Thu | Mar 28, 2024

Shagoury penning book about his beloved parish

Published:Thursday | October 20, 2022 | 12:06 AMCecelia Campbell-Livingston/Gleaner Writer
William Shagoury (seated, centre), custos of Clarendon, celebrates with the awardees for education (seated from left) Clinton Wilson, Imogene Stephenson, Hyacinth Grose and Enid Sinclair. Standing (from left), Christine Munroe-Walters, Pearlyn Clark and Be
William Shagoury (seated, centre), custos of Clarendon, celebrates with the awardees for education (seated from left) Clinton Wilson, Imogene Stephenson, Hyacinth Grose and Enid Sinclair. Standing (from left), Christine Munroe-Walters, Pearlyn Clark and Beverly Smith-Williams. Occasion was the Heroes Day Salute, Parade & Awards Ceremony for Clarendon, held on the grounds of th Clarendon Parish Court in May Pen on Monday.
William Shagoury, custos of Clarendon, celebrates with the awardees for agriculture & fisheries, Pauline Givans (left) and Mary Williams.
William Shagoury, custos of Clarendon, celebrates with the awardees for agriculture & fisheries, Pauline Givans (left) and Mary Williams.
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Next March when Custos Rotulorum of Clarendon William Shagoury turns 75 and retires, he believes he will be leaving a legacy of tangible investments in the parish.

Addressing the Civic Awards ceremony held on the grounds of the Clarendon Parish Court on Monday, Shagoury informed the audience that it was the last time he was speaking at the function in the capacity as custos.

He has been custos of the parish for almost 11 years, something he said he enjoyed immensely. He had the audience in stitches when he related some of his experiences, and spoke of the cost to him personally.

“I started with a lot of money and I end up poor. I started with good health and end up with three major surgeries,” he said on a more serious note.

Shagoury encouraged Clarendonians to be proud of their parish. He took umbrage to the travel advisory issued by the United States government, warning its citizens about travelling to the parish.

“They really should look within themselves, because the city of Baltimore has over 500,000 people and they have 200 murders. Clarendon has 300,000-plus persons and we have about 70 murders. Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago are not much better (than Baltimore),” he said, as he called on the Jamaican Government to put out a travel advisory regarding those places.

According to Shagoury, the travel advisory makes people think that Clarendon is the worst place to live. He noted that it is a far better place to live than some places abroad.

So great is his pride in his parish that he is now in the final stages of writing a book about it, which he intends to distribute to schools because many students, he believes, do not know much about the parish of their birth.

“We need our children to know about it,” he said.

As he looks ahead to retirement, Shagoury said there are some memorable moments that he will be taking with him, chief of which are the many children’s treats held across the parish, where between 8,000 and 9,000 children were fêted and given toys. Added to those memories is the standing ovation he received from the audience when he was dubbed ‘Clarendon’s hero’.

Shagoury’s main wish is that the people of the parish will be taken care of and not abused by whomever replaces him.

cecelia.livingston@gleanerjm.com