Tavia Nelson-Connor and Mr Colville Petty)
Governor Holiday
The Governor of St Maarten, His Excellency, Mr Eugene Bernard Holiday, was in Anguilla on Friday, March 13, for an official visit during which he met with Anguilla’s Governor, Her Excellency, Christina Scott, and other officials, and toured places of interest in Anguilla. He was accompanied by his Director of Cabinet, Mr Hoeneveld, and his Aide de Camp, Mr Bastiann Bolt.
In addition to the Big Spring, the Amerindian underground site at Island Harbour, Governor Holiday visited Heritage Collection Museum at East End, where the curator is historian, Mr Colville Petty. His escorts to the museum included the above two members of his party; Mr Kenneth Hodge, Principal Assistant Secretary and Protocol Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs in Anguilla; Mrs Tavia Nelson-Connor; and members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force.
Mr Holiday appeared to have been engrossed in, and delighted by, the mass of carefully preserved, well laid-out and labelled artifacts in the several rooms of the museum, having previously been given an initial introduction by Mr Petty.
The visiting Dutch St. Maarten Governor replied to a question, from The Anguillian about the museum and the importance of history to communities everywhere.
“I believe that maintaining and preserving the cultural, as well as the natural history of a community, is very important for its people,” he stated. “I believe that we, as Caribbean people in general, need to really spend a lot more time in documenting and recording our own history.
“And so, looking at this work here, I think this is truly remarkable to see the effort that is being put in this area of Anguillian history. I fully encourage this type of activity for our islands.”
Mr Holiday was appointed as the first Governor of St. Maarten on October 10, 2010 at the age of 47 years. His appointment was made by royal decree, having taken the oath before H.M. Queen Beatrix.
The holder of a doctoral degree in Economics, he has had an extensive career in both the business and the public sector, spanning almost two and a half decades, in Curacao and his native St. Maarten. He enjoys writing and documenting his thoughts through poetry, several research papers and articles.
