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Friday, March 25, 2022

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DREAMS COME TRUE Page 03

Fashion statement Designs that make you stand out in a crowd pages 08+09

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HOME

Friday, March 25, 2022

BOOK SHELVES The surprisingly easy fix that adds a touch of cache for little cash

emember when your grandmother’s book shelves were filled with exactly what they were built for, books? Not anymore. Today’s book shelves are opportunities for design, blank canvases begging for a combination of books and objects d’art, photos, shells, rocks or memorabilia of any sort. In fact, some of the most attractive book shelves we’ve ever seen don’t even feature books. To reaffirm how important a design item book shelves have become, just think back to those first few zoom calls at the start of COVID and how awkward the backgrounds were of some of the most prominent people and how far those backgrounds have come. Then take a look at what part book shelves play in the new, improved look, and you’ll see exactly what we are talking about. But getting shelves right takes an eye for what goes with what, for perspective, colour choices and combination, for layering and more. So here are a few tips. First, determine if the shelves you are working with are shallow or deep. If deep, you can use layering, that is, stack heavier items like large books in the back and use the front of the shelf for smaller items, like a framed photo or a small piece of art. If the art is not self-supporting, place it on a miniature tripod. If the shelf is wood, use a wooden tripod, if it is painted white or a light colour, a

Note open spaces and vertical and horizontal placement of books on these shelves (Photo_ Kate La Vie by Kate Spiers)

LIFE BY DESIGN

BROOKE PYFROM

transparent tripod may may be a better complement. Deep shelves also allow for the display of shells you have collected. Be creative with your book ends. They do not have to match and the most interesting ones may be mismatched but again complementary. Try two different colored oversize agate stones/crystals. Or place books hard to one end of the shelf and use one bookend instead of two– try them out, step

back andsee what works. Think colour. The beauty about books is not just the written word inside but what they look like on the outside. Publishers go to great lengths to make the spine and cover of a book appealing. After all, it’s facing a lot of competition on a store shelf or on Amazon so use the appeal they went to the trouble to create to your own advantage. Stack a few books with colourful spines vertically, then a few horizontally, trying to create a bit of a colour theme if possible or picking up a single prominent colour

Some book shelves don’t need books to make a statement (Photo_Amanda Shields Interiors)

that is repeated at least a few times. Make sure that the horizontal stack does not exceed half the height of the vertical. All those zoom meetings opened our eyes about other people’s living rooms, kitchens and wherever they were coming to us from. If we were paying close attention, we probably noticed that as the months went by, background settings got better, and that’s because their shelving improved. Suddenly we were seeing trophies and decorative plates and family pictures. So easy to make the changes. Remember the basics, always use odd numbers when decorating. The most common theme is in ones and threes, so if there is one tall piece, add two shorter items, or have a larger basket let it stand alone. And don’t be afraid to use colour. Painting the back of your shelf a darker shade gives it depth and interesting contrast. Book shelves still act as a space for the books in our lives but now they hold so much more, helping us accent a room and show the little things that matter to us from the shells we collected to the photos we treasure. • Brooke Pyfrom is the proprietor of Oasis, Sandyport, and Oasis, East Shirley Street. She sources exceptional pieces from around the world to combine trendy with traditional.

Shelving in large spaces leaves room for imagination as well as objects d’art (Photo_Pinterest)

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Friday, March 25, 2022

COMMUNITY

Formerly homeless pianist accepted into

PRESTIGIOUS MUSIC PROGRAMME By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

EFORE receiving the good news that he had been accepted into a prestigious music programme with only 20 slots offered to pianists worldwide, Elijah Stevens had been escorted off the property at the Manhattan School of Music for not being able to pay his tuition. This was one of the lowest moments experienced by the once homeless musician during his pursuit to become a world-class pianist. Elijah’s path to becoming a professional pianist has been marked by numerous highs and lows. However, today he is celebrating receiving a nearly full scholarship for the Glenn Gould Royal Music Conservatory Canada. The prestigious programme offers only a few slots to international students. He is the first Bahamian to be accepted into the programme. The scholarship totals $25,745, and with tuition set at $30,745. Elijah’s portion is $5,000. In 2013, at age 17, Elijah took all his belongings and $100 to pursue his dreams of becoming a classical pianist and studying abroad in the United States. Elijah was denied six scholarships he applied to in the Bahamas, even though he had been accepted into historically Black university Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. This was devastating news for him and his family, But his remarkable risk-taking paid off when the school offered to cover all his fees with scholarships that were at that time well past the deadline. After excelling at Bethune-Cookman, Elijah wanted to chase his dream of studying at the Manhattan School of Music, another prestigious institution. Fortunately, for him this dream was realised when he was accepted. Elijah hosted benefit concerts locally to fund his education in New York, which totaled $65,000. However, the financial burden became too heavy to bear. “It was really humiliating and discouraging. I’ll never forget that pain as it felt like my dream was ripped right from my chest. The Bible talks about how the thing you fear the most will come upon you. At that point, that was my greatest fear, because MSM was my greatest joy. It also felt like years of work went down the drain and I honestly felt rejected and worthless. I told myself that if I couldn’t study at MSM, I wouldn’t ever want to see another school application again,” he told Tribune Weekend. Elijah said his heart was broken because attending this school had long been a dream of his.

Elijah Stevens “It was a dream come true. It was everything I wanted and more. I was surrounded by gifted musicians from all over the world and it felt good to know that I was one of them. I got to study with my musical idol, Olga Kern, the 2001 Van Cliburn Piano Competition Gold medallist. She was my best teacher and just an amazing person to study with. She improved my playing significantly in the short

time I spent working with her and I am so grateful to have had this experience,” he said. “While I was able to raise enough money through my benefit concerts and fundraising to get in the doors of Manhattan School of Music, it was not nearly enough as the school costs $65,000 a year. I couldn’t keep up with this heavy financial burden and those thoughts were always at the back of my mind every day, how was I going to pay for school.” Then the inevitable happened and Elijah had to excuse himself from the school. But the frown he sported after being escorted from the school was soon replaced with a smile when he received confirmation that he had been accepted into the Glenn Gould School. It is the Royal Conservatory of Music’s internationally recognised centre for professional training in music performance at the post-secondary and post-graduate levels. “What a dream come true! This school has a max capacity of 130 students overall, and of that number, only 20 pianists are allowed to study here from around the world. I am one of them. It feels amazing to be part of making history for the Bahamas and people of colour globally,” he said. With Elijah’s acceptance to the Glenn Gould School, the pianist said he is much closer to his dream of becoming a world-renowned concert pianist. “I am looking forward to being in one of the world’s best cities as well as studying with the best and brightest of musicians across the globe,” he said. “I am looking forward to building a legacy for myself and representing the Bahamas and people of colour here. Representation is so important and in the classical world there are only a handful of Black classical musicians, the same is true for Bahamian classical musicians. I am looking forward to making waves in this genre of music so that someone who looks like me can see that it is possible and that they can do it.” Over the course of his studies, Elijah has won many awards, competitions, and was involved in holding many presidential offices as a student leader which caught the eyes of the United States Department of Education who appointed him as “One of the Best and Brightest of Students in the US” under the title White House HBCU All-Star. This honour allowed him to travel to the White House. In 2017, the Daytona Beach News Journal wrote a six-column article on his musical career. Anyone interested in assisting Elijah fulfil his dreams can contact him at elijahstevens@gmail. com.

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

INTERVIEW

Friday, March 25, 2022

COUNSELLOR Whether it’s through his music or his church work, this deejay and pastor always strives to be a positive role model for youngsters. He tells Cara Hunt Cara Hunt about how he wants to reach people around the world with his efforts.

r Elnathan Corey Rolle, better known as DJ Counsellor, the charismatic gospel artist, is always there with a positive message directed at the youth of the nation. “Growing up, I was fortunate to have several positive male role models in persons like Zhivargo Laing, Landlord and Carlos Reid, and they helped inspire me to want to be someone who could inspire positivity as well,” he told Tribune Weekend. Elnathan said he knew he wanted to somehow work in the entertainment industry since he was a high schooler. “I came up with the name DJ Counsellor because first of all I am a deejay, but back than I had also been a counsellor with the AIDS Secretariat, and so that is how I came up with the name DJ Counsellor,” he said. He is the founder and CEO of the Kingdom Vibes group and the host of the Kingdom Vibes TV and radio show which airs weekly on Glory 93FM. He has toured throughout the Caribbean and the United States, performing his music at big gospel events in Bermuda, Canada, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Panama. Over the years, Elnathan has had his hand in many pots. He has released several albums and is a multiaward nominated artist. He is the Marlin Award recipient for Dancehall Song of the Year for his single “Who the Real Super Man” featuring the legendary dancehall artist Papa Sam. His music is available on multiple streaming platforms. He credits his “go-getter” attitude with the success he’s found. “I think a lot of entertainers wait for that big break moment, so they can get frustrated with their lack of success, but I just never sat down, I was always creating my own events, whether it was a song, or concert,” he said. In everything he does, there has to be a positive message and a focus on the importance of a strong work ethic and faith in God. Elnathan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from Destiny Christian College, a Master of Arts degree in Christian Counselling from New Covenant University, and a doctorate in Leadership

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Friday, March 25, 2022

from Grace International Bible University. “I think it is important for people to see the right image of success, because sometimes those value systems can be out of whack,” he said. “You may see a drug dealer who is making a lot of money, but that is not the success you want to have. It doesn’t usually end well and that success is usually only for a season before it ends up catching up to them. I want to put it in people’s minds that there are other ways you can be successful. There is so much pressure to be successful, but it’s critical that young people can see a successful standard that they can (follow).” Elnathan said the pandemic allowed churches to find new ways to reach their congregation. He has more than 20 years’ experience in youth ministry and development and presently serves as the youth pastor of Emerge Youth Church at Bahamas Faith Ministries International. “Fortunately, our church had a lot of the technology already in place, so we were able to carry on nonstop. For example, we were still able to have our youth conference, but it did allow our young members to rise to the occasion as well by finding new ways to utilise that technology for the pandemic,” he said. Now that activities are slowly returning to normal, Elnathan said they can focus on more in-person activities to reach young people like the lock-in event which they are planning for next month. The overnight event will allow the youth members to have wholesome fun with entertainment and activities like egg and spoon races. “It’s a lock-in because it starts the Friday night

and ends the following Saturday morning at 6am, and you are not allowed to sleep,” he explained. He is also producing a new song with soca stars Emrand Henry and Leonardo Evans called “Limitless”, set to be released in the near future. “The message behind that song is that we serve a limitless God,” he said. Looking to the future, DJ Counsellor said he is excited about extending his brand internationally. He has already tapped into the North American, Caribbean and African markets.

This weekend in history

• In 1199, King Richard I of England – best known as Richard the Lion Heart and from the Robin Hood tales – is wounded by a crossbow bolt during a battle in France. This injury leads to his death on April 6 at the age of 41. • In 1807, British Parliament abolishes slave trade throughout its Empire. A penalty of £120 per slave illegally introduced is imposed on ship captains.

March 26 • In 1812, an earthquake measuring

“A lot of artists are comfortable with staying in the Bahamas, and as we have seen in the pandemic, you can reach people virtually, but I will equate my success with plane tickets. I want to be able to travel to reach people globally on a personal basis,” he said. mass suicide. The 21 women and 18 men believed they were going to be taken up by an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.

March 27

March 25 • In 31 AD, according to some biblical scholars, Jesus’ resurrection occurred, and therefore the first Easter. The exact date was calculated by sixth-century calendar maker and Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus, best known as the inventor of the Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord) dating. In 525, Dionysius prepared a table of 95 future dates of Easter.

“I think it is important for people to see the right image of success, because sometimes those value systems can be out of whack. You may see a drug dealer who is making a lot of money, but that is not the success you want to have.”

Typhoid Mary, an Irish-American cook, is believed to have infected 53 people with the fever, three of whom died. 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90 percent of Caracas, Venezuela and kills an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people. • In 1953, American medical researcher Dr Jonas Salk announces on the radio that he has successfully tested a polio vaccine. Poliomyelitis had caused paralysis and death for much of human history. At its peak in the 1940s and 50s, polio paralysed or killed over half a million people worldwide every year. • In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult are found dead at the Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego, California, after having committed

• In 1905, fingerprint evidence is used for the first to solve a British murder case – the slaying of husband-and-wife shopkeepers Thomas and Ann Farrow in South London. The brothers Alfred and Albert Stratton were convicted of their murders based on a right thumb print found on the Farrow’s cash box. They were both hanged on May 23 that same year. • In 1915, Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, is arrested and returned to quarantine on North Brother Island in New York after she had evaded health authors for five years and caused several further outbreaks of typhoid fever, which at the time had a fatality rate exceeding that of measles, scarlet fever and even influenza. • In 1977, 583 people die in aviation’s worst disaster when two Boeing 747s – one operated be Pan Am, the other by KLM – collide on the runway at the Tenerife airport in Spain. The collision occurrs as the KLM airliner initiates its takeoff run while the Pan Am plane, shrouded in fog, is still on the runway.

Parting; 13 Deliver; 23 Awfully11 neat feature of 15 Timely; 16 Obtain; Sicily (4)

the country (4)

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Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

● The Target uses words in the main body of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1999 edition)

HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals. Verb forms ending in s permitted. TODAY’S TARGET Good 10; very good 15; excellent 21 (or more). Solution tomorrow

Yesterday’s call 0907 181 2585 for Answer today’s target solution Sudoku *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE

Down 1 Old Roman firm at heart (4) 2 Seen when chins drop? (4,5) 3 Cryptic clue about northern relative (5) 4 First male worker is determined not to give way (7) 5 Oriental up late perhaps is carried shoulder high (7) 7 Sign used on the railway in many books (5) 8 He urges one change to facilitate quick growth (10) 9 Galley vessels? (8) 14 The way to take unusually keen interest (10) 16 Kept alive the bread round? (8) 18 The country encircling one’s country? (9) 20 The man who prepares the main dishes? (3-4) 21 Ask for another search? (7) 23 Games feature highlight of the social calendar (5) 25 Actor’s instruction to play ‘As You Like It’? (2-3) 26 River crossing for a car (4)

9 10

14 15

25 26

Yesterday’s Easy Solution Across: 1 Express, 5 Latin, 8 Cutthroat, 9 Kit, 10 Lest, 12 Scorcher, 14 Office, 15 Scrawl, 17 In person, 18 Stow, 21 Odd, 22 In cahoots, 24 Sally, 25 Deplete. Down: 1 Excel, 2 Pat, 3 Echo, 4 Slouch, 5 Literacy, 6 Take heart, 7 Natural, 11 Soft-pedal, 13 Scarcity, 14 Ominous, 16 Forced, 19 Waste, 20 Chip, 23 Owe.

Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution Across: 1 Swallow, 5 Basic, 8 Reception, 9 Owe, 10 Pots, 12 Short cut, 14 Pretty, 15 Spread, 17 Suitcase, 18 Skid, 21 Eva, 22 Chemistry, 24 Riser, 25 Sugared. Down: 1 Strap, 2 Arc, 3 Laps, 4 Wright, 5 Bankrupt, 6 Spot check, 7 Cheated, 11 The rivals, 13 Stock car, 14 Pasteur, 16 Osiers, 19 Dryad, 20 Ring, 23 Tar.

EASY PUZZLE

Across 1 Honorific title for ambassador (10) 6 Confused muddle (4) 10 Sheltered area for mooring (5) 11 Made powerless to act (9) 12 Just adequate (8) 13 A forest tree (5) 15 Descriptive adjective (7) 17 Instinctive feeling (7) 19 Kitchen sideboard with shelves (7) 21 Slavery (7) 22 Prefix for English (5) 24 Laughably small (8) 27 Bring to an end (9) 28 Fully conscious (5) 29 Walk unsteadily (4) 30 Without regard to safety (10)

Down 1 Place of Napoleon’s first exile (4) 2 Abandon (4,5) 3 Golf course (5) 4 Put on display (7) 5 Vie (7) 7 Vituperation (5) 8 Overbearing (4-6) 9 Mulish (8) 14 Maitre d’hotel (4,6) 16 Epoch-making (8) 18 Behindhand (2,7) 20 To diffuse (7) 21 Frenzied (7) 23 Eat greedily (5) 25 Urbane (5) 26 Resist openly (4)

FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden in the grid. The numbers to the right of and below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or parts of ships. The ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some squares have been filled in to start you off. Solution tomorrow 1

9 10

2 1

I I B Q R S

F S T T 25, 2022 A R G C

E X S G

H A W V

T A O V

R P Q E D K

H V Z L F D

E C U T

THE ALPHABEATE

TARGET Best described as a number crossword, the task in Kakuro is to fill all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so the sum of each horizontal block equals the number to its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the number on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro increases from Monday to Sunday.

Across 1 Reckoned it’s deliberate (10) 6 Softly pull the stopper (4) 10 Garment unusual in cut (5) 11 Plastic plate a bad design (9) 12 Last despite great efforts (5,3) 13 Turkish leader elected for a second time (5) 15 Old instrument for making wine nevertheless (7) 17 Golfer putting about on one green (7) 19 More than one slice of the right allotment of shares (7) 21 Lives in a dress that is slovenly (7) 22 Observable in attempt to cover tracks (5) 24 Bill is reduced strange to tell (8) 27 He stows away at the docks (9) 28 Rope in a girl with a ring (5) 29 The old part-time Himalayan Bigfoot (4) 30 Unusual task a bored youngster may busy himself with (10)

O L F S

17 Sloth; 20 Arc. March Friday,

1 x Battleship

3 x Destroyer

2 x cruiser

4 x submarine

cAn you crack the Alphabeater? each grid alph targEt thE e number represents a letter – or black square. 0 MuNicipal As in Alphapuzzle, every letter of theacross: alphabetStiffen (D camp clamp clap clip clump Tangent, Horse eac is used. Butlump you have complete the grid too! lamp limp lupin to MUNICIPAL Bonsai, Spry, J use the given letters and black squares below pail pain palm panic pica pilau (clue), Easel, Gu the to plum start. puma the grid is ‘rotationally plaingrid plan uncap down: Sulphur, 0 Carries, symmetrical’ – in other words, it looks the Fostere *Ca Mantle, Wand, yC same if you turn the page upside down. Shelves, Arson Solution tomorrow A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

30 2 15 35 Yesterday’s

40 Kakuro 24 40Answer 33 35

■

● Alternatively, for six Extra Letter clues to y text DXBEAT to 64343. Texts cost £1 plus your u

KEIJO 1 4

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Friday, March 25, 2022

FOOD

A new home for

FRIES WITH BENEFITS By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

INCE launching in 2020, Fries With Benefits has become a “blooming business”, offering over 30 different variations of loaded fries, burgers, subs and wraps. Rakel Rolle, owner of the mobile food and catering service, said they can mark their success by the times they have been mentioned in foodie magazines, on television, and by the fact that their food has made it all the way to Office of the Prime Minister. “It’s safe to say we are no longer a ‘small fry’,” she joked. Fries with Benefits has found a new home in a mobile truck that is now stationed on Shirley and Essex Streets, in the parking lot of Purple Brew (formerly Jimmy’s). Passersby can stop and grab one of Rakel’s signature loaded fries like the BBQ chicken bacon ranch fries, or the creamy Parmesan conch loaded fries. Also available are burgers like the Buffalo blue cheese chicken burger or the mango habanero conch burger, all made with homemade signature sauces. For Rakel, cooking is like chemistry. Every day she’s in her “lab” where she experiments with different techniques and ingredients to create her signature sauces. “Some create magic and others do not, but with the help of my assistant chef, Marie Roker, we make it work. When you have a gift, no amount of schooling will help, it’s truly all God, and for Him I am thankful for this gift,” she said. :What inspires me most is trying to create a legacy for my future generation. One thing the world has taught me after working a 9 to 5 and being adversely affected by this global COVID-19 pandemic, is always make yourself indispensable, and the only way that you can do that is by creating your own table. When you work for yourself the only person that can put limits on you is you. “Our culture has changed and I have changed with it. I never would have thought I would be the owner of a restaurant that is on its way to being a franchise, but here I am with the help of my husband, Lavard Rolle, who has been pushing me non-stop.” She said the team at Fries With Benefits is always up for having fun with the menu, and customers love the fact that they can get something new every month. “We have created a great base with our sauces which we will not deviate from, but we do get

Rakel Rolle and Marie Roker of Fries with Benefits with Prime Minister Philip Davis

creative with a special. We are definitely gearing up for Easter and will surely have some new limited time offerings to try,” said Rakel. “As we get ready to celebrate our two-year anniversary in July it is our goal to expand by the first quarter of next year. We will be growing in phases as we want to be around for years to come. Stay tuned and look out for Fries with Benefits; we are here to stay.”

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 25, 2022

GARDENING

Where does your food come from?

ood day, gardeners. I see so many wonderful things happening around our Bahamas in regard to food being grown. The question it raises for me is, where does all of our food in the grocery store come from? California, Peru, Mexico? It travels a very long way, regardless. We are fortunate to live in an

environment that allows vegetables to be grown for up to around nine months of the year in outdoor settings. We are also fortunate that there are a few companies growing vegetables in greenhouses yearround. Check out what is going on at CV Bethel High School, they are reaping the rewards of having put in a viable and sustainable vegetable growing programme, and it not only teaches the youth that gardening is

fun, healthy and productive, but it also feeds us. They harvest between 9am and 2pm on weekdays if you’re able to get by and check them out. Lots of noise has been made about BAMSI in the past. As with anything that government is involved in outside of governing, it tends to become a bit of a mess and the noise from the peanut gallery will always exist. There are great things happening. There are folks in Andros, Eleuthera, Exuma, etcetera, who are growing excellent produce. I had a conversation recently with a farmer in Exuma who stated frustration after he had been speaking with the lead of a large grocery store conglomerate. The produce grown in Exuma would have to be shipped to New Providence to their distribution centre, before being sent back to their store in Exuma. This defeats the purpose of locally grown, in some ways. One would think that it would be a benefit to all to allow locally grown produce to be bought and sold locally in the stores without the added expense, labour et al to ship to New Providence to ship back to the Exuma store. There have always been grumblings about the government run-distribution centres on the islands, for as long as I can remember. Many of us have hope that the current government can fix some of our broken food distribution food systems. BAIC (Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation) is doing great work to try to fix our broken system. They’ve recently reopened the packing house in

Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera and they are responsible for the crown land grants that are set at $1,000 per acre per year and depending upon what products are being grown or produced one can obtain a five to 20-year lease on the crown land. BAIC are not only encouraging us to grow more of our own food, but they are there to encourage value added products to be produced from the things that we can grow. If you are just starting out and you continue to be pestered by critters and issues with what you are trying to grow, do not give up. It is one thing for us to fix a broken system, and it is another entirely to take it into our own hands. Once the principles of growing a healthy and productive crop are grasped, the sky is the limit. Every one of us can grow something useful in our own gardens, patios, and even windowsills. Farmers markets are making a comeback, the COVID debacle spurned a great push to food independence, which is a stretch of the imagination in reality as it exists today, but it ought not discourage us to do all we can. I encourage you to support local farmers markets and choose locally grown produce over imports whenever possible, even if it takes a little more effort to do so, the benefits of buying local are profound. There are cadres of young Bahamians who want a better Bahamas, and food security ought to be one of the top items on the list. Locally grown produce speaks for itself, and there is some good stuff happening in our Bahamas! So don’t quit if you are not successful the first time or two around. Seek advice, listen to the people who have been doing it for decades. Verify information when it is given by double and triple checking the information for validity. We are a wealthy nation that has a long way to go to meet our potential, and we can all contribute to that by buying locally, buying locally grown and produced products, and encouraging not only others, but ourselves to grow on! Support local markets, ask your grocer to supply local products, and get out into the garden. As always, I wish you happy gardening. • Adam Boorman is the nursery manager at the Fox Hill Nursery. You can contact him with any questions you may have, or topics you would like to see discussed, at gardening242@gmail.com.

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Friday, March 25, 2022

COMMUNITY

Kiwanis Club

CELEBRATES 41 YEARS By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

t may not be a round number, but the Kiwanis Club of Nassau AM is going all out to celebrate 41 years. In the coming weeks, the organisation will be hosting a number events to highlight its achievements and community service efforts over the years. The club’s journey began on March 25, 1981. On September 17, 1981, under the leadership of Charter President Marco Rolle, they received their charter from District Governor David K Peters. From that point to now, the club has been fortunate to have consistent membership growth with people from across all professions. It is today the parent club of six other Kiwanis Clubs throughout the Bahamas, including in New Providence, Abaco, Harbour Island, and the Berry Islands as a satellite club – the first of its kind in the Sunshine Division 22.

The admin team

As community impact has been a main goal of Kiwanis clubs, the organisation has a long history of engaging and building up the next generation and has proudly sponsored ten student leadership programmes (SLP). It’s current clubs range from four K-Kids clubs (in primary schools), to three Builders Clubs (in junior high schools) and three Key Clubs (in senior high schools). Further impactful programmes have included an anti-drug campaign, construction of a library at the Willie Mae Pratt Centre, mentoring at the Simpson Penn Centre, home construction at the All Saints Camp, and one initiative that stands out to this day, the Feed the Family project. As the club celebrates this 41st year of service, it is evident that the members’ actions are still fuelled by providing selfless service in the community. Current President Charles Farquharson, a 23-year member of the club, spoke about his positive experience. “Being a Kiwanian has allowed me the opportunity to be a servant leader

by giving back to the less fortunate and building better communities. It’s not just about volunteering. Being selfless is about feeling fulfilled that you made a difference through your contribution to your community,” he said. The Club continues to contribute in a major way to the community annually through its signature project, Feed the Family. The goal is to provide about 100 families with $150 worth of groceries to take them through the Christmas holidays. Although they spearhead the various initiatives, the Club is grateful to all who have offered support and

monetary donations that have helped to drive the causes. During the 2021/22 administrative year, the Club has also fed members of the Englerston Community for Thanksgiving; initiated a “Reading is Fundamental” programme at the Sadie Curtis Primary School, and hosted several virtual study sessions for BJC and BGCSE students. President for the 2021-2022 L’Kheira Thompson is proud of the work the club has accomplished. “Being a Kiwanian means to be a bearer of light and hope to those in need.”

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Friday, March 25, 2022

LITERARY LIVES – ALDOUS HUXLEY

A writer who dared to step into a

BRAVE NEW WORLD Sir Christopher Ondaatje tries to understand the English writer and philosopher who wrote nearly fifty books – as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives and poems. “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.”

and Clive Bell. In his writings he caricatured the Garsington lifestyles. In 1919, he was invited by John Middleton Murry to join the staff of the Athenaeum, which he accepted graciously, and married the Belgian refugee Maria Nys whom he had met at Garsington. They lived with their young son in Italy part of the time, where he befriended D H Lawrence, whose letters he would edit when the latter died in 1932. Also, in 1929, he met the brilliant writer and philosopher Gerald Heard, who was an interpreter of contemporary science.

– Aldous Huxley Point Counter Point Aldous Leonard Huxley was born on July 26, 1894 in Godalming, Surrey, England – the third son of the writer and schoolmaster Leonard Huxley who was the editor of The Cornhill Magazine. Leonard Huxley’s first wife founded Prior’s Field School. She was the niece of poet Matthew Arnold. Aldous Huxley’s education began in his father’s botanical laboratory, after which he was sent to Hillside School near Godalming. He was also taught by his mother until she became too ill to teach him. After Hillside he went to Eton College. His mother died in 1908 when he was fourteen.

Huxley’s works in the 1930s included important novels on the dehumanising aspects of scientific progress, most famously Brave New World, and on pacifist themes like Eyeless in Gaza (1936). He began to write and edit non-fiction works including Ends and Means (1937), An Encyclopedia of Pacifism, and Pacifism and Philosophy (1937).

He contracted Keratitis Punctata in 1911 which left him almost blind for nearly three years. This ended his ambitions to become a doctor. In October 1913, Huxley entered Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied English literature. He volunteered for the British Army in January 1916 for the Great War, but was rejected on health grounds. His eyesight later partially recovered. In 1916, he edited Oxford Poetry and in June 1916 he graduated with a BA first class honours degree. His brother Julian wrote: “... his blindness was a blessing in disguise... it put paid to his idea of taking up medicine as a career ... His uniqueness lay in his universalism. He was able to take all knowledge for his province.”

Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963 After Balliol, Huxley taught French for a year at Eton. Eric Blair, who was later to use the pen name George Orwell, was one of his pupils. He also worked at Brunner and Mond – a chemical plant in Durham in north east England. His experiences were a useful contribution to Brave New World, published much later in 1932. Huxley’s first novel was completed when he was seventeen, but he

began writing seriously in his early twenties: Crome Yellow (1921), Antic Hay (1923), Those Barren Leaves (1925), and Point Counter Point (1928). Brave New World was his fifth novel. He also wrote for Vanity Fair and British Vogue. Much of the First World War was spent at Garsington Manor, the home of Lady Ottoline Morrell, where he worked as a farm labourer. There he met Bertrand Russell

In 1937, Huxley moved to Hollywood with his wife Maria, son Matthew Huxley, and friend Gerald Heard. He lived in Southern California until his death in 1963, spending some time in Taos, New Mexico, where he wrote Ends and Means (1937) – a book about war, religion, nationalism, and ethics. Gerald Heard introduced Huxley to Vedanta meditation and vegetarianism, through the nonviolence principle of ahimsa. Huxley became a Vedantist, and introduced Christopher Isherwood, the author of Goodbye to Berlin to this circle. Not long after this Huxley wrote his book The Perennial Philosophy, which discussed the teaching of renowned mystics of the world. This book promoted the sensibility that there are realities beyond the “five senses” and that there is genuine meaning for human

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beings beyond sensual satisfactions and sentimentalities. After Many a Summer (1939) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. While in Hollywood, Huxley became a much sought-after scriptwriter, and earned more than $3,000 a week ($50,000 in today’s money) as a screenwriter – much of which he used to help transport Jewish and left-wing artist refugees from Nazi Germany to the US. In March 1938, MGM hired Huxley to write the screenplay for Madame Curie, to star Greta Garbo and to be directed by George Cukor. However, the film was not made until 1943 with a different cast. He was given screen credit for Pride and Prejudice (1940) and Jane Eyre (1944). Although also commissioned by Walt Disney to write the script for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as well as a biography on Lewis Carroll, neither script was used. He also wrote an introduction to the posthumous J D Unwin’s 1940 book Hopousia or The Sexual and Economic Foundations of a New Society. On October 21, 1949 Huxley wrote to George Orwell congratulating him on his book Nineteen Eighty-Four, and how profoundly important the book was. “Within the next generation I believe that the world’s leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narcohypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience.” – Aldous Huxley Huxley and Maria Nys applied for US citizenship in 1953 but refused “to bear arms for the US.” He withdrew his application, but remained in the US. He refused an offer from the Macmillan government in the UK to be made a Knight Bachelor. Eventually his brother Julian was knighted in 1958, and another brother Andrew was knighted in 1974. His older brother Trevenen had killed himself in 1914. In 1960, Huxley was invited to be the Carnegie Visitor Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He accepted and presented a series

differences led Huxley to distance himself from Leary when the latter became too keen on promoting the drugs rather indiscriminately – with a fondness for publicity. Aldous Huxley was married twice; on 10 July 1919 to Maria Nys. They had one child Matthew Huxley who became a prominent epidemiologist. Maria Huxley died of cancer in 1955. In 1956 Huxley married Laura Archera, an author, violinist and psychotherapist. She wrote This Timeless Moment, a biography of Huxley. Huxley was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 1960. With his health deteriorating he wrote the Utopian novel Island (1962), and continued to give lectures at the UCSF Medical Centre and at the Esalen Institute. A great many of his papers were destroyed in a 1961 Bel Air fire, but many are still held at the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles, and at the Stanford University Libraries. On April 9, 1962, Huxley was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in Britain. Correspondence between Huxley and the Society is kept at the Cambridge University Library. He was to appear at a banquet and give a lecture at Somerset House in June 1963, but his deteriorating health meant he was not able to attend.

Huxley with fellow author D H Lawrence (‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover) in 1928 of lectures, titled “What a Piece of Work is a Man”, which concerned history, language and art. Towards the end of his life Huxley wrote about the deep apprehensions he had about the future of the developed world. He made warnings in his writings and talks and about the dangers of overpopulation; the use of technology in mass societies susceptible to persuasion; and the tendency to promote modern politicians to a naive public as well-marketed commodities. In a December 1962 letter to his brother Julian, following a paper he presented in Santa Barbara, he wrote: “... if we don’t pretty quickly start thinking of human problems in ecological terms, rather than in terms of power politics, we should soon be in a bad way.” Huxley biographer Milton Birnbaum wrote that in the end Huxley ended by embracing both science and Eastern religion. In his last book Literature and Science Huxley wrote that: “The ethical and philosophical implications of modern science are more Buddhist than Christian ...” In “A Philosopher’s Visionary Prediction”, published one month before he died, Huxley stated:

‘Brave New World’ published in 1932 “We must learn how to be mentally silent, we must cultivate the art of pure receptivity ... the individual must learn to decondition himself, must be able to cut holes in the fence of verbalized symbols that hems him in.” Huxley had his first experience with the psychedelic drug mescaline in the spring of 1953. Doctor Humphrey Osmond, a British psychiatrist employed in Canada, supervised Huxley’s session in Southern California. He recounted the experience in The Doors of Perception (1954). Having tried LSD in the 1950s, he became an advisor to Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert in their early 1960s research work with psychedelic drugs at Harvard University. However, personality

On his deathbed, unable to speak owing to advanced laryngeal cancer, Huxley made a written request to his wife Laura (Archera) for “LSD, 100 µg, intramuscular”. As described in her biography, This Timeless Moment, she obliged with an injection at 11.20am., and a second dose an hour later. Huxley died aged sixty-nine at 5.20pm (Los Angeles time) on November 22, 1963. Unfortunately, media coverage of Huxley’s death, along with that of fellow British author C S Lewis, was overshadowed by the assassination of American President John F Kennedy on the same day, less than seven hours before Huxley’s death. • Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; This Timeless Moment (2000) by Laura Huxley; Aldous Huxley (2002) by N. Murray; and Aldous Huxley: A Quest for Values (2017) by Milton Birnbaum.

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HISTORY

Friday, March 25, 2022

Visual pollution of our

ENVIRONMENT

t was my good fortune to see New Providence and the other islands of the Bahamas before many, oncebeautiful spots fell victim to visual pollution. For example, one of our bestknown beauty spots is Harbour Island’s Pink Sands Beach, but the beach is only one aspect of the island, and Dunmore Town is no longer the once-pristine settlement it used to be. My last stay on Harbour Island was spoiled by broken-down, abandoned cars, trucks, golf carts and boats cluttering up the landscape. One section was so polluted that I had to hold my breath whenever my friends and I drove around on a golf cart. New Providence, too, is cursed with visual pollution. We have hundreds of abandoned vehicles parked on the sides of our roads, and on many pieces of property. Another offender is the host of derelict buildings, on places like Cumberland Street, George Street and, let us not forget, Bay Street east of East Street. These eyesores detract from what used to be places of beauty. Fortunately, the East Hill Street Post Office has been removed. There are still many parts of this island where the eye can feast on beauty, but fewer than I remember. We have a plethora of expensive new government buildings, such as the unmarked complex between Delancy and Meeting Streets (which has no signs) and several on JFK possibly because governments are able to borrow money to build new buildings, but maintenance expenses come straight out of the tax money in the Public Treasury. The Rodney Bain building on the corner of Shirley and Parliament Streets is being allowed to fall apart, and the Clarence Bain building had to be knocked down. Visual pollution spoils the beauty of natural and man-made landscapes, but much of it can be eliminated and more of it can be controlled. A prime example is John F Kennedy Drive, the highway along

which most of our visitors get their first glimpse of the Bahamas. The overhead power lines are unattractive but have to be serenely tolerated as something that will not be changed. This is not the case with billboards and the countless other signs that clutter our landscape, without contributing to people’s quality of life. These can, and should, be changed. The principal offenders are political signs that are placed during the lead-up to general elections, many of which are never removed. The day after the last election I was fascinated to see how many had, in fact, been removed. Elections should not be free-for-alls and posting of posters should be controlled and limited. Do we need a sign telling us how many miles it is to the University of the Bahamas? Or, the huge number of signs, in so many places, touting gaming houses? The vast number of Bahamians who support gambling already know where to go. Billboards, including those at the Fusion Superplex conglomeration and at the University of the Bahamas, contribute nothing to the beauty of our landscape and should be banned. Although I admire the work done by the Bahamas Red Cross, the display at their headquarters is just “too much”. On our four-lane roads, signs saying ‘SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP LEFT’ are, however, badly needed. Freeport already has them. In the late 1950s, when I worked for Esso, the company bought property on the corner of Wulff Road and Blue Hill Road (directly opposite St Barnabas Church), to build the first Esso-owned service station in the Bahamas. The design of the building had been drawn by Esso’s head office in Havana and we were refused a building permit because the flat roof looked “American”. Once a Bahamian architect had changed the roof, a building permit was granted.

Dilapidated buildings continue to be eyesores Our next challenge was that road traffic had encroached on a large chunk of what was described in the conveyance. Bert PAUL C Cambridge, ARANHA one of the two FORGOTTEN FACTS representatives for the Southern District, happened to stop by to meet the people who were modernising his constituency. He acknowledged the validity of the conveyance, but suggested that the service station would benefit if the traffic flow were not changed. In those days, one had to apply for permission to put up a sign – any sign; and the rules were detailed and strict. Generally speaking, a business was allowed a sign to identify its location, but, for example, the Parliament Hotel could not put a sign at the corner of Bay Street with an arrow pointing in its direction. Billboards along any road were taboo. Esso had ordered the latest in plastic signs – a two-faced Esso oval, illuminated from within. Our application was refused, because lighted signs were forbidden. We

did, eventually, get permission for a two-sided metal sign hanging from a tall pole. I think Mr Cambridge had endorsed Esso’s application. The completed station was leased to Frank Ferguson and, much later, to Donald Archer, but it no longer exists. The building code protected the Bahamian character of our island, but we seem to be obsessed with “things American”. Seeing something on American TV should not mean that we must have it here. Even in the US, there are towns that will only permit businesses that blend into the way a town has looked for generations. I saw this with my own eyes, when we stopped were looking for lunch. The fast-food franchises did not have enormous signs, but we had no difficulty finding them. Nassau’s streets have become ‘Americanised’ by such franchises. I may well be “a voice crying in the wilderness”, for I know that public opinion decides the character of a community, but I’ve talked to many of my fellow Bahamians who share my view, that not all is bad, but we need to stop the rot. • For questions and comments, please send an e-mail to islandairman@gmail.com

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ANIMALS

The tale of a

TREE By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters

tree – a simple four-letter word for one of nature’s greatest accomplishments. They come in all sizes, textures, various shades of the spectrum. Not restricting themselves to greens, reds, purples, yellows and orange, they embrace blues and browns, a phenomenal array of nature’s best shades. Trees provide us with so much and yet they demand so very little from us. They ask for nothing but water and soil, sometimes a minimum of both is sufficient. Being somebody who has travelled extensively, one of the most rewarding things is to see, enjoy and remember are the different trees that are found around the world and how they adapt to their surroundings. Cold climates have an abundance of fir trees that cope brilliantly with the snow and frost, they have tress who flourish in the summer but drop their leaves in autumn and go dormant for the icy months of the year, only to delight us all at the arrival of spring popping out buds and fresh leaves. We are indeed lucky to have trees, big, tall, wide, skinny, flowering or not, fruit-bearing and shade-giving… the world would be lost without their existence. We now know that we could not exist without their help. I have always loved trees. My heart broke when the old casuarina trees were cut down along Saunders Beach. I felt sad when the trees on Cable Beach were cut down (and dangerous stumps left behind). I was enraged when the old Addington House property was cleared of its trees, and every time I hear of a silk cotton tree being bought down tears prickle in my eyes. Call me nuts, but I just love trees. This is why the new arrival to my garden this week brought me so much joy. A few years ago, in Hurricane Matthew, a very tall coconut tree was blown down. It was one of the first trees we planted on the property before we built. It lay on the ground, weather-beaten, the fronds burned by

the wind; a pathetic sight. We cleaned up around it, watered it copiously and let it rest. Gradually, the new fronds grew and the heart of the tree slowly moved towards the sun. After a year, there was a definite upward curve. Many years later, by the miracle of naturem we had a splendid tree that lay on the grass and then turned upwards and produced coconuts. Such a treat to sit on and admire the garden, the dogs and the many birds. Nothing ever stays the same in life, and last year we decided to downsize. It was harder saying good-bye to the trees than it was to say good-bye to the house. My brave coconut tree especially. I offered to take it with me but the new owners liked it, so I had to leave it behind, but I said to them, “If you ever don’t want it any more, let me know.” The message came last Wednesday: they are building, can we get it out by Monday? Wow, a bit of a scramble, not much time, but when there is a will there is invariably a way. At this point I have to say hats off to fellow Berry Islander Mr Gomez of Lawnscape who came to survey the situation at a moment’s notice,

It a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s super tree with Mr Gomez of Lawnscape in the foreground

Settled in her new home with Bella

assured me it could be done, and would be done on Monday. Some of us know that things do not always turn out as expected in the Bahamas, and I prepared myself mentally for disappointment. I cannot say enough positive things about Mr Gomez and his team. I cleared my calendar for Monday and waited to receive updates. By 11.15am I had a text that the tree was on the crane, by 11.40am, after a stately drive through of Lyford Cay, they were in front of our new home: At 12.15pm she was gently placed in the hole that had been carefully prepared for her, no fuss, no yelling, calmly and lovingly settled in her new home. Oops, did I say she? Bella and Garmin went out to greet an old friend, full of memories of their tress friends who look down from the rainbow bridge. Her arrival pleased them. Every day I greet my friend the tree. Do trees know or feel? They are beyond our scope of comprehension. I think she is happy. My dogs are very happy to have her here, I am ecstatic to have greeted her back into my life. Trees are alive, they breathe, the give us shade, they give us joy. I honestly feel I have an old friend outside my front door and feel happiness every time I see her. Indulge me if I have included the tale of a tree in my “Animal Matters” column. I hope you understand. Welcome home, my brave coconut tree. May you forever flourish.

pet of the week

A talkative pal By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY “Hi, there! My name’s Squeak. I was a feral but I’ve decided I want to be a house cat. I’m about three months old, and as you can tell by my name, I’m quite chatty. I also love to snuggle, though I’m a bit picky about who I snuggle with. I’d love to make friends with some new cats and with you, too. You can find out more about me by coming in to the Bahamas Humane Society or by calling 323-5138.

I look forward to squeaking at you!” • Party for the Animals is back! Tomorrow, Saturday, March 26, from 7pm to midnight at the BNT Retreat on Village Road. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at the BHS or at Fox Hill Nursery. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test will be required for entry. See you there!

Photo/Linda Gill-Aranha

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