From Then & Now to CBN Today- Violet Gaul making her mark
Then and Now was first broadcast on CBN Channel 51 on Easter Sunday April 8, 2012.
The first guest of the programme was long-time educator Mrs Eugenie Todman-Smith and since then Mrs Thomas-Gaul has had the privilege of interviewing many of the historical icons in the Territory including Mr. A.O. Shirley, Mrs Leona Crabbe, Mrs Grace Walters and Mr William “Skipper” Industrious.
Mrs Thomas-Gaul said she has been humbled by the many positive responses from the VI community regarding her programme and said persons often offer suggestions, which are well received.
“People meet me on the street and express how interesting the show is to them because it gives much information about the Virgin Islands that persons often didn’t even know about. They have given ideas, suggested interviews and places to go...Then and now is not about me. It is about the Virgin Islands and its culture, its history and heritage. “
Mrs Thomas-Gaul also revealed to this new site that some years ago she was stricken with Toxaemia and convulsion and lost a lot of her long term memory as a result. “So doing this show was very important for me too. It helps me to remember things also and helps me to learn things that I never knew.”
The television talk show host said she loves to spend time interviewing the older folks and recalled fond memories interviewing Mr William Industrious, which she said was a very emotional experience for her. “He was such a doll... Just the magnitude of Mr Industrious’ knowledge is memory...Here is a man who is 102 years of age and doesn’t wear glasses. It is certainly a blessing to have met all these people.”
Mrs Thomas-Gaul also said she can see herself taking the show past a year because there are still a lot of interviews to be conducted and produced.
She also indicated that she wants to be able to document all her work and present to Government for future generations. She also has a blog violetgaul.com on which she tries to post as much historical information as she could gather.
“What is encouraging too is the acceptance because we go into people’s homes to interview them because it is difficult for a lot of them to come to the studio.”
“Then and Now is partly sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Culture and my husband, Quito Rymer does the music for it and Paul’s Photo Studio provides all the photographs and also CBN Channel 51 is a sponsor,” Mrs Thomas-Gaul stated.
THEN & NOW is aired on Sundays at 8 P.M and rebroadcast on Wednesdays at 8 P.M.
Meanwhile, CBN Today started just over five months ago and came on the heels of Then and Now. It is a brainchild of CBN Television owner Andrew Cox.
“We wanted something different from the other shows in the Territory, something to inform, educate and entertain. We are not controversial, we don’t do that,” Mrs Gaul added.
She said she was also surprised with the way the show took off and that a lot of persons have text and also met her and co-host Damian C. Grange to express their appreciation.
CBN Today is broadcast from Monday to Friday from 6:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Asked whether it is sometimes challenging to be out of the house so early for the show, Mrs Thomas-Gaul said “I am an early bird, I prefer mornings, I am fading when night comes. I am always up at 3 A.M. and this was even before I started hosting this show on CBN. “I think it is a bit more challenging for Damion though,” Mrs Thomas-Gaul said with a laughter.
Mrs. Thomas-Gaul, a Realtor, who minored in History while a university student and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and a Masters in Human Resources, no doubt has a passion for Virgin Islands History and is certainly making her mark in helping to preserve it.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
16 Responses to “From Then & Now to CBN Today- Violet Gaul making her mark”
"There is nothing that solidifies and streangthens a nation like a reverent reading of the nation's own history...A people that studies its own past, and rejoices in the nation's proud memories, is likely to be a patriotic people...we must remember that in the life of a nation.. sentiment is of great value: and the way to foster sentiment in a people, and to develop it in the young, is to have a well-recorded past and to be familiar with it. LEt young and old read the nation's history; let them stand upon its sacred spots; let them visit its battlefields; let them study its monuments..." Rev. Joseph Anderson