​Veteran masman Edmond Hart died yesterday at the age of 94.
Hart died at the San Fernando General Hospital after falling ill on Thursday night.
His passing was announced on the Harts Carnival website yesterday. The mas band said, “At this time, we sincerely appreciate all the kind words and prayers from our family, friends and fellow masqueraders.”
Hart started his Carnival band in 1960 with his then wife Lil. Hart, originally from San Fernando was a part of bands with Harold Saldenah and Bobby Ammon. Their first band of the year title came in 1966 with the band Playing Cards, followed by four more titles with Inferno (1970), Mas Sweet Mas (1983), Islands in the Sun (1986) and Out of this World (1988). In 1973, Edmund Hart received the Humming Bird Gold Medal for his contribution to Carnival development.
David Lopez, head of the National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA) said “the old veterans are going one by one,” referring to the passing of bandleader Neville Aming at 95, last week.
Lopez said Hart was one of the first bandleaders to be involved in a bandleaders association. “He, along with George Bailey and Neville Aming were among the first to approach Dr Eric Williams about the formation of what was the Carnival Bandleaders Association.”
“His contribution to Carnival was really great along with his wife Lil. They were really artists who loved what they were doing,” he said.
Lopez said the NCBA has honoured the Harts by naming the Small Band of the Year trophy after Lil Hart who died in 1991.
“They were making mas in the days when you had creativity in Carnival when they didn’t have all that money. His legacy is with his children, the Harts new generation.
“On behalf of the NCBA, we extend condolences to the Hart family. T&T will be ever grateful to him and his wife for the contribution they made to Carnival.”
Edmond Hart leaves behind his wife, Judy, six children Karen, Maritza, Thais, Aixa, Luis and Gerald, as well as eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Source:  Guardian, September 30, 2017

YET ANOTHER Trini has made it to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
The Fyzabad native, Vera Seurattan climbed with the aim of inspiring others to achieve their dreams.
She said: “I want children to see that despite whatever circumstances they are living in, that great things can be achieve and that they should dream big.”
Seurattan, an air traffic controller based in South Korea, began her journey on September 6 and completed it by September 14.
Originally from Mon Desir Road, Seurattan attended the Erin Road Presbyterian Primary School and moved to the United States with her parents and brother.
The solo adventurer said she never thought the trip would become a reality, but pushed herself given that she was close to Nepal.
“I got very excited because historic places have always interested me and Kathmandu in Nepal has seven UNESCO World Heritage sites alone. Nepal has a total of 10. After my nine day trek, I have three free days which I plan to utilize in exploring the temples in Kathmandu. Aside from successfully trekking to Base Camp, I'm most looking forward to eating some good Indian food as I've been away from my mother's cooking for about a year,” she said.
Seurattan joked about finding the Trini local cuisine of “doubles” or channa and buss-up-shot roti during her travel to Nepal.
She said she never had any aspirations to become a mountain climber and was never a fan of hiking or trekking, but after doing research, she felt compelled to plan a trip to Kathmandu which quickly spiralled into a Mouth Everest trekking trip.
“I reasoned that it would be a once in a life time opportunity and it'd be unwise to pass it up. It's also quite a thing to cross off my bucket list. At this stage in my life I realize that I'm unlikely to find major epiphanies or divine inspiration on the mountain. However, I hope to experience something outside all that I've experienced so far in my life. The Nepalese people are known for their generosity and kindness. I simply hope to see a lot of smiling faces on the trekking route and in the villages I stop in overnight.
For me travel is important because it is easy to become jaded with the routine of everyday work and life demands.Travel allows for a respite from these things and it often puts things into perspective and your big problems become more insignificant.
Everyone is born an explorer I believe, and while I might have been glued to my mother's, aunt's and grandmothers hips as a young child I still found time to explore. My fondest memories of my time living in Trinidad are of exploring in both of my grandfather's land and climbing the plum and mango trees with my cousins. Every time I am back in Trinidad, I make time to return to the land and explore because it is what makes me feel most connected to the Earth.”
Speaking about the trip, she excitedly recalled the events.
Though she fell violently ill due to altitude sickness, one of the more hilarious things, she said she entered was having to dodge yak droppings.
She said: “It was an incredible, once in a lifetime trip. I suffered from symptoms of altitude sickness starting on day three and did not feel better until day seven of nine once I had reached a sufficiently low altitude. I suffered from headaches and nausea. I was pretty miserable once I got to Everest Base Camp, the symptoms had taken out all of the excitement from me. I simply wanted to get the task done.
After talking about it with my trek guide and fellow trek companion Alberto Maria Caputo, an Italian from Rome, I found I was quite proud of myself for completing it because they were quite worried about me not making it. I had no idea. They kept it a secret until after I was feeling better to tell me they had been a bit worried.
I must mention that I am most impressed by the Yak. I would pause to watch them go by every time. They are amazing animals who do a great service to the mountains and its people. They are graceful and majestic animals that quietly move goods and materials up the mountains. They wear bells around their necks that make the most harmonious sounds. I brought five yak bells to take home with me. I promised at least one to my mother (in lieu of gold earrings).
The entire trail, except for the last three hours to Everest Base Camp, is littered with yak droppings which I was excited to find out they also call gobar in Nepal, just like in Trinidad. You really have to be careful to steer clear of the droppings that are everywhere. I found it quite comforting to see though, since I'm pretty much in love with yaks now.”
Seurattan said she hopes to continue mountain climbing but may opt for a less challenging route next time.
“As far as future trekking goes, I hope to convince my brother to accompany me to trek the Inca Trail in Peru that leads up to Machu Picchu. It is much more simple than the approximately 75 mile round trip trek of Everest Base Camp and only has a max altitude of 2680 metres. I am looking forward to something a little less challenging,” she said.
​Source: Express news September 19

Queen Street in Port of Spain will officially be renamed tomorrow to Queen Janelle Commissiong Street in recognition of her being named the first woman of colour to win the Miss Universe beautiy pageant crown.
Fondly known as ‘Penny’, she won the title and fame in 1977. During her reign, Penny was an advocate for black rights and world peace. Commissiong was awarded the Trinity Cross, this country’s then highest award in 1977, and three postage stamps were also issued in her honour. She married Brian Bowen, founder of Bowen Marine, who died in an accident in November 1989. After his death, she married businessman Alwin Chow.
​The council of the Port of Spain City Corporation decided to unveil the sign during a formal ceremony tomorrow at 10 am, and with a parade starting at Picadilly Street, along Queen Street and ending at Richmond Street and culminate at the Government Campus Plaza where Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez will deliver an address.  Follow this link
for an article about Janelle.

I came across this interesting piece which speaks about the places from which the slaves came from.  If you are interested in learning more, click on this link HERE

​Trinidad born Noel Smith is the grandfather and hero of Sloane Stephens, the 24 years old who defeated Venus Williams in the US Open Semi Final to gain a spot in Saturday’s All American Final against Madison Keys.
Smith, who turns 92 years old today, was born in Trinidad as one of 13 children and earned a scholarship to Howard University where he studied Medicine and set his family on course to a better life.
“My hero is my grandpa because he’s the best person who ever lived on this planet. I love him so much and he taught me everything that I know."
"He taught me how to read, how to garden, how to plant, how to cook, how to make bread, the colors of the rainbow, everything."
“Every Sunday we FaceTime on his iPhone 6 Plus. Our talks aren’t about tennis, but he told me that I need to keep my racquet parallel to the net at all times."
Sloane was born in Plantations, Florida to Sybil Smith who became the first African-American female to Sloane Stephens' epic comeback is complete.
Stephens, who has jumped more than 900 spots in the world rankings in a month, is now a grand slam champion, winning the US Open 6-3, 6-0 against No. 15 seed and fellow American Madison Keys at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York.be named First Team All American in Division 1 history. 
Her father was professional football player, John Stephens who was killed in a car accident in 2009
Check out this video of her chatting with her grandpa.  Click here
Source:  CNN and 96.1 WEFM

NASA mathematician who calculated the trajectory of the Apollo 11 mission .Katherine Johnson (born Aug. 26, 1918)
Johnson was a physicist, space scientist and mathematician who played a major part in the early days of the space program. Johnson attended West Virginia State University, and in 1934 she earned a bachelor’s in French and mathematics. Her mentor was Dr. W.W. Schiefflin Claytor, the third African-American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. Claytor created a special course focusing on analytic geometry just for Johnson. In 1940, she attended West Virginia University to further her studies. 
She dealt with the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA. Johnson was known for her mathematical accuracy in computerized celestial navigation. She was responsible for calculating the trajectory for the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the moon. Essentially, she was a human computer. 
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