Serving for life

WESTERN BUREAU:

It was from her girlhood days, that retired schoolteacher Nerris Hawthorne, became involved in community activism and volunteerism in Hanover, the parish of her birth.

"That's in my nature because from school days, I had clubs. When I was 16, had a Wolf Cub Pack and I was a scout at Mount Hannah School. I ran the Wesley Guild and I was in the Girl Guides. In fact, I am a lieutenant in the guides," she said, laughing.

"I grew up as a community person, and so it just carried on from there. Another thing, as a schoolteacher too, you become involved in community efforts," the Bethlehem Teachers College-trained Hawthorne said during a recent interview.

Hawthorne, now 80, grew up in the upland community of Patty Hill and has served on an extensive list of community and parish organisations. She migrated to the United Kingdom several decades ago, and returned to her homeland in 1989. Since then she has never ceased to contribute her time and effort to initiatives aimed at bettering Hanover, whether through her utterances, or in her deeds.

She is credited as being one of the key persons who spurred the revival of the Lucea Cross the Harbour event in 2001, after many years of dormancy.

The outspoken Hawthorne was one of the persons who spoke out against, and successfully prevented the downgrading of the Noel Holmes Hospital in 2003. She has served as president of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Hanover Parish Development Committee for four years.

involved in rotary club

Still extremely active in her parish organisations, Hawthorne is presently the director of projects in the Rotary Club of Lucea, and a member of the Hanover Parish Council's planning and homeless committees. She is also founder of the Hanover Music Academy and the Uhuru Theatre Company. She also established the Lucea Development Initiative, to fill a gap a few years ago, she said, when the Chamber of Commerce and the Hanover Parish Development Committee were inactive.

The octogenarian also served on the board of the Rusea's High School for seven years, and was a director on the Noel Holmes Hospital Management Board., the Hanover Homecoming Foundation, Scouts Association, the Police Civic Committee and the Parish Cultural Development Committee.