The Conway St. Lucia: From the Hollywood to a Vibrant Business Site

By Clement Springer Williams

His Conway name was Sonny Boy, and it was in Conway that he grew from infancy to adulthood and became a shipwright, carpenter, joiner, fisherman, and musician. In The Conway St. Lucia, author Clement Springer Williams remembers his life growing up in Conway St. Lucia, especially as this small community weathered World War II.

Through this collection of stories, Williams narrates the sights, sounds, people, and culture of Conway. It was predominantly a fishing village, and fishing was his joy and his pastime. Conway was also the place that gave him an appreciation for intrinsic beauty, for divine revelation in things like the rising of the morning star and the bright and luminous beauty of the evening sunset.

In this memoir, Williams tells about his many and varied experiences in this community whose people lived in unity and supported each other in every calamityfrom saving lives to feeding the hungry, launching vessels, and burying the dead. The Conway St. Lucia shares the remembrances of yesterday and celebrates the changes of today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491700136

Clement Springer Williams

Clement Springer Williams was born in Castries, St. Lucia, in 1932. An integral part of the musical culture of the island, he was the recipient of the 2010 St. Lucia gold medal of merit for his contribution to the folk culture. He currently lives with his wife in Baldwin, New York.

Book preview

THE

CONWAY

ST. LUCIA

FROM THE HOLLYWOOD TO A

VIBRANT BUSINESS SITE

CLEMENT SPRINGER WILLIAMS

iUniverse LLC

Bloomington

The Conway St. Lucia

From the Hollywood to a Vibrant Business Site

Copyright © 2013 by Clement Springer Williams.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The names used in the book are fictitious.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-0012-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0014-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0013-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913685

iUniverse rev. date: 10/01/2013

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

One                        The Sign

Two                       Ravages of War

Three                     The Hamlets

Four                       Miss Flore

Five                       Mr. Fitz

Six                         The Wasteland

Seven                    Events in the Conway

Eight                     Encounters with My Conway Acquaintances

Nine                       The Magrass

Ten                         The Canoe

Eleven                   The Ti Wosh

Twelve                   Beginning of the Fishing Season

Thirteen                 Building the Vessels

Fourteen                The Minesweepers

Fifteen                   In the Conway

Sixteen                  Love for Conway

Seventeen              Fishing Experiences of a Conway Lad

Eighteen                Experts

Nineteen                The Desire

Twenty                  The Bamboo

Twenty-One          Changing Conway

Twenty-Two          The Return of the Immigrants

Glossary of Creole Terms

This is a book that encapsulates the author’s passion for the sea and the livelihoods of the fishermen in the community where he grew up. It is an interesting and informative narrative of the vibrant life in the Conway, to which Clement was so closely affiliated. This is a book that everyone will enjoy, but the lovers of marine life will be especially thrilled and captivated by it.

—M. G. Raymond

Acknowledgments

I wish to extend special thanks to the following people:

25070.png    my wife, Minerva, who contributed in making this little book a reality. Thanks for inspiring me to write my story. After having heard my several tales about the Conway, its people, and its transformation, she said, Write a book; document it, and I heeded.

25073.png    my daughter, Solange, for her keenness and profound interest in the preservation of my songs and writings

25075.png    my son-in-law, Jason, for listening to my narratives

25077.png    my brother Edmund for his invaluable contribution in refining my work

25079.png    my brother John for refreshing my memory with valuable information

25081.png    Kenneth Delauney for volunteering to do the preliminary reading

25083.png    Meuris for overall support and assistance in organizing my ideas

25085.png    the people of the Conway for the invaluable experiences worthy of documentation

Introduction

graphic1.jpg

Castries Harbour, St. Lucia

This brief memoir seeks to trace paths of the dear ones who came to an unknown place, the Conway, and contributed to its transformation into a bustling and vibrant business location. The narrative begins with a little boy sitting on the upper step of the Anglican Infant School, awaiting his father to escort him home after school. This was during the time when the Anglican Infant School was situated on the spot that now houses the Canon Laurie Primary School. Teacher Annie Theobalds was the head mistress; everyone knew her as Ms. Theobalds. I recall a lady walking up the steps shouting, Teacher Annie, today is the ninth of September, 1939, and England has declared war on Germany.

My name is Clement Springer; my Conway name was Sonny Boy, and I was the little boy sitting on the step of the Anglican Infant School. My mother was Florence Williams, and her Conway name was Ms. Florence. My father was Francis Fitz Springer, and his Conway name was Mr. Fitz. Having lived in Conway from a tender age gave me a feeling of belonging; there I grew from infancy to adulthood and became a shipwright, a carpenter, a joiner, a fisherman, and a musician. Conway gave me an appreciation for intrinsic beauty and for divine revelation in things like the rising of the morning star and the luminous beauty of the evening sunset. I am still always thankful for having a front seat at these spectacular scenes. To me, they are events of profound importance and grace, something magnificent to behold.

I developed a keen interest in folk music, having been exposed to the arts in the Conway. I orchestrated and produced a folk group called the Helenites of Saint Lucia to commemorate and celebrate the work of four fishermen and folklorists who lived in the Conway: Mr. King, Mr. Larwa, Mr. Henry, and Mr. George (affectionately known as Do-or-Die). These gentlemen were admired for their storytelling and the joy they brought to the community through songs and cultural presentations.

Conway was predominantly a fishing community, and fishing was my joy, my favorite pastime. With nostalgia, I accept the developmental plan that has transformed the tranquility of the Conway—an appreciated transformation, a divine and inspired venture which presently incorporates a cultural complex within its walls. I am still hoping to see, a boardwalk where people will gather not only to buy fish, but also to savor tasty, seafood meals from a menu served especially on Fishermen’s Feast—the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

I refer to the location as Conway and sometimes the Conway. They are indeed interchangeable. If you are visiting Saint Lucia and walking along the waterfront, as you approach the traffic lights near the roundabout on the John Compton Highway, just look up, and there you will see the sign that reads Conway Business Center. This is the spot from which my story evolved.

ONE

THE SIGN

Walking along the waterfront toward the traffic lights along the John Compton Highway, I observed a sign—Conway Business Center—posted on a building where once stood the beautiful houses, the Hollywood houses, which adorned that area called Hollywood. A strange and uncertain feeling suddenly overcame me. I paused and repeated the words Conway Business Center. It seemed that the word Conway had suddenly filled a void in my memory, and all the dear ones I had once known in the Conway community seemed to gather around me. I was in a small pond of confusion with many questions flashing through my mind, some of which I had no answers for.

Is Conway the name of the building?

Is Conway the name of the owner of the building?

Is Conway the name of a new community?

Is Conway the new name of where the Hollywood houses once stood?

Where are the Hollywood buildings?

In order to find answers to these questions, I needed to