Anguilla has what has been described as “a rich cultural heritage” and the Department of Youth and Culture has substantially captured that angle of the island’s history in its 2020-2021 Culture & Arts Calendar, now in circulation.
The stories dealt with are: Boat-building Then and Now; Defending Anguilla by Sea; Forever Linked to the Sea; First Female Captain and her family of seafarers; Recollection of Boat racing in Anguilla; the Davis Family of Seafarers; Egbert Connor and His Legacy; Walter Griffith Hodge and the Excelsior; Anguilla’s Famous Schooners; Joseph and Raymond Connor: A Deep Admiration of the Sea; and Celebrating Anguilla’s Rich Marine Heritage.
The Calendar also records the National Symbols of Anguilla; the National Flag; the National Colours of Anguilla: orange, white and turquoise; the National Bird – the Turtle Dove; the National Sport – Boat Racing; the National Tree – Cedar; the National Flower – the White Cedar Flower; the National Dish – Peas & Rice and Fish.
The pages of the Calendar are decorated with various tell-tale cultural scenes of Anguilla and photographs of some of the people who, over the years, contributed much to the socio-economic and cultural life of Anguilla.
The Minister, who has had responsibility for Culture over the past five years, Mr. Evans Rogers, and the Permanent Secretary, Social Development, Dr. Bonnie Richardson-Lake, have congratulated the Department of Youth and Culture (DYC) for its production of the Calendar.
Meanwhile, Ms. Avon Carty, the Department’s Director, commented: “It is a great honour and privilege to honour our Shipwrights, Ships and Sailors in our 2020-2021 edition of our Culture & Arts Calendar. We know we have not captured all of them but we hope that this small gesture will warm the hearts of you, our readers.”