04302021 WEEKEND

Friday, April 30, 2021

celebrity interview art gardening history community puzzles animals

Weekend

Super yacht of the past Page 14

Surreal success Bahamian artist lands Vogue feature

pgs 08 +09

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 30, 2021

celebrity With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt

FAIL

FAIL

SPLIT

FAIL

HIT

Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) in McQueen

Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) in Armani Prive

Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) in Louis Vuitton

Andra Day (“The United States vs Billie Holiday”) in Vera Wang

Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) in Aramni

Karin says: “This looks very old school glam. I’m not crazy about the soap operaish winged shoulders, but on a night where almost all the big stars looked terrible, she’s not doing too bad. I do like the elegance she’s projecting and the bejewelled baby blue colour.”

Karin says: “People were praising her for looking like the Oscar statuette, but to me be this gold lamé dressjust looks cheap to me. Too many giant cut-outs for the Oscars; this is more suited to the Grammys where one can be more daring. Her hair looks great though.”

Cara says:“It’s a bird...it’s a plane... it’s Regina King looking like she was ready to fly away at a moment’s notice.

Yes, the fabric and colour choice are pretty. But the shoulders! Those huge winglike contraptions just distract me from everything else.”

Cara says: “It’s an OK dress for a fun evening out, but I agree, it lacks the formality required for the Oscars. It’s just a bit too flimsy. And even those it’s Vera Wang, it doesn’t look like an expensive design. The hair is super cute though.”

Karin says: “I’m not going to lie; the Oscars this year were a dud and so were most of the dresses. There were many uglier gowns on the red carpet, but that doesn’t mean this gets a pass. The laser cutouts somehow make it look cheap and like something you could order off AliExpress.

It just doesn’t look like a designer gown.”

Cara says: “Well, it’s definitely one of her worst looks. She is usually a lot more polished on the red carpet, but hey, we have all been unglamorous for the last year, so maybe she’s out of practice in being fab.

But this is definite miss for me.”

Karin says: “I guess this is what her character ‘Mamaw’ would consider glamorous.

I’m sorry that she lost her eighth Oscar nomination, but with this dress (or is a jacket?), it’s probably for the best. This is a hideous embroidered mess. And who told satin gloves were the way to go? She looks like a fancy chauffeur.”

Cara says: “I think the top is lovely. I would have been fine with that as a dress. I mean, I guess the gloves were a pandemic must, but I really feel the pants, gloves and shoes don’t match the top.

Maybe she didn’t make the effort because she was tired dressing up for nothing.”

Karin says: “This is probably one of the few gowns I genuinely liked this year (corona has been rough on designers and stylists, it seems). The blood red is stunning on her. This is statement dress, and the statement says a star has arrived. Glamorous and classic.”

Cara says: “This dress reminds of those old movies where the starlet is walking around her bedroom with the trailing feather robe and the matching high-heeled bed slippers. Very old Hollywood and perfection on Amanda, especially considering the role she was nominated for.”

AP Photos/Chris Pizzello, Pool

The Weekend Fashion Report 93rd Academy Awards

The Tribune | Weekend | 03

Friday, April 30, 2021

Weekend Inside

My Perfect Bahamian Weekend Sandra Bullard Event planner

Interview 4 – 5

Dr Ann Higgins was born to dance, and after 50 years in the field, she has done something remarkable: made UNESCO recognised Bahamian dances

Puzzles 6 Food 7

New and easy ways to cook sheep tongue

Art 8-9

A Bahamian surrealist artist lands a feature in Vogue magazine

Fashion 10

Local designer ensures you have a baptism in style

Q: What will you be binge-watching?

“I will be binge-watching reruns of ‘Law & Order’.”

Community 11

A young man sets sail to discover career opportunities on the sea

Literary Lives 12 – 13

Q: What’s on the weekend menu?

“Definitely will be eating steamed conch this weekend. The hubby promised to make it.”

No shrinking violet – the story of literary hostess and feminist novelist

Forgotten Facts 14 Super yachts in history

Animals 15

How to prepare for the dog days of summer, plus Pet of the Week

Gardening 16

Time for lawn care

Cover I Painting by Nicole Collie Jamison

THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY

Mozart’s opera “Marriage of Figaro” premieres in Vienna, Austria, with Mozart himself directing.

• In 1840, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the “Penny Black” featuring Queen Victoria, is issued by Great Britain.

April 30

• In 1517, Londoners began attacking foreign residents in rioting that carried over into the next day; no deaths were reported from what came to be known as “Evil May Day,” but about a dozen rioters, maybe more, ended up being executed.

• In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office in New York as the first president of the United States.

• In 1945, as Soviet troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler took his own life along with that of his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

Today’s birthdays: Singer Willie

Nelson is 88. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is 75. Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 60. Actor Adrian

07

Q: What weekend activities do you have planned?

“I’m passing the time relaxing with family this weekend.”

THE SO-called surgeon’s photograph of Nessie from 1934 is now known to have been a hoax.

Pasdar is 56. R&B singer Akon is 48.

Actor Johnny Galecki (“Big Bang Theory”) is 46. Actor Sam Heughan (“Outlander”) is 41. Actor Kirsten Dunst is 39. Rapper/producer Travis Scott is 30.

May 1

• In 1489, Christopher Columbus proposes his plan to search for a western route to India in an audience with Spanish monarch, Isabella I. Full support is granted three years later, in 1492.

• In 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus

Today’s birthdays: Singer-

songwriter Ray Parker Jr. is 67. Country singer Tim McGraw is 54. Movie director Wes Anderson is 52. Actor Julie Benz is 49. Gospel/R&B singer Tina Campbell (Mary Mary) is 47.

May 2

• In 1670, King Charles II of England granted a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company, which was made up of the group of French explorers who opened the lucrative North American fur trade to London merchants.

• In 1933, the Loch Ness “monster”

Q: If you had to be quarantined with a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“I would definitely be quarantined with Denzel Washington. If Marvin Gaye was alive, it would be him.

Q: If you could have a COVID-free trip, where would you go?

“If I had to spend the weekend somewhere minus COVID I would be off to Hawaii. I love that place!”

was sighted for the first time, igniting the modern legend of Nessie. The Scottish newspaper Inverness Courier reportedthe claims of a local couple who said they saw “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.”

• In 2011, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, is killed

by US forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan.

Today’s birthdays: Singer

Engelbert Humperdinck is 85. Actor Christine Baranski is 69. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 66.

Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) is 49. Former soccer player David Beckham is 46.

Actor Kumail Nanjiani is 43. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is six.

- The Associated Press

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 30, 2021

interview

Dr Ann Higgins From performing scantily clad in casino revue shows, to finding God, to writing a book, to hosting a TV show and establishing the Bahamas’ first Christian dance school, Ann has done it all. She tells Cara Hunt how she has now helped Bahamian folk dances and Junkanoo dancing to be recognised by UNESCO.

DR Ann Higgins is the president of the Nassau Section of the International Dance Council, a non-profit founded within UNESCO.

D

r Ann Higgins was born to dance. In fact, she has spent almost her entire life dancing, first as an entertainer and then in glory to God. And now, after 50 years, she is helping put the Bahamas on the international dance stage as the president of the Nassau Section of the International Dance Council.

“I started dancing at the age of 15 while I was still in high school,” she said.

Eventually, she started working in Grand Bahama at the El Casino Kasbah in Freeport, performing in six major productions from 1975 to 1983 as lead dancer and line captain.

However, she soon came to a major fork in the road when she made a life-changing decision.

“On February 10, 1985, the greatest event in my life took place; I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”

As a result of her faith, Ann decided to devote all her talents and gifts to God.

Instead of dancing topless in a secular setting, she started a new career as an exercise instructor working in several well-known spas in Nassau.

In her book, “Born to Dance”, she recounts: “No had told me that my body was more costly than silver or gold, they never told me that a price was already paid for my body, so I was out there exposing it in a cheap way for 12 years of my life.”

Eventually, she learned she could use her love of music and dance to glorify God through

The Tribune | Weekend | 05

Friday, April 30, 2021

DR Ann Higgins is passionate about teaching Bahamian dances to the next generation.

interpretative and liturgical dance, also known as praise dance.

“I was no longer on show for men, I was on show for God,” she said.

Ann also starred in a television programme called “Exercising By Faith” which become very popular.

Two years after becoming a Christian, she started her dance school, Exercise by Faith, Fitness and Dance Studio.

“It was the first Christian dance studio in the Bahamas. Hundreds of children continue to pass through the doors of that school. Over 200 dance leaders from difference denominations around the world are now leading and teaching others,” she said.

When she met Pastor Henry Higgins, it was clear they were a perfect musical match.

He also had a lifelong love of dancing, particularly Bahamian folk dance and Junkanoo.

Henry began teaching dance in 1987 and has been teaching dance throughout the Bahamas and the United States for the last 25 years. In 1990, he formed the Cultural Explosion Dance Company.

In 1991, he was chosen to be the choreographer

for the Shell Saxon Superstars and eventually started his own Junkanoo group: Conquers for Christ.

Ann and Henry have also established four community centres in the urban areas that provide homework assistance, a reading programme for the children, along with a school for the arts.

Additionally, they formed the Bahamas National Liturgical Dance Company.

“Its vision is to represent the Bahamas spiritually and culturally throughout the world,” said Ann. As part of that desire, they also founded the Caribbean Christian Dance Network (CCDN), a conference that brings dancers from around the world together each year.

Additionally, Ann is the president of the Nassau Section of the International Dance Council (CID).

CID is the official umbrella organisation for all forms of dance in all countries of the world.

It was founded in 1973 as a non-profit organisation within the UNESCO with headquarters in Paris, France, and is recognised by all governments, international organisations and institutions.

It brings together the most important international, national and local dance organisations, as well as select individuals active in dance.

And thanks to her influence, ‘Spirituality and Dance’ was introduced as programme number 15 by the CID. Ann originally became a member of the organisation in 1999 and then she and her husband became president and vice President in 2017 respectively.

A special ceremony took place on March 29, 2018, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

“Ambassador to UNESCO, Desmond Edwards, delivered greetings and a presentation of Bahamian culture was showcased by our delegation, consisting of five Bahamian dancers, during which time a letter of recognition was given to us to serve as president and vice-president of CID Nassau Section along with other executives who received special certifications and diplomas,” she explained.

At present, the CID Nassau Section has a team of 31 executive members, 173 registered members and approximately 1,500 followers throughout the Bahamas, mainly students and instructors of dance.

“We realise that dance is an important part of art, culture and national identity. Dance created

by Bahamian choreographers and taught by Bahamian dance teachers is a cultural product that can be easily exported in order to present our culture abroad and promote our country.”

Yesterday marked International Dance Day and the CID Nassau Section observed the event last evening with a virtual event held under the theme “You know how to make people dance. You hear the call, answer it.”

Ann told Tribune Weekend that she is very proud of their achievements to date.

“On International Dance Day, the International Dance Council Nassau Section is happy to announce that on January 10, 2021, the International Dance Council has validated Bahamian folk dance, Junkanoo dance and liturgical dance under the International Dance Council, the official partner of UNESCO,” she said.

“I have been informed that CID Nassau Section, through my presidency, can now run certification courses in Bahamian folk dance, Junkanoo dance, liturgical dance and any other forms of dance under the International Dance Council. That’s good news for our Bahamian student dancers.”

Ann also noted that during the pandemic of 2020, CID launched a project called “Youth, Dance & Video” encouraging the creation of choreographies for youth under the theme “The values of UNESCO move me”. Dancers were asked to submit videos of their dances andthe best were chosen to be screened at UNESCO headquarters.

The CID Nassau Section’s video from the Bahamas was chosen, and all the students were presented with participation certificates last December.

regulate (10) 27 Frenchman gets help – domestic (4)

06 | The Tribune | Weekend

container (5) 6 Average; 7 Nestles; 8 At M R E D N O W E 22 In April,work; I make 13 capital Frantic; (4) A A2021 R O Q Q R T Friday, April 30, 23 His camera captured 14 Implore; 15 Notion; R H D S T R E B fraudulent behaviour (4) 16 Nodular; 17 Skilful.

S A S M Y R O D M A G A G Y D A L T G R G W E N

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.

nt i or t i un

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 9; very good 14; excellent 18 (or more). Solution tomorrow

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

BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Club for those at the green stage (6) 4 Helped a fool with new diets (8) 9 Gadget wrongly labelled (6) 10 Old Sally Brown (8) 12 Cats and dogs for example pace around (4) 13 Poems written about old salts (5) 14 Cheap price though requiring a lot of notes (4) 17 What the inventor of the monorail had? (3-5,4) 20 Not descriptive of those with dull pupils (5-7) 23 Charge the boy nothing to go in (4) 24 Married women hold different views (5) 25 Satisfied with a quarter measure (4) 28 Control shown as others fall (8) 29 A leg up is needed getting this disease (6) 30 The last thing a crowd will do (8) 31 Possibly push to conclusion (6)

1

2

3

4

9

EASY PUZZLE

5

10 11

12

13 15

17

20 21

22

23

Yesterday’s Easy Solution

Down 1 Accommodate a wealthy Across: 1 Wring, 4 Stomach, man in fraud (3-2,3) 8 Oak, 9 Instead of, 10 Precede, 2 Got there perhaps but not 11 Showy, 13 Ruined, 15 Demean, 18 Right, 19 Prudent, by oneself (8) 21 Unheard-of, 23 Dab, 3 We take turn and turn 24 Hamster, 25 Today. about in the vessel (4) Down: 1 Whopper, 2 In keeping, 5 He upsets some scholar 3 Guile, 4 System, 5 Oversee, about the beginning of 6 Add, 7 Hefty, 12 Open-ended, term (12) 14 Entrant, 16 Notably, 17 Spider, 6 This month in Westminster 18 Rough, 20 Unfit, 22 Hum. (4) 7 Inferior saucepan (3-3) 8 Excessive fondness for female without attachment (6) Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution 11 Castile pie is served up in chef’s choice dishes (12) 15 For fish some paper money Across: 1 Fuses, 4 Habitue, 8 Yea, 9 Abdicates, 10 Athlete, is about right (5) 11 Level, 13 Father, 15 Agenda, 16 Getting a horse on board 18 Alias, 19 Mailing, creates difficulties (5) 21 Headdress, 23 Ave, 18 Effort is needed to make a 24 Notepad, 25 Tiers. trial of it (8) Down: 1 Fly half, 2 Spaghetti, 3 Shade, 4 Hedged, 5 Backlog, 19 He daren’t upset a 6 Tot, 7 Easel, 12 Vindicate, supporter (8) 14 Eased up, 16 Anglers, 21 Highly decorated lid for a 17 Impend, 18 Ashen, 20 Inset, new dish (6) 22 Act. 22 Large numbers are in the services (6) 26 Exempt from being unemployed (4) 27 Box for a piece of jewellery (4) Down Across 1 Close quarters 1 Notice presence aerial battle (8) of (6) 6 7 8 2 Country formerly 4 Irish national Siam (8) emblem (8) 3 Lacking affection 9 With pleasure (6) (4) 10 Storyteller (8) 5 A callous nature 12 Inactive (4) (5,2,5) 13 Complete trust (5) 14 6 Take notice of (4) 14 Annoy (4) 16 7 Be too clever for 17 Fast and in large (6) amounts (4,4,4) 8 Central part (6) 20 Seemingly from 18 19 11 Dismantle (4,2,6) nowhere (3,2,4,3) 15 Fashion (5) 23 Search 16 Up and about (5) systematically (4) 18 Give permission 24 Demon (5) for (8) 25 Culminating point 25 19 Unswervingly (4) loyal (4-4) 27 28 Disclaim (8) 21 Burn superficially 29 Heartily good(6) humoured (6) 22 Reparation (6) 30 Highly secret (4-4) 26 Luxuriant (4) 31 Gamble recklessly 27 Thwart (4) (6)

24 26

28

29

30

31

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

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10

A

2

B

1

C

3

D

2

E

2

F

1

G

1

H

4

I

2

J

2 3

2

1

1

2

2

2

0

5

1 x Battleship

3 x Destroyer

2 x cruiser

4 x submarine

2

cAn you crack the Alphabeater? Each grid alpha E targEt thE number represents a letter – or black square.

09 guidEbook across: Wheeze, As in Alphapuzzle, every letter of the alphabet (De bide biked bodgetobooed Guru each is used.

Butbode you have complete the grid(clue), too! Nave boogied bookedletters budgeand budgie Arch,below State, Dish, use the given black squares debug dike doge duke geoid Step, Term, Rega the grid to start. the grid is ‘rotationally 09 gibed good guide GUIDEBOOK Rug, Absent, Man symmetrical’ – in other words, it looks the down: Kudos,*Call Ho yo same if you turn the page upside down.

Lisle, Equip, Provn Solution tomorrow Yogurt, Arm, Agh 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

5

36

16

18

36

Junta, Taken, Rou 16 Renal, 25 33 28 3 Harem.

27

17

15

6

35

8

28

38

30

3

36

24

27

1

20

15

4

32

9

6

12

28

18

3

15

10

34

38

17

2

21

25

4

18

19

40

15

32

9

3

3

17

24

8

32

31

14

35

23

3

40

4Yesterday’s 27 27 21

6

27

10

13

4

17 Kakuro 38 15 Answer 8 6

39

28

38

4

6

11

15

15

29

15

27

5

40

36

3

15

23

37

10

23

39

40

1

26

2

18

35

34

22

37

40

9

32

26

1

9

1

9

25

4

31

2

10

39

2

37

9

27

12

9

2

22

5

4

3

11

12

13

14

30 31

32

33

34 35

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Y

P

10

■

■■

15

● Alternatively, for six Extra Letter clues to yo text DXBEAT to 84901. Texts cost £1 plus your usu

KEIJO 2

1 2 2

3

4

4

3

3

4

1

2

4

1

1

3

The Tribune | Weekend | 07

Friday, April 30, 2021

food

The new taste of sheep tongue

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

W

hen most Bahamians think of sheep tongue, they probably envision a nice, hot bowl of souse.

Some enjoy it as warm dish a night, while others like starting their day with a good souse as their breakfast, especially on the weekends.

But preparing sheep tongue souse can be a lot of work, so a local food company is seeking to make it bit easier for all the home chefs out there David Turnquest is the founder and CEO of Premium Processed Foods, which is currently selling “ready to cook” pre-packaged sheep tongue.

“At present, we offer the Premium Processed sheep tongue as a standalone product, saving the consumer two hours in prep time and making it more convenient for packaging and storage.

Sheep tongue is a time-consuming product to get ready,” he said.

While the meat is mainly used for souse, he said there are numerous exciting ways in which the meat can be cooked.

The first is a sheep tongue curry, which can be made the same way as a chicken or lamb curry, with all your favourite spices.

But Mr Turnquest said the options are endless, as sheep tongue can also be battered and fried, steamed, or used in a stir fry.

He was inspired in his idea for selling pre-packaged sheep tongue and promoting the different ways to cook it by working in his mother’s restaurant, ‘The Original Souse House’, formerly located on Wulff Road.

Watching the tedious and time-consuming procedure of getting the dishes ready for customers,

and also the high demand for sheep tongue, he said, initially gave him the idea for his business.

Now, he’s ready to wow Bahamians with his product and eager to receive their verdict.

“We are looking for positive feedback in terms of the dish texture, taste and design,” he said.

If all goes well, Mr Turnquest hopes to offer additional pre-packaged foods through his 100 percent owned Bahamian company.

“We are grateful for our clientele over the years, and we look forward to building a stronger relationship in the years to come,” he said.

Premium Processed Foods is located at #5 Arundel Street, Centreville. Its main product is sheep tongue, which comes packaged in two sizes and can be found in food stores across New Providence as well as on the Family Islands of Abaco, Eleuthera and Cat Island.

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 30, 2021

fashion

A baptism in style

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

S

he doesn’t consider herself a fashionista, but Keishan Vaughan does consider herself an artist, and has over the years, developed a fine taste for everything that is elegant, feminine and modest. She especially likes the chic vintage look.

And that’s exactly what she’s going for with her christening and baptism headwear for children and adults under her brand Maddison Charls.

“I am not a fan of the ordinary or the rules of fashion. I am passionate about satisfying the need to express my true self. I am not seasonal, but I am who I am all year long and it’s important that I embrace that. I am a DIY’er who, if I had it my way, would create everything that I wore

from head to toe, yes, even down to my shoes,” said Keishan, who is also a makeup artist.

A wife and mother of a two-yearold girl, she has been working in the field of children’s fashion for five years now.

“I believe that beauty exists all around us, if only we would put our phones down from time to time and look. There is much to inhale and admire,” she said.

Keishan said she focuses on headpieces for christenings and baptism because those are the designs her customers seem to gravitate towards.

A christening or baptism, she said, is usually the first formal event in a little girl’s life, and parents want to make it as special as possible.

HEADPIECES by Maddison Charls

“Art is so very personal and needs not have a rhyme or reason.

It exists on its own as an avenue of self-expression. That’s why art is so unique and is impossible to reproduce,” she said.

Keishan also finds a lot of inspiration for her designs on the image sharing site Pinterest, where she often looks of vintage and haute couture creations, as well as in her everyday life.

“However, I very rarely go right to work with making my piece a reality, as I often wait for the right client to request that exact piece that I had been visualising to complement their style request,” she said.

“All of my pieces are like giving the world a puzzle piece of myself.

They all are, as a result, very special to me, and I am always humbled and excited to be able to share my Godgiven gift with anyone who finds a connection to who I am and what I do.”

Keishan said she was first inspired to start her company after the birth of her niece, whose name is Maddison. The venture started out as a small family business called Love Always Maddie, for which both sister and her niece came up with headpiece designs.

“My daughter Charleigh came along some two years later, and with the new addition the name changed from Love Always Maddie to Maddison Charls. At this time, I took over everything Maddison Charls and became the artisan behind the headpieces. I was excited to have another little girl to dress like the princess that she is,” she said.

“It is my belief that children recognise and appreciate all efforts made to affirm how special they are.

They are usually all in for dressing up and feeling their most beautiful.

This boosts their self-esteem tremendously, and from my experience, it is definitely directly correlated to them dressing well and feeling pretty.”

The small business is home-based, located east on Beatrice Avenue off of Prince Charles Drive. Keishan can be reached by e-mailing maddisoncharls@gmail.com.

The Tribune | Weekend | 11

Friday, April 30, 2021

community

Young Bahamian gets his sea legs Aquinas graduate says maritime industry offers promising career choices

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

D

renaud Moncur, Jr is about to set sail to to achieve his dreams. The 22-year-old recently earned his first Certificate of Competence as an Officer of the Watch.

This unlimited licence now allows him to be engaged as a navigation officer sailing on any sized vessel, on any ocean, anywhere in the world.

Officer Moncur is a 2016 graduate of the Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps. He participated in the programme during his last three years as a student at Aquinas College.

Drenaud’s interest in the maritime field was sparked when he was in the seventh grade and this led him to become a Royal Bahamas Defence Force Ranger. But it was not until his exposure to the more in-depth instruction in areas such as navigation, rules of the nautical road, seamanship and vessel husbandry, which he received in the BMCC, that he was sold on the idea that a career on the seas was his calling.

In addition to the classroom instruction, students in the Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps receive additional exposure through field trips to sites involved in shipping as well as presentations from industry professionals.

It’s clear that navigation runs in the family, as Drenaud Moncur Sr is himself licenced airline pilot.

“It was my father who inspired me to pursue a career in the maritime industry and actually took the first steps to visit the instructors at the C R Walker High School (where the BMMC classes were held),” said young Drenaud.

Once enrolled, however, getting to the programme proved to be a daily challenge.

“I had to hike a ride (from Aquinas to C R Walker) in order to make it to classes, but once those upperclassmen graduated, I had to take a series of public busses so as to make it to the campus on time, as punctuality, along with discipline, are stressed as integral components of participating in the Maritime Cadet Corps,” he explained.

Upon completion of his high school studies, Drenaud attended the Marine Institute of Memorial University in Canada where he was able to participate in a four-year diploma programme.

It included three years of classroom instruction, supplemented by one year of sea time on some of the largest vessels in the world.

In Drenaud’s case, he was assigned to a roll-on/ roll-off vessel - ships transporting bulk cargo - as well as to two seismic vessels which carried out surveys of the oceanfloor. He was particularly

DRENAUD was able to work on a Panamax vessel, the largest allowed to transit through the Panama Canal

DRENAUD MONCUR, JR

pleased to have received experience on a Panamax vessel, the largest allowed to transit through the Panama Canal.

All of the necessary Transport Canada examinations were completed prior to the end of his third year of instruction, and once the requirements for the sea time were satisfied, he was allowed to sit the mandatory oral examinations.

Drenaud successfully completed all of his licence requirements on February 25, 2021. The Canadian qualification is easily transferable to a Bahamian Certificate of Competence.

He intends to complete his Bachelor’s degree in Maritime Management in June of this year.

Drenaud wants to encourage other young Bahamians to enter the maritime industry.

“There are so many opportunities available in the maritime industry, particularly on ocean-going vessels where you can actually see so many other parts of the world and be paid while doing so,” he said.

“Set your goals and stick to them. Stay focused, as there are a lot of distractions which young people find enticing but only result in momentary satisfaction.”

Looking towards the future, Drenaud said he would eventually like to work within the cruise industry.

In the interim he has been employed with a local tugboat as well as a tanker company.

12 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 30, 2021

literary lives - Violet Hunt

No shrinking violet Sir Christopher Ondaatje writes about the British author and literary hostess who wrote feminist novels and is remembered as the lover of famous men. She founded the Women Writers’ Suffrage League in 1908, and participated in the founding of International PEN.

“Hunt was governess-educated and precociously literary. She was publishing poems, and being paid for them, before she was in her teens. Her father, a leading watercolourist, intended her to be a painter and she studied at Kensington Art School ... turning her skills to connoisseurship rather than practice.

Thereafter she was, like her mother, a well-known London hostess and woman of letters, admired by, among others, Oscar Wilde, who is popularly supposed to have proposed to her ... She had the sense to refuse.”

- John Sutherland Lives of the Novelists (2011) Violet Hunt was born in Durham, in North East England, on September 28, 1862. Her father was the artist Alfred William Hunt, and her mother the novelist and translator Margaret Raine Hunt.

Her family moved to London in 1865 and she was brought up knowing the Pre-Raphaelite group of artists and writers. The story that Oscar Wilde proposed to her in Dublin in 1879 gives credence to her correct birth date as 1862 - and not 1866 – as she would only have been 13 years old in 1879.

Hunt was an active feminist and her literary works varied from short stories to novels, memoirs and biography. The Maiden’s Progress (1894), A Hard Woman (1895), and The Human Interest (1899) were the “New Woman” genre cynical works, and her short story collection Tales of the Uneasy are examples of supernatural fiction.

White Rose of Weary Leaf is regarded as her best novel, while her biography of model Elizabeth Siddal, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s mistress, is considered unreliable, being over-critical of the artist. She founded the Women Writers’ Suffrage League in 1908, and participated in the founding of International PEN in 1921.

Hunt’s literary output was considerable, but her reputation rests with the literary salons she held at her house, South Lodge, in Campden Hill where she entertained Rebecca West, Ezra Pound, Joseph Conrad, Wyndham Lewis, D H Lawrence, and Henry James. She helped novelist and critic Ford Madox Ford (real name Ford Madox Hueffer) establish The English Review in 1908. Many

of her guests would be characterised in her novels, notably Their Lives and Their Hearts.

She had many intimate relationships, usually with older married men. She never married, but for a while, between 1910 and 1918, she lived with Ford and was known as Mrs Hueffer, whose wife refused to divorce him. Other lovers included Somerset Maugham, Walter Pollack and Oswald Crawford – who infected her with venereal disease.

“Hunt was one of the few women who did not succeed in becoming H G Wells’s mistress.”

- John Hardwick Author, An Immodest Violet (1991) Hueffer (Ford Madox Ford) fictionalised Hunt as the scheming Florence Dowell in The Good Soldier (1915), and as the promiscuous Sylvia Tietjens in Parade’s End (1924/1926). Maugham characterised her as Norah Nesbit in Of Human Bondage (1915), and Rose Waterfield in The Moon and Sixpence (1919).

The Tribune | Weekend | 13

Friday, April 30, 2021

FAME poet and playwright Oscar Wilde resportedly proposed to Violet Hunt in 1879 Violet Hunt died of pneumonia in her London home on January 16, 1942, aged 79. Her grave and those of her parents is at Brookwood Cemetery in London.

VIOLET Hunt in her home, just after publishing her novel ‘Sooner or Later’ in 1904

WHITE Rose of Weary Leaf is regarded as Violet Hunt’s best novel

(L-R) Famed writers Ford Maddox Ford, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and Daniel Clarence Quinn “Before she died she had published poetry and seventeen novels ... two collections of stories, her memoirs of the Ford years and the biography of Lizzie Siddal (1829 – 1862) in addition to six collaborations.

- Barbara Belford Violet: The Story of the Irrepressible Violet Hunt and her Circle of Lovers and Friends (1990)

Hunt wrote two collections of supernatural stories: Tales of the Uneasy (1911) and More Tales of the Uneasy (1925).

“Excellent stories, in which the supernatural is used as a technical device to indicate ironies of fate and the intimate relationship of life and death.”

- E F Blieler American editor, biographer and scholar of science fiction and fantasy literature

*** As Marie Secor of Pennsylvania State University states in her English Literature in Translation, 1880 – 1920: If Violet Hunt is remembered at all today, it is as Ford Madox Ford’s self-proclaimed wife and only vaguely as a novelist in her own right. Parts of the story of the Ford relationship, which encompass the years 1908 to 1918, are told

by Violet herself in a book of memoirs, The Flurried Years (1926), published in America under the title I Have This to Say. Douglas Goldring, a sub-editor of Ford’s English Review and a longtime friend of both Ford and Hunt, talks about her warmly in his memoir South Lodge (1943), and Arthur Mizener devotes several chapters to the Ford/Hunt relationship in The Saddest Story (1971). What emerges from these sources is a portrait of a well-known literary and social figure of her day, whose reputation (both literary and social) declines precipitously following Elsie Martindale Heuffer’s 1912 suit over Violet’s illegal use of Ford’s name. The embarrassment of Elsie’s legal victory, followed by the slow, painful disintegration of the affair with Ford, as Stella Bowen replaced Violet, left Violet alone at 55 years of age in 1917, with social, professional, and personal wounds from which she never recovered.

•Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; South Lodge: Reminiscences of Violet Hunt, Ford Madox Ford and the English Review Circle (1943) by Douglas Goldring; Violet: The Story of the Irrepressible Violet Hunt and her Circle of Lovers and Friends (1990) by Barbara Belford; An Immodest Violet: The Life of Violet Hunt (1990) by Joan Hardwick; and Lives of the Novelists (2011) by John Sutherland.

14 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 30, 2021

history

Down to the sea – in ships

O

n April 18, 2021, I sat at the fuel dock at Lyford Cay watching the S/Y Athos leaving port and wishing that I were on board. My mind drifted back to the S/Y Sunbeam that had visited Nassau in 1883, on a voyage of 14,000-miles.

The Sunbeam, built for Lord Thomas Brassey

by Bowdler & Chaffer of Seacombe, Merseyside, and launched in 1874, was a three-masted topsail schooner, iron-framed and with teak skin; length 159 ft, beam 27.5 ft, weight 532 tonnes.

The sail area was 9,000 square yards. The yacht had a 70hp auxiliary compound steam engine that developed a top speed of just over 10 knots.

The bunkers could hold eighty tonnes of coal and, although primarily a sailing vessel, she could steam for approximately 20 days without refuelling. When not in steam, her funnel was lowered and her propeller feathered to reduce drag.

Unlike many of the luxury yachts of the time, Sunbeam had been designed for long distance and deep-sea journeys. The accommodation for the owners and their guests, however, was far from Spartan, with rooms fashioned in a typical Victorian drawing-room style. Lady Annie Brassey was a prolific author and published several voluminous books with almost every detail of each trip.

Her book, “In the Trades, the Tropics and the Roaring Forties”, contains 169 pages about their sojourn in the Bahamas.

PAUL C ARANHA

IN the 19th century, travel was not easy and Lord and Lady Brassey, owners of S/Y Sunbeam, (pictured here), would surely envy Athos’ ship-wide Wi-Fi network,­with VSAT broadband internet and VoIP telephone, plus computers and printers for guests.

Sea Fever

BY JOHN MASEFIELD I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

THE ATHOS was launched in 2010 and, at 203’, became the world’s largest, privately-owned twomasted schooner. She is said to be the most technologically sophisticated classic sailing yacht to date. With a total of five cabins, she can be chartered for up to 12 guests, with a crew of 10, for approximately $219,500 plus expenses per week. (Image/yachtathos.com)

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

The Tribune | Weekend | 15

Friday, April 30, 2021

animals

Dog days of summer

By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters

S

ummer is just around the corner and hopefully many of us will be duly vaccinated and will be able to enjoy ourselves on the beach and in the pool over the hot and lazy weeks ahead of us.

We know to keep ourselves hydrated and cool. We wear sun block, we put on hats. The more diligent amongst us wear swim shirts to protect us from too much sun. We have got a handle on it and we know just how to take care of ourselves.

We slather our kids with sunscreen that frequently washes in to their eyes and stings. Yes, we are totally in control of the situation. But are you sure you have remembered everybody?

How about the furry member of the family? What extra measures do you take for your dog during the summer months?

Some people are advocates of shaving their fur down to a minimum; other people claim that their fur insulates them from the heat, creating a protective layer between dog and the sun. These are two schools of thoughts, and I am not here to challenge either way of thinking.

Last week, I carried myself off to town and bought a bunch of fans to dot around the rooms there the dogs hang out and sleep. Buddy always sleeps on a sofa in my den with a fan trained on him all night. He is cool and peaceful.

If Chief doesn’t have his fan trained on him, he will purposefully bark at you (loudly) until you have switched it on for him.

There is a very important detail about dogs that you must never forget, and that is that dogs do not sweat like humans. Most of their sweat glands are in the pads of their feet. This is not always super effective, so a dog pants when hot.

However, panting is not sufficient.

They need constant access to cool, fresh, clean water, and a shady spot to lie and feel the breeze.

Photo/Bianca Aranha When Fido goes to the beach or on the boat, you need to pack a bag just as you might if you are taking a small child to the beach. A bottle of water is essential, but make sure it is insulated, because Fido will not thank you if you offer him water that has been heated up in the sun. He needs a proper bowl to drink out of.

Cupping your hands is just not good enough. In short, treat his water as you treat your own. Be sure to offer water frequently. Don’t leave the bowl out in the sun so it becomes hot

pet of the week

Foxy’s my name

By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY

“Foxy’s my name, posing’s my game! I’m hoping I’ll strike just the right pose on this catwalk to tempt you to come in to adopt me (and maybe one or two of my cage mates as well; we do get on well together).

I’m still young and playful but have my quiet times as well. Do you need some tabby awesomeness in your life? Then I’m just the cat

and full of salty sand. Remember, your dog can’t say, “Excuse me, I need more water.” Offer it to him and watch him. If he is licking his lips or staring at your drink, perhaps he is telling you something. There is more than one way to listen to your pet.

Now, if you plan to take your dog swimming, please remember that he doesn’t want to remain covered in salt any more that you do. You take a shower, you rinse the kids off, and you should hose down your dog.

Please remember that if the hose has been lying in the sun all those hours that you have been at the beach or on the boat, the water in the hose will be scalding hot, so let it run until the cool water comes through. Your dog will enjoy the cool water rinse and will reward you with a few huge shakes. Have a sense of humour, don’t yell at him to stop. That’s just what dogs do.

Depending how long you are out, a few snacks would be nice, especially if you are going to eat. Why shouldn’t he have something? If this is a fun family outing then the entire family should have fun.

A canine life jacket is a good addition to your boat outing. If your dog falls overboard, he could be stunned and that jacket could save his life, and if you are at the beach and he gets tired he can just float around like a giant beach toy.

Summer outings with your pet add a new dimension to the day. The kids will have somebody else to play with (Don’t forget the floating dog toys).

Remind the kids that Fido doesn’t know how to pick up and pack his toys, they need to help.

If your dog makes a mess on the beach, clean it up, please. Nobody wants to tread in it.

And last, but no necessarily least, please remember, beach balls are not built for canine teeth. If he grabs a beach ball, he will pop it. If that happens, don’t get mad at him, get mad at yourself for allowing that to happen.

Bring appropriate toys for everybody, and have a great day!

for you! Come in to the Bahamas Humane Society to meet me or call 323-5138 for more information. I look forward to striking a pose just for you!

• It’s not too late to turn your pennies in to the BHS! They’re no longer legal tender, so why have them cluttering up your home? Drop-offs can be made at the BHS, at Fox Hill Nursery, (check Facebook for other locations) or call 323-5138 if you have tons and need a pick-up arranged. Thanks for your support!

Photo/Linda Gill-Aranha

16 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 30, 2021

gardening

Time for lawn care

N

ow is the time of year when lots of folks choose to fertilize their lawns (green deserts). Those who hire maintenance companies will not have to worry about how much product, which product, when, or how to apply. For the rest of us that are out there flying the DIY flag, there will be all sorts of different results.

There are many options available, often catering to both the budget conscious and the quality aware customer. As with most anything, you get what you pay for. A fertilizer that is equivalent at first glance but offered at two different prices for example, will be wholly different products upon a closer look. Pay close attention to the ingredients and directions on the label. I’ll use weed and feed as an example.

Weed and feed comes in many size options and many price options. The first three numbers on any fertilizer are NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). Generally, these are the lower cost ingredients. Two products may have equal NPK and still be different prices. The minor nutrients and the active ingredient are where the expense starts rising. Iron, for example, is a high cost ingredient.

A low priced weed and feed may have 1.5 percent iron, as compared to a higher cost product that may have 3, 4, or even higher percentages of iron. Iron is almost non-existent in our soils and is used heavily by turf grasses (especially the crab grass, St Augustine, that people seem enamoured by). Lower cost products will also typically have a smaller amount of active ingredient or be formulated to cover less area per pound. Some lower cost products can actually end up costing more than a higher priced product as more is needed to achieve equivalent results! It is all right

there on the label. I highly suggest taking time in choosing so as to not be lulled into thinking that the low cost products are the right ones to choose based on price alone. Read the label and ask lots of questions!

Once a lawn fertilizer or pest treatment is chosen, how to apply?

For the lack of space, I will speak on granular applications here, as this is the typical method for our prior example of weed and feed (because very soon, the weeds are coming out to grow hard for the next six months).

Spreaders are the ideal mode of application, and they are available as “broadcast spreaders” or “drop spreaders”.

Broadcast spreaders distribute the granules by a rotary action that distributes the product in an even pattern to the front and sides. Broadcast spreaders are best suited to large areas. The drop spreader is exactly that, it drops the granules in a much more controlled action and is much better suited to smaller spaces. It is important to read carefully the directions on the equipment being used, and between them and the directions on the label of the product being applied, they will tell you exactly how much product to put on exactly how much area, at exactly which settings on the spreader being used. Here is an explanation on calibration from greenviewfertilizer.com: To calibrate your spreader for an application of fertilizer to your lawn: Determine the amount of fertilizer needed for 100 sq ft. For example, the fertilizer bag weighs 25 lbs. and covers 5,000 sq ft:

lb

25 lbs × (100 sq ft ⁄ 5,000 sq ft) = 0.5

Place this amount in the spreader.

Mark off the area. For a rotary spreader, use a 10-foot by 10-foot area (100 sq ft). For a single pass with drop spreaders, the length required would depend on the width of your spreader: for a 1½, 2 and 3-foot spreader use 66 2/3, 50, and 33 1/3 feet respectively.

Apply using the suggested setting.

If product runs out before completing the area, decrease the setting. Mark off another area the same size and repeat the test until the correct application rate is achieved. If product remains in the spreader, increase the setting. Mark off another area the same size and repeat the test until the correct application rate is achieved.

Alternatively, if you have a scale and a hard flat surface, spread over the marked off area using the hopper filled to the level you will have when the material will actually be applied. Catch or sweep up the material and weigh on a scale. The result will give you the application rate for the setting used. If the application rate is too high or too low, do the test again with the setting adjusted accordingly.

I hope this helps. As always, I wish 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.