RADIO ABACO NEWS
Coast Guard Cutter Visits: For the first time ever a US Coastguard cutter put into the Port of Marsh Harbour to refuel on 30th June. Lieutenant Button reported that the cutter was on general patrol “...something like a police patrol car - we go where we are needed.” The Port Director and fuel company had been advised of the cutter’s impending visit and the 17 crew members were able to enjoy a night on the town in Marsh Harbour even though they had been south of Miami the previous day. One of the crew members was Petty Officer Johnson of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.
Treasure Cay Blackout: US Independence Day weekend was due to be the biggest of the year with virtually all the resorts and condominiums filled to capacity with visitors. Then lightning struck a BEC transformer at 4 pm on 3rd July and left the resort area without water, ice and air conditioning. Radio Abaco visited Treasure Cay on 5th July and interviewed some of the inconvenienced tourists. Byron Bonafonte of Miami said he had come to have a good time and would definitely never return. Representative Joe McCord of Tennessee said it wasn’t too bad. “You could sit on the beach and sit at the bar.” McCord said he had current from midnight to 8 am on the 5th. Bahama Beach Club developer Craig Roberts said the experience was almost as bad as Hurricane Floyd. He lost two condo sales which he was about to complete. “We gave out free drinks to keep everybody happy but had no ice to put in the drinks.” Emergency generators proved unable to provide the power needed by the crowded resort and load shedding took place over four days. A generator was taken to Treasure Cay from Sandy Point and helped stabilise the situation.
Celebrate Bahamas: The Bahamas Farmers’ Association, Abaco branch, held a Celebrate Bahamas agricultural display at the Anglican Church Hall in Marsh Harbour on 5th July. On show were fruits, vegetables, flowers, preserves, native woodwork by Stephen Knowles, jewellery by Don Wood, bush medicine by Lernis Cornish; a Neem presentation by Nick Miaoulis, and displays by Friends of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. One impressive display was of coontie bread made by Alderado Ward of Dundas Town. Jill Wells of Pepperpot Farm explained the process to Radio Abaco. She noted that the coontie, a zamia that grows wild on Abaco, is dependent on the Atala hairstreak butterfly which has black wings with blue markings and an orange body. The butterfly, in turn, depends upon the coontie to complete its life cycle. Present at the show was Claude Smith who has been in agriculture for 60 years. He declared the show outstanding.
Plane Mishap: The right landing gear of an Air Sunshine Cessna 402 snapped off during take off from Marsh Harbour International Airport at 1.30 on 6th July. The pilot managed to get the craft to the edge of the runway and there were no injuries. On board were eight US citizens and one Bahamian, all of them rather shaken up. Large aircraft were diverted to Treasure Cay until the runway was cleared at 3 pm.
Independence: Radio Abaco gave full live coverage to all the 30th Anniversary of Independence celebrations mentioned elsewhere in this issue.