Longstanding booth owner Ms Iris Freeman will be honoured this year for her dedication providing some of the best local food in festival village over the years. Photo: Provided

The celebrations at Carrot Bay will seek to honour Mr. Bernardo ‘Nalo’ Leonard, a fourth generation son of the soil of the Virgin Islands who has been an ardent fisherman and well known in this stead thoughtout the Territory. Photo: Provided

East End/Long Look's festival village for the 60th Jubilee will be named in honour of Mr. Ifield ‘Spike’ Lettsome who has passed on. Photo: Provided

The celebrations get underway from July 28 through August 9, 2014 under the theme “60 years of cultural display and appreciation. VI Festival 2014: Our Diamond Jubilee Celebration,” and slogan “60 years of celebrations with cultural class. VI Festival 2014 – Lets play mass”.

But with the significance of the festivities are those for whom the villages will be named as those persons, Ifield ‘Spike’ Lettsome, Iris Freeman, Bernardo ‘Nalo’ Leonard, will enter the history records of the Territory for their part played in nation building and this news site takes pride to be the first to officially introduce them to you, thanks to the full cooperation of Public Relations Officer of the VI Festivals and Fairs Committee Ms Lynette H. Harrigan.

Ifield ‘Spike’ Lettsome – East End/Long Look Festiville

The formation of the East End/Long Look Festival Committee occurred in a very unusual way. It was in 1955 that a young man from Long Look by the name of Ifield ‘Spike’ Lettsome was in St. Thomas visiting family, when he met up with two friends, Howard Greenaway (now late) and Mr. Simon Frett. These old friends, while catching up on old times, put it in Spike’s mind that after observing and participating in Carnival in St. Thomas for quite some time, they felt it would be a good thing for there to be a ‘Carnival’ in East End/Long Look as well. The three agreed that they would try to get such an event started. Spike would be the Coordinator in Tortola and Frett and Greenaway would run the Committee in St. Thomas to raise funds. 

And so it happened. With Ifield ‘Spike’ Lettsome at the helm, Festival started in East End/Long Look. Other members of the Steering Committee included Samuel and Gretchen Thomas, Richard Thomas, Obel Penn, Teacher Vera Potter, Hon. T B Lettsome, and Yvette Penn. This Committee ran Festival in East End/Long Look for approximately 18 years. The first official parade took place in 1957, and the reigning queen was Medita Malone (now Wheatley).    

Spike remained a very faithful committee member over the years, after his stint as Coordinator ended. He functioned in various other capacities such as Treasurer, and assisted with building the stage and festival booth for many, many years. As a stalwart and Early Pioneer of Festival in East End/Long Look, this 2014 Festival Village is being named in his honour, the Ifield ‘Spike’ Lettsome Memorial Festiville.

Ms Iris Freeman – Road Town Festiville

Iris is a retired Civil Servant who worked at Peebles Hospital for 26 years as cook from 1979-2005. It was her love for cooking that inspired her to have a booth in the festival village and to open a small take out restaurant “IRIS’ PLACE” in Fahie Hill in 2006.

Iris’ passion for cooking comes from when she was a little girl growing up and had to prepare meals for her younger siblings as she was the third child of nine (9) children born to Hugh Wellington and Gladys Eugenie Fahie of Long Trench. She had to bake bread, prepare their breakfast and sometimes their dinner when they came from school, so cooking just comes naturally to her. Iris is even one of the remaining Cassava Bread makers in the BVI who is trying to keep that part of our heritage alive.

Iris has displayed her love for cooking by preparing local dishes for many events. She has even worked behind the scene preparing local dishes in St. Thomas, where she travelled for many years to help her Late aunt Hilda Mae Scatliffe in her booth. She also travels to St John every year to assist her sister Irene Scatliffe with her booth for the 4^thof July festivities.

Iris has been cooking for Booth #6 since 2003 behind the scenes and became fully involved as owner along with her son Aubrey since 2005. At her booth you can enjoy local food such as Corned Pork, Conch in butter sauce, Whelks, Goat Head Soup, Conch Soup, Mutton, Boiled Fish and Fungi to name a few.

Mr. Bernardo ‘Nalo’ Leonard – Carrot Bay Festiville

Bernardo Leonard affectionately known as Naldo, a fourth generation son of the soil, grew up in the little village of Carrot Bay, Tortola. Carrot Bay has always been famous for its fishing and farming practices. He left school at the young age of 15 to assist his parents with providing for his siblings and subsequently began his career as a fisherman. As a young boy and like most young men in the village at that time, Bernardo started his passion for fishing as line fishing from the shoreline or rocks in the Carrot Bay area and also around the Point. His love for fishing was further developed and nurtured when he and his brother, Rudell Leonard, started fishing with the late Locus Donovan (affectionately known to many as Brown Casie) who owned a small boat.

His passion for fishing increased and at the age of 18 years, in partnership with his brother, Rudell, they purchased a 16-foot fishing boat, ‘The Jenny,’ which was named after his sister Jenecia. This boat was built by the late Edvee Hodge of West End.

Not only did Bernardo learn to fish, but he also mastered the art of mending and making his own seine and fish pots. He maintained this zeal even though on many occasions his hard work resulted in total failure. The approximate number of fish pots he owned at a given times is one hundred and seventy-five (175).

Bernardo’s love for fishing coupled with his hard work enabled him to soak up the knowledge of the fishing trade and in the 1980’s he was able to purchase his own 20 foot boat which he called ‘The Blue Bird’. This boat was replaced ten (10) years later when he purchased another one, 28 foot in length, which he also named ‘The Blue Bird.’

Bernardo encountered many fishing expeditions around the many islands, islets and cays of the Virgin Islands. They included Jost Van Dyke, Camanoe, Guana Island, Sail Rock, Virgin Gorda, Tobago, St. John and west of St. Thomas. His favorite fishing spot however, is on Salt Island. As a fisherman, Bernardo fished approximately three (3) times a week, usually between the hours of 7a.m and 3p.m. Many of these fishes are utilized in his family restaurant, Naldy’s, which is quite famous for its mouth watering Steamed Fish in Mayonnaise or butter sauce, as well as his scrumptious Fish and Johnny cakes which leave the customers craving for more. He also sell his catch of the day to customers on St. John, St. Thomas, the Beach Club Restaurant, the people of the First District, from Carrot Bay to West End and other persons within the Virgin Islands. According to Bernardo, his largest catch weighed approximately 300 pounds.

Bernardo recalled that in the 1960’s when he began his fishing career, fish were sold for merely 13 cents a pound; almost five decades later the minimum price for fish is $5.00 a pound. Over the years, Bernardo achieved several accomplishments as a fisherman. Nevertheless, he encountered some unpleasant situations as well. One unpleasant situation that stood out in his mind was of a very big shark measuring approximately 20 feet which surrounded his fishing boat for quite a while. He mentioned that it was quite terrifying to see a shark of that size whirling alongside his 26 foot boat. He was forced to feed the shark with most of the day’s catch in an effort for it to go away. It was quite a relief when the shark finally removed itself from the vessel and he was able to resume his fishing task.

Over the years, Bernardo has mentored and apprenticed many young men within the community, many of whom are now deceased. Among them are: Wilbert Dawson, Aris Smith, Oman Donovan, Calvin Donovan, Michael Brathwaite, Linard (China Man) Joseph, Brian Dawson, Basil Leonard and Benito Leonard. When Bernardo learned that he was chosen as the honoree for the 2014 Carrot Bay Fisherman’s Day Tournament, it offered him a sense of pride and respect, in his own humble way. His desire is that this dignified fishing profession will continue as a cultural way of life in the Virgin Islands, and especially within the First District, for generations to come.