After a filled April 3-4 weekend of Festival Del Mar activities at Island Harbour, Anguilla, the Easter Monday holiday provided much cultural entertainment and relaxation for many other persons. One of the main two customary events for the holiday was a boat race at Road Bay, Sandy Ground, in which some nine boats participated.
The other event was the St. Mary’s Bazaar on the grounds of the Scouts and Guides Ruthwill Auditorium. The predominant features were a variety of cultural food and a cricket match played by teams from both St. Mary’s Anglican Church and Ebenezer Methodist Church.
The boat race attracted most of the holidaymakers who found much food and musical entertainment at the restaurants and villas lining the beach. Places like Dad’s Bar and Grill, Johnno’s Beach Stop, the newly-opened Le Bar and Roy’s Place were crowded by patrons. For many others, the inshore waters provided much delight for swimmers and sunfish operators.
As the racing boats returned, large segments of the crowd converged on the shoreline, cheering them as they approached the stake. The first three winning positions, in order of their arrival, were taken by the Sonic, De Tree and Real Deal. Other boats in the competition, but not in order of their placing, were Viking, Satellite, Wizard 007, Eagle 4G, and Bluebird – the latter having not completed the race.
Meanwhile, in The Valley, the St. Mary’s and Ebenezer’s cricket teams played hard in their competitive match. The final scores were St. Mary’s: 144 runs and Ebenezer: 65 – much to the dismay of the Methodists who, though often beaten, always claim to be the better cricketers. The match included some of the best known former cricketers in Anguilla who have passed on the sport to younger persons, particularly those of school age.
