Curtis Morton
It was a postponed activity from the recently concluded community development month hosted by the Community Development Department in the month of May.
Community Development officer in the Gingerland area, Tracey Parris, hosted her open day on Monday 4th June at the famous Corn Mill, located at Hardtimes.
On that day, in collaboration with Community Liaison officer, Michael Herbert, the feature was the highlighting of information on some of the sporting heroes, coming out of the Gingerland area.
Some of the featured sports personalities were: Runako Shakur Morton, of West Indies cricket fame, now deceased; former Premier of Nevis, Hon. Vance Amory, who made it as far as the President’s X1; Nelson Bolan, who got into the West Indies under 19 team; Javia Liburd, who got as far as the Leewards senior team; Curtis Morton jr, who was the first under 15 cricketer from Nevis, to make it into a West Indies under 15 team; Ruby Chapman, one of the finest female cricketers out of Nevis-now deceased; T’jari Arthurton-outstanding athlete, who recently represented St. Kitts and Nevis at the Carifta games; Leroy Chapman, who also represented St. Kitts and Nevis at the Carifta games.
There were also write ups and photos on two well-known teams from the area: The Bushwhackers Cricket team and the Dynasty Ballers Basketball team.
Even though there were no write ups and photos, mention was also made of female cricketers, Myrthlyn Elliot; Patsy Hanley; and Sherian Smithen.
Mention was also made of former outstanding long distance athlete, Vernice Wattley-Blackett; Joya Clarke in Tennis and Netball and cousins Stephen and Anthony Webbe for their prowess in Tennis.
The day’s activity ran from 10 am to approximately 2 pm and some of the nearby schools, including the Gingerland Preschool and the Joycelyn Liburd Primary school, allowed students to visit, during the course of the day, along with members of the general public.
At least one student expressed surprise at the fact that former Premier Amory, actually played the game of cricket. It was certainly new information to her.