Ms. Talitha Webster (Photo Courtesy Ivor Hodge)
The Caribbean Commercial Bank has lived up to its commitment to boat-racing, the national sport of Anguilla, by sponsoring the August Wednesday boat race for the sixteenth year
The indigenous bank on Tuesday, through its Manager for E-Banking, Talitha Webster, presented a cheque in the sum of EC$15,000 to the Chairman of the Boat Racing Committee, Paul Romney, to finance the award of prizes for the winning boats as well as other costs. The cheque-presentation, on behalf of the banks’ Board of Directors, Management and Staff, was done by Ms Webster in the presence of Dwaynique Baird, the 2012 reigning Miss CCB Talented Teen.
“CCB’s support is not just about the various carnival shows. We have also incorporated boat-racing in the cultural pageantry as well,” Ms Webster said in presenting the cheque. “That’s why we have given so generously to this cause as we believe that boat-racing is something we need to preserve.”
Mr Romney was grateful to CCB for sponsoring the boat race. “As you know, boat-racing is part of our history way back during the Santo Domingo days,” he stated. “CCB has been sponsoring the August Wednesday race for at least fifteen years and I look forward to havethis sponsorship continued through the good and bad times. As Chairman, I would like to say thank you to CCB on behalf of the Boat Racing Committee and all the boat racers.”
The August Wednesday boat race is in honour of the late Jeremiah Gumbs, one of the founders of CCB. The participating boats will leave Road Bay at about 1.30 pm and will travel along the coastline of Rendezvous Bay, where Mr Gumbs’ hotel property is located, and back. Some eighteen A-class boats, with up to twenty-four persons manning each boat, will be participating in the race.
