics of
storytelling will strengthen
your stories.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
9
WEEK IN REVIEW
August 28- September 3, 2010. Vol. 20 No. 89 - 93
SATURDAY
Tropical Storm Earl
forecast to pass close
The islands of the Northeast
Caribbean were placed under a Tropical Storm Warning. The forecast track of
Tropical Storm Earl shifted
south and could approach
the local area, probably as a
hurricane, by Sunday night.
Balkenende to meet with
‘new’ governor
Dutch Prime Minister Jan
Peter Balkenende will meet
with proposed future Governor of Country St. Maarten
Eugene Holiday during his
one-day visit here on Sunday, according to the Office
of the Dutch Representative
in Willemstad. The meeting will take place in The
Westin St. Maarten Dawn
Beach Resort.
six burglaries and break-ins
took place between August
4 and August 25, with four
of the six reported in the
last 11 days. “We are facing
some individuals who really want to do their best to
make the island unsafe,” said
Police Inspector Wendell
Thode. “Our main job and
principles are to keep the island safe, so we are going to
do our utmost to solve these
break-ins. We are going to
put full force in motion. If
necessary, we will request
extra assistance from St.
Maarten.”
Mussington in hospital
after slight heart attack
St. Martin Territorial Councillor Louis Mussington suffered “a slight heart attack”
and was flown to Martinique, where he was hospitalised for treatment, over
the weekend. He had been
admitted to the intensive
care at L.C. Fleming HospiMONDAY
tal on Friday evening where
No Paper – Hurricane he was examined before he
was airlifted to La Meynard
Earl
in Fort de France, Martinique, according to a press
release from Movement for
TUESDAY
the Advancement of the
People (MAP). Mussington
Wreaths laid for
is the president of MAP.
Emilio Wilson
The 99th birthday of the late
Emilio Wilson was observed No injuries reported
with a brief gathering on during Hurricane Earl
Saturday, when wreaths No injuries were reported to
were laid at his bust located St. Maarten Medical Center
at the forefront of Emilio (SMMC) during or after the
Wilson Estate. Members of passing of Hurricane Earl,
St. Maarten National Her- which battered St. Maarten
itage Foundation, Emilio with heavy winds and showWilson Cultural and His- ers on Monday. The SMMC
torical Park Foundation, building also was spared
St. Maarten Pride Founda- damage, General Director
tion, Emilio Wilson Estate Dr. George Scot reported
Foundation and St. Maarten shortly after the worst part
Monument
Preservation of the storm had passed.
Foundation participated in Scot said too that the medical centre had been supplied
this observance.
with electricity throughout
the storm.
Earl causes 36-hour
island shutdown
After a 36-hour curfew due
WEDNESDAY
to the passing of Hurricane
Earl on Sunday night/Monday morning, residents will Old tyres burning at
only have a short time to dump
stock up on necessities be- cause black smoke clouds
cause of the threat of Tropi- A spontaneous fire on the
cal Storm Fiona when the dump together with 68curfew is lifted at noon to- mile-per-hour winds of
day, Tuesday. No deaths or Hurricane Earl did not make
injuries have been reported for a comfortable weathering of the storm for residue to Earl.
dents in the Sucker Garden
and Madame Estate areas.
Saba police crackdown
Old tyres on the dump sudon recent break-ins
After a month of relative qui- denly started to burn midet since the July 9 break-in at morning Monday and the
Harry L. Johnson, a rash of storm winds carried the
break-ins during August has heavy black clouds of smoke
been reported to the Saba into several homes, choking
Police Force. No less than their occupants. A family of
Hundreds of outbound passengers crowded the terminal at PJIA on Tuesday
six on Arch Road in Sucker
Garden had to evacuate
their home, as the smoke
had completely engulfed it.
Soualiga Road trees
disposed of on dump
The trees that were removed from Soualiga Road
(University of St. Martin
stretch) were disposed of on
the landfill in Philipsburg.
This was confirmed by officials of the Public Works
Department. As reported
last week, a number of trees
along Soualiga Road were
dug up recently, disposed of
and replaced by new trees.
It was disclosed that the
trees brought to the island
in 2007 had been infested
with an unknown blight and
with their trunks filled with
cement.
Police catch and release
prosecutor for accident
Police held prosecutor
J.B.D. for about five hours
Saturday after he allegedly
had been involved in a hitand-run road accident. D.
reportedly hit another vehicle in Middle Region and
left the accident scene before police arrived. A police
team controlling cars followed him and stopped him
after he drove away from the
accident.
Public Works clears
the main roads first
A number of Public Works
Department crews cleared
the streets and surrounding areas of debris in the
aftermath of Hurricane Earl.
The category two storm uprooted trees and other foliage that fell or was blown
onto the streets in various
districts. Officials of the
department met with the
Emergency
Operations
Centre to formalise the plan
of action. While the streets
in the districts may be cluttered in some areas, government has put the priority
on clearing the main roadways. These main roads are
important for cleanup and
emergency crews to move
around freely and to have
traffic flowing freely once
the curfew is lifted.
Dutch Marines
here for HurEx
Dutch Marines who were
scheduled to train for hurricane response here this
week arrived early to help
mitigate the forecast damage from Hurricane Earl’s
passing Monday, according
to Voluntary Corps of St.
Maarten VKS First Officer
Paul Martens. They were
kept mostly on standby, because Earl, then at Category
2 and several dozen miles
away, wasn’t as destructive
as predicted. The Marines
also helped maintain the notravel curfew until 10:00am
Tuesday.
THURSDAY
Schools reopen Monday,
All schools – public and private - now will reopen their
doors on Monday, not today,
Thursday, as authorities had
originally announced. The
unreliability of the electricity and water supply in the
various districts was among
the factors authorities took
into consideration when
making their decision.
Government amends
casino policy
The National Alliance led
coalition has amended
government’s long-standing casino policy “Rules of
the Game.” The decision to
change the policy was taken
on Tuesday and the amendment, which was recorded
on the Executive Council’s
decision list, makes it possible for Caravanserai Beach
Resort to become eligible
to receive a casino license
without the completion of
the previously-needed 200
rooms.
its part of the agreement
with Curaçao to establish
the laws to regulate a joint
Central Bank and a common
currency – the Caribbean
guilder – with that island.
Six of the 11 Island Council
members voted in favour of
the proposal as presented
by government on Thursday evening. The Caribbean guilder will not come
into existence until January
2012. The existing Netherlands Antilles guilder will be
used during the transition
period. Opposition Democratic Party Island Council members were absent
when the vote was taken,
as was independent Island
Councilman/Commissioner
Theo Heyliger. Their absence was a protest against
what they considered government’s “rush” to establish the currency and joint
Central Bank. DP Island
Council members and Heyliger made some arguments
in favour of dollarization, a
turnaround from their past
stance on establishing a St.
Maarten currency.
Applicants Brooks
Tower extensions
Brooks Tower Accord permit-holders have an additional two weeks to file
for extensions under the
temporary-legalisation programme, chief coordinator Tiara Haselhoef said on
Thursday. Only about half
of the 4,000-plus Brooks
Tower recipients have applied for extensions since
the project started on August 2. The Central Government decided recently to
give these persons until the
Party lists validated,
end of September, past the
colours awarding
The Main Voting Bureau on initial September 18 deadWednesday validated the line.
candidates list of the parties
contesting the September Shelters only open in
17 early Island Council elec- aftermath of hurricane
tions. One party, Concordia The Emergency Operations
Political Alliance (CPA), will Centre has made a conhave to submit an updated scious decision not to open
list with one additional can- the various hurricane sheldidate by Friday to be vali- ters before or during a hurdated. This is based on that ricane. Paul Martens of the
party winning a court case Disaster Management Deto have the candidate added partment explained that the
to its list and re-inscribed shelters will only be opened
in the voter’s registry. The if a major hurricane causes
list numbering and award- significant damage and dising of colours to the slates places a large number of
is scheduled for 10:00am people from their homes.
today, Thursday, at Govern- He noted, however, that the
ment Administration Build- decision was not a policy
and practical discussions
ing.
continue on how the shelters should be operated durFRIDAY
ing a tropical system and in
the aftermath.
Caribbean guilder and
Joint Central Bank
St. Maarten has completed
Organized chaos at
PJIA on Tuesday
Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) was
a scene of organized chaos
on Tuesday as operations
resumed in the aftermath
of Hurricane Earl. Passengers who were stuck in St.
Maarten as a result of the
storm and those scheduled
to fly on Tuesday, crowded
the terminal in an effort to
catch their flights.
10
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE DAILY HERALD
WEEKENDER
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
NOW, THAT’S SOMETHING
by Merl Reagle
Business Week in Review
August 28- September 3, 2010. Vol. 20 No. 89 - 93
The tower that ‘houses’ EEC and TellCell antennas on Naked Boy Hill.
SATURDAY
ACROSS
1 Floor care product, Mop &
___
4 Power source: abbr.
8 I or tri follower
11 Bikes without pedaling
17 Where “vapour” isn’t a variant: abbr.
18 Up to something?
21 Miner matter
22 Say something?
23 Extinguisher
25 In a solution they conduct
electricity
26 Safety org.
27 Sault ___ Marie
28 Uncompromising situation?
30 Critter carrier
32 Lime drinks
35 Russian city or oblast
36 Something new?
41 Vaccine VIP
44 Wallace’s 1968 running
mate
46 View from Huron, Ohio
47 ___ Semple McPherson
49 Tell me something?
51 Gather by cutting
52 Hair line?
53 Muscat resident
54 Olympic zipper
56 Put something on?
58 She played Julia in “Julia”
61 Final passage
63 Mouth prefix
64 Dict. crew
65 Something stupid?
69 Fool
72 Tray content
73 Org. with jets
74 007 enemy org.
76 Play something?
82 Singer with a Z
84 Roman household gods
85 Poet Wylie
86 Meadows
88 Something awful?
91 Language group that includes Swahili
92 Funny stuff
93 Landing pier
94 Palindromic Prussian
95 Something to do?
98 Not a movie
100 Orange coat?
101 “Little Swee’ Pea” co-star,
1936
102 Most moist, as a leaf
105 “Mighty ___ a Rose”
108 Cuts (off), as a branch
111 Edmonton’s prov.
113 Like Alec, among the four
Baldwins
115 Something fierce?
120 Mai ___
121 Thirty something?
122 Shot spot
123 Cooks with water
124 Photo ___
125 Lid swelling
126 Compass pt.
DOWN
1 Something for nothing?
2 “Vive ___”
3 Concert hall
4 UT campus
5 Eagle’s nest
6 Mag mistake
7 Threefold
8 Make (a visit)
9 Dairy-case sub
10 Cash: abbr.
11 Noisy bug
12 Lennon’s lady
13 Reaction to adorableness
14 Cries uncontrollably
15 Fox follower
16 Terrier’s island
18 Tasty tidbits
19 Iraqi port
20 Ogee feature
22 Ling or long preceder
24 Gonzaga University city
29 Large number
31 It has a cap
33 A mother’s-side relative
(anagram of TEENA)
34 Jitterbug wear
36 Financier and presidential
advisor Bernard
37 W.C. Fields cry
38 Drawing-off tube
39 “___ a man with seven
wives”
40 “The Fountainhead” co-star
41 Kitchen buy
42 Sportscaster Rashad
43 Puts pressure (on)
45 Daffy’s voice
48 ___ out a living
50 Unless, in Latin
51 Second tries, in
cards
52 Be stingy
55 Ex-“Entertainment
Tonight” co-host
Bob
57 Love god
59 With 110 Down, part
of a flight?
Call screener, perh.
Show starter
On ___ (at large)
More like molasses
Scream
Stabilizing brace
“Give it ___”
Basil-and-pine-nuts sauce
Wheedled
Black History Mo.
What “there oughta be”
City in northern Vietnam
Available
Way to go
Type of lily
Toward the rear
Concerning
Raison d’___
Glasses, etc.
Ballroom dances
Bread spreads
Actress Diamond and novelist Lagerlof
97 Hilton rival
99 Afflicts
102 “Catch-22” major (Richard Benjamin played him
in the film version)
103 Biological bristles
104 Ivan et al.
105 1980s Fords
106 At the drop of ___
107 Luke of “Kung Fu”
109 Monterrey money
110 See 59 Down
112 Country star Hall
114 Something’s up?
116 Org. for Jeff Davis
117 Electrical unit
118 Tape meas.
119 Tiny
60
62
66
67
68
69
70
71
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
83
87
89
90
92
93
96
7-Alive Grocery in Simpson Bay has won its tenyear legal battle with the
world’s largest retail store,
7-Eleven Inc. The case,
which turned on the use
of the 7-Eleven logo, was
heard by the High Court
in The Hague, which determined that the logo’s
copyrights had expired
because it was not created
within the last 50 years.
MONDAY
No Paper – Hurricane
Earl
TUESDAY
TelEm Group reports
that some of its cell sites
are out, but for the most
part the infrastructure
withstood Hurricane Early
well. TelCell’s sites on Naked Boy Hill, Oyster Pond
and at the South side of
Saba were all down as of
Monday night. Corporate
Communication Officer
Joe Dominique explained
that company technicians
would mobilise on Tuesday morning with GEBE
and Public Works personnel to assess and check the
phone lines.
WEDNESDAY
Solution to:
Copa Airlines - Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines has confirmed that
it will start service to St.
Maarten in December,
Commissioner of Tourism Frans Richardson
announced Tuesday. The
Commissioner said he
was “elated” that Copa had
agreed to service the destination, a testament to St.
Maarten’s potential for the
airline and standing in the
North-eastern Caribbean.
“More business for the island means more work for
our people and significant
contribution to our economy. The effort of this administration, our tourist
office and others is paying
dividends in attracting new
carriers to St. Maarten,” he
said.
THURSDAY
St. Maarten Tourist Bureau - Visitors to the
HISWA Amsterdam in-water Boat Show 2010 at Marina Seaport IJmuiden this
week may have wondered
what a tourist office was doing at such an event. They
responded with pleasant
surprise when they passed
the booth of St. Maarten’s
Tourist Bureau in the Netherlands. According to Bart
Schüller of St. Maarten’s
Tourist Bureau Interreps, it
was a moment of recognition for many of those who
stopped at the booth. “Often they already knew the
product St. Maarten. Some
had already been there,
sometimes with their own
boat, and would like to return,” he said.
FRIDAY
GEBE reported on Thursday that the electricity supply from the power plant
had stabilized. Repairs to
the distribution grid continued throughout Thursday as GEBE technicians
worked on repairing the
high tension and low tension lines in the various
districts. As reported earlier, the priority is to first
repair the primary distribution grid, consisting of
the high tension lines and
transformer houses. Although more than 90 per
cent of the high tension
system is underground,
there are areas that still
have an overhead system.
Next is the secondary distribution grid, consisting
of the low tension lines.
Once this has been completed, the technicians
can start on the individual
house connections. GEBE
has approximately 18,500
electricity connections in
St. Maarten.
Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise
and Cargo Facilities will
be fully open for business
today, Friday, with the arrival of cruise ship Serenade of the Seas and cargo
ship CMA/CGM Herodote in port, after several
cancellations due to Hurricane Earl and Tropical
Storm Fiona. There were
some doubts if the cruise
ship could come into port
up to Wednesday, because
divers had been unable to
get a clear visual to ensure
that no debris was around
the two cruise piers and
the ship approach.
TelEm - The Daily Herald has been reliably informed that the Island
Government has appointed Crastell Gumbs to lead
the negotiating team to
find a suitable partner for
the TelEm Group of Companies or a company that
would opt to purchase
TelEm outright. Commissioner in charge of
TelEm Group affairs William Marlin could not be
reached to verify the report on Thursday. However, three companies have
received letters indicating that negotiations will
commence soon. These
companies are Caribbean
telecom giant Digicel,
Lime and United Telecommunication Services.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
11
Church News Bits
S
Eco-Friendly Home Hints
By Brenda Carty
Help save the earth in these small ways. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Save energy
Turn off everything not in use.
Take five minute showers instead of baths.
Wash your laundry in cold water.
Roast Beef and Cheese Wraps
Ingredients
4 ounces cream cheese
Slices of left over roast
beef
4 flour tortillas
1 head of romaine lettuce
4 ounces thinly sliced
cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons horseradish
Method
Combine the cream cheese
and horseradish and spread
over each tortilla. Layer
with the chopped lettuce,
beef and cheese. Roll up
and cut each wrap cross
ways into four pieces.
The pioneer of the St
Maarten parish (2)
One of the first projects on
St. Maarten was for pastor
Nieuwenhuis the establishing of a Sunday school to
keep an eye on the bigger
part of the Catholic youth.
In those years he was already considering the idea
of putting the education of
the children in the hands of
reverend Sisters. The parish archives used to contain
a letter that Nieuwenhuis
wrote to Bishop Niewindt,
requesting nuns for St.
Maarten. Unfortunately, this
letter got lost here or possibly in the bishop’s archives
in Curaçao, where almost
everything was destroyed by
fire during the infamous irregularities of May 30, 1969.
Nieuwenhuis kept the idea
to look for female missionaries always in mind, but he
never would see it happen
during his lifetime. In 1875
he wrote again about building schools to be run by
nuns, but at that time there
were no religious sisters
available and there was not
enough money to finance
this project. That money
would come later: out of
the pocket of Nieuwenhuis
himself! He had inherited from his father Judge
Nieuwenhuis some time
earlier a large sum of money
that he wanted to spend for
the parish and the Mission.
It was his strong desire to return to St. Maarten after his
sickness to finish this project,
but he did not return from
Holland, because he died
in the hospital in the city of
Arnhem, July 28, 1888. His
sister Sophie who inherited
from him, was asked in his
will to send 10,000 guilders
to the bishop of Curaçao “to
establish a boarding school,
a school or another useful
institution, which institution should bear my name.”
Where the money went, you
will read in next week’s column.
with a diameter of 3 feet)
Black cable es
2 or 3 rebars; 4-foot long,
3/8” diameter
Tools
Heavy-duty n snips
Pliers
Hammer
Work gloves
Procedure
Fold back 3 to 4 inches of
wire at each end of the cut
piece to provide a strong,
clean edge that will not poke
or snag and that will be easy
to latch.
Stand the wire in a circle and
set it in place for the compost pile.
A ach the ends of the wire
together with the wire es.
Space rebar posts one on either side of the wire circle.
Pound rebar firmly into the
ground to provide support.
Tie wire to rebar.
Liberating nuns of India
The Mater Dei institute in
Goa, India, was once a place
where pious and obedient
nuns came to escape the
world, vowing that their silence would speak beyond any
word they could utter. Today,
it is a hotbed of feminist theology and one of South Asia’s
foremost centres of graduate education for religious
women. The young sisters
who attend classes here are
encouraged – even prodded
– to speak up forcefully and
act boldly to not only serve
God’s people in their various ministries, but to redress
India’s endemic male-dominated culture, both in secular
society and the church itself.
They are the bold statement
by the women’s section of
the Conference of Religious
By Gerard van Veen
India that not only priests
and brothers should undertake advanced studies
in theology, philosophy and
leadership, but that nuns
who outnumber male religious 4-to-1 in India, not
only can but will forge a
new role for women, both
lay and religious.
Joblessness hits the pulpit
Tim Ryan is a former children’s minister at West Shore
Evangelical Free Church in
Pennsylvania. He lost his job
last year and is now working
as a carpenter, the biblical
profession of Jesus. In an
article titled “Joblessness
hits the pulpit” he cited an
October survey by the interdenominational National
Association of Church
Business
Administration
that found one in five of its
members have laid off staff
amid the recession.
Backyard gardening
SelecƟng a ComposƟng Method
This week we discuss various
methods of containing compost
tumbler, they are readily
available online. Making organic compost is easy.
A compost pile is a must
have for any gardener. Do-ityourself compost is easy to
maintain and even easier to
use. Here are three methods
to choose from.
• The Basic Compost Bin is
inexpensive, easy to assemble and use.
• The Tumbler Compost Bin
is efficient and neat.
• Lasagna Compos ng goes
directly into the bed that you
want composted.
Any of these popular compos ng methods results in
healthy compost that will
benefit the garden.
ComposƟng kitchen waste
Using a compost bin or compost tumbler is a big help in
making compost. It averages
4-6 weeks in a tumbler compost bin, while a compost
pile might take one year.
The main advantage of using
a compost bin or compost
tumbler is that your compost
pile is not in sight - it is hidden inside the compost bin
or the compost tumbler. The
benefit of a compost tumbler is the ease of turning the
compost, so that it decomposes quickly and evenly.
If you choose to purchase
a compost bin or compost
The secret to making compost is to do it right, and it’s
not difficult. Some ps that
will help you become an expert at compos ng:
Any organic ma er can be
composted, but it is best to
s ck to vegetable ma er,
such as coffee grounds and
spoiled or scrap fruit and
veggies. Avoid compos ng
animal products, because
meat and dairy may a ract
scavengers. The only excepon that is worth the risk is
egg shells, which are great
for enriching your compost.
The basic compost wire holding unit
Good
for
small compost materials e.g. kitchen
waste,
leaves, grass
clippings,
small branches
that
have been
chopped into
short lengths
etc.
A compost
pile doesn’t
need to be contained, but
many people like to have a
dedicated bin or fenced area
specifically for compos ng. A
bin or wire holding unit keeps
the compost in one spot and
has a neater appearance
than a loose pile.
A compost bin or wire holding unit is one of the easiest
ways to compost, but it also
takes the longest for the materials to decompose.
Expect a compost bin to take
anywhere from six months
to two years to be complete,
depending on how o en it is
turned
A wire-mesh holding unit
Materials
10-foot length of 36-inchwide, 1-inch galvanized wire
(note: This will make a bin
Plas c garbage bin composter
Buy a large plas c garbage
can with a lid. Poke lots of
good holes in the top, side
and the bo om, so you let
oxygen in. Start with a layer
of dried small garden debris,
add a layer of soil or peat
moss (bought) on top and
then add lawn clippings or
weeds as well as small kitchen waste (veggie and fruit
scraps) and then a li le bit
of water because you never
want to let your compost bin
dry out. Con nue layering
like this un l filled. Remember the best way to alternate
layers “one of dried, one of
soil and one of green” and
then to keep it just moist. After about six months, empty
the bin upside down, use the
rich compost on what is now
the top of the pile, turn the
bo om of the pile back into
the bin and carry on with
more layers for another six
months or so.
12
SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE DAILY HERALD
WEEKENDER
with Let’s Travel
WASHINGTON D.C.
The Capital of the
United States
Since Washington D.C.
is a really great place to
visit, so I thought it would
be an interesting destination for my next travel
article. I recently spent
eight days in a beautiful area on the Potomac
River, which is approximately a 45-minute drive
to the Washington D.C.
area, so we did not get
to see all Washington
has to offer. As you can
understand, two of those
eight days were spent in
shopping malls, so we
had only six days left for
family gatherings, sightseeing, boating on the
Potomac and other activities, not to forget relaxing! For this reason, this
article is part personal
experience, part general
information!
First of all, let’s not forget that the area around
Washington D.C. has
three airports: Ronald
Reagan National Airport (DCA), Washington
Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Baltimore/
Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Air-
port (BWI). So make
sure you book your trip
to the right airport and
that you are at the right
airport when going back
home! When we were
at Reagan on our way
home, there were some
passengers in front of
us who had come to the
WRONG airport. Oops.
Officially founded on July
16, 1790, Washington,
D.C. is unique among
American cities, because
it was established by the
Constitution of the United
States to serve as the nation’s capital. From the
beginning it has been
embroiled in political manoeuvring, sectional conflicts and issues of race,
national identity, compromise and, of course,
power.
After 217 years as the
nation’s capital, Washington is a place brimming with a unique history all of its own. It has
developed as a complex
and layered city with
multiple personalities. As
home to the Federal Government, it has attracted
a diverse mix of government workers, members
of Congress from every
state, foreign emissaries,
lobbyists, petitioners and
protestors. While elected
and appointed officials
come and go, giving
the city its reputation as
a transient community,
many of the city’s residents have called Washington home for multiple
generations. Their stories
give Washington its distinctive character as both
a national and local city.
What I personally loved
about D.C. is that compared with other cities, it
is very green! Many trees
and parks are found
throughout the metropoli-
tan area.
Renting a car is extremely expensive, compared
with what you pay at
other states. However,
many of the attractions
you can visit are free!
Free = good! We decided on museums on a
very hot day (40° Celsius) and went to Smithsonian’s National Museum
of Natural History and
National Air & Space
Museum. At National
Museum of Natural History, the history of dinosaurs and the Hope Diamond (biggest diamond
in the world) impressed
my kids the most! It is
absolutely worth visiting, but because it was
so hot out, all tourists
and boy scouts alike
decided to spend some
time in the air-conditioning while learning about
U.S. history. It was quite
crowded and when you
have five kids to keep an
eye on, you don’t get to
see that much of the museum.
We also decided on
a night-tour (walk) of
the memorials. We visited Lincoln Memorial,
World War II Memorial,
Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Korean Memorial. The great thing
about the night tour is
that while strolling from
memorial to memorial,
you see many of the national monuments like the
Capitol, the Washington
Monument and Lincoln
Memorial glowing in the
heart of Washington,
while the heat has settled
somewhat.
I am ashamed to say that
we even did not get the
chance to pass by the
Whitehouse this time
around! Reason to go
back one day
Other attractions worth
visiting:
National
Museum
of American History
National Zoological Park
FDR
Memorial
(3
million
visitors)
Rock Creek Park (2 million visitors)
D.C. is also home to four
major sporting event
venues with a total of
167,000 seats and
eight major professional
teams, including the Redskins, Wizards, Mystics,
Nationals, United and
Capitals, and there are
more than forty performing arts/theatre venues
with a total of 31,000
seats. My Aunt celebrated her 72nd birthday by
taking us all (20 pax) to
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