FUN IN THE SUN CAMP 2010 Salt Cay

What a great weekend was had by all, when over 50 school children arrived on Salt Cay for a fun filled weekend ...

 They camped in the newly renovated salt shed, our community centre which was beautifully restored  by Salt Cay Development after hurricanes Hanna and Ike destroyed the historic salt 'bagging' shed in September 2008.



 It was amazing to see Salt Cay come to life with laughter and innocent fun as the children went fishing,combing the beaches, playing games, singing and swimming in the old turtle crawl by Dunstan Point.

HAWKSBILL TURTLE

The turtle crawl was used in the last century to keep turtles that were often exported to other countries for their meat and well sought after shells which made intriguing ornaments and hair combs.

 It was in fact Will Simmons (since passed on) husband of Ms Melvina Simmons who was the turtle agent in the mid 1900s.

The event was well planed and organized by Onward (Oats) and Violla Hamilton,Lashena Simmons,Kezzia Hamilton,Kaylathia Hamilton, Leila Astwood, Jacquiline Walkin and Berkey Williams.

Said one of the organisers"Its great to come home and show all the children the beauty of Salt Cay.They are having a wonderful time and many of the Children get to see another island which is part of their heritage .We hope to make the Fun in the Sun Camp an annual event."

GROWING THE SALT CAY FAMILY TREE !

Building a family tree is like putting together a complex jigsaw puzzle. So far we have reached over 300 families extending out to South and North Caicos, Providenciales, Grand Turk, Bahamas and even ancestral family members from the Hamilton family arriving from Africa.
 There is nothing more exciting than finding fresh information that can take us back another generation and create a colourful picture of the community and how they lived in that bygone era.

Anglican Church "St Johns the Divine"

 It was with great interest that we discovered some old papers pertaining to the Anglican Church of St Johns.....Did you know that in the last century the church was referred to as "St Johns the Divine"?



Inside the  Bnevolent house Salt Cay.2010



It is incredible when researching family trees how much information can be gained from  old documents like the members ledger of the Benevolent Society,the Book of Burials and the Book of Marriages.

Take a look at another entry found in the Book of Burials. Notice that the first entry on the page is Mister Daniel Francis Harriott,who died November 15 1910 at the age of 43 years and 4 months.


The Harriot family of course were the salt merchants from the "White House".

The fact that there are no letters A or B next to his name means he was buried in the graveyard of the Anglican Church and not at the North or South Barren Grounds.

By studying further his Peers logged in the same year we can create a time frame of  "Who's Who" in 1910.

In the following copy of  accounts dated February 1864, we can learn from this document that the Reverend Astwood was the Rector of the Anglican Church during this period and that the Clark of Vestry was Mister Lightboune. The Sexton was a man named Duncan Wood.

As a point of reference, liberation from slavery was 30 years earlier on the 1st August 1834.

A population census taken in 1845 listed the number of white males on the island as 36, the number of white females as 42, local coloured males as 183 and  females as 300 for a grand total of 676 people living on Salt Cay.

Now all we have to do is find all the families for the Salt Cay Family Tree. Happy hunting  !!

West Indian Cherry grows well on Salt Cay

Residents of Salt Cay are making tremendous effort to grow their own fruit and vegetables which is pretty difficult given the poor soil conditions. However one lovely surprise is how well the West Indian cherry grows .

West Indian Cherry tree in the garden at Sunnyside, one of the old salt Merchant homes on Salt Cay.

Now it is believed that the West Indian cherry originated in the Caribbean...migatory birds would carry the seeds from island to island and the indigenous Indians would carry the young seedlings with them and plant  them in their settlements.


And so after planting a couple of trees on Salt Cay we now find that the West Indian cherry can grow well in the salty soil. 
The West Indian cherry also known as Acerola and Barbados cherry is now thought to be one of the richest known source of natural vitamin C..
 One very interesting fact is that after extensive research at the Agricultural Centre in Rio Piedras Puerto Rico there is now the widespread idea of cultivating these trees commercially for their high content of natural ascorbic acid...vitamin C, widely used in many medicines ....
Anyone on Salt Cay want to take up the challenge!...   
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SEASON 2: SPOTLIGHT ON THE T.C.I. CUTURAL HERITAGE

96 yr old Alfred Stubbs from the Byte

After a successful season one of Spotlight on the TCI Cultural Heritage sponsored by Salt Cay Devco it is now time to watch out for the new season of ‘Spotlight on the TCI Cultural Heritage’ with me as your host, Candy Herwin......

ALDON HIGGS "BUSH MAN" Middle Caicos

A family show that explores the best story telling from around the islands including interviews with Earl Talbot, Melvina Simmons, Ella Hamilton and 93 year old Sarah Garland recounting stories of the salt raking days, Boatbuilding and the old salt merchants Harriot's and Morgans. 

EARL TALBOT salt  raker SALT CAY

Listen to these remarkable older folk paint pictures of days gone by and weave together the rich history of the Turks and Caicos islands..This is a show for all the family to enjoy and for our older folk and families to listen to and see their friends on other Islands.

LOUISE PRATT PIERRE  from the BYTE

Tune in to your preferred National TV network…

PTV8, every Tuesday and Thursday night at 8pm beginning Tuesday September 14th.

 WIV4 every Thursday night at 7.30pm and Saturday mornings 11am beginning Thursday september16th.

JOYCE HALL "How to make flamingo stew" grand Turk origins North Caicos.

So pull up a chair for a wonderful trip down memory lane with our amazing older folk….. for it is often said "that to appreciate and understand the past may very well help determine who we are and who we want to be as a people"….

KEEPING SALT CAY CLEAN AND TIDY.

Salt Cay was always known as the cleanest island in the Turks and Caicos and is well on the way to regaining this title again.

Over the last year there has been tremendous effort to "Keep Salt Cay Tidy". D.C headquarters and community members are moving these initiatives forward one step at a time to form constructive partnerships with D.E.C.R (Department of Environment and Coastal Resources), Environmental Health Department and T.C.E.M( Turks and Caicos Environmental Management). 

In the coming week T.C.E.M with the  help of myself will show a PowerPoint presentation to the few children of Mary Robinson School, entitled the "Environment and You" to teach the children the importance of keeping the Island litter free and also explain the importance of the three R's Reduce,Recycle and Reuse.

We are also looking forward to a lesson on flower pressing and the importance of preserving the local fauna and flora of the Island by our local expert Brian Manco from DECR.