National honourees prepare for big day tomorrow

Gleaner printery assistant Clive Evans spent much of Saturday rehearsing and readying his attire for the National Honours and Awards Ceremony to be held at King’s House in St Andrew tomorrow.

Evans will be saluted for his service to the sport of horse racing with a Badge of Honour for meritorious service as a horse groomer.

The cheerful Gleaner employee became involved in horse racing as a stable lad in 1986 and quickly moved up the ranks to become groom president in the 1990s.

Evans’ love for the sport spurred him to write for the newspaper’s weekly Track and Pools, and, in 2017, he was one of 10 persons inducted into the Jamaica Racing Commission Hall of Fame under the ‘Groom’ category.

“The weekend has been going good. I went to the rehearsal this morning and it was so militant, it seemed as if it was the original thing taking place without the governor general and the prime minister there,” said Evans, who has been beaming with pride since Independence Day, when his name appeared in The Gleaner among the 143 to be honoured on National Heroes Day.

“We got about 98 per cent this morning in terms of the persons who came out, what they are supposed to do, and the changes. So I’m feeling super great!” continued Evans.

“When I do my research, I’m going to be the first person in Gregory Park, the first groom, and also among a handful of Gleaner employees.”

Among the other honourees this year are Deputy Police Commissioner Selvin Hay, who was appointed to the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer for service to the country through outstanding performance in the Jamaica Constabulary Force; and Tamar Blake, who raised an alarm when a woman tried to register a baby snatched from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in January.