St. George’s Caye hosts visitors on Sunday

Call it a skirmish… call it a war… whatever you call it, Belize is celebrating the two hundredth anniversary the Battle of St. George’s Caye next Thursday. Activities for the bicentennial are in full swing and if your weekend calendar is not booked, there’s an event which should provide you with the opportunity to rub shoulders with dignitaries and learn a bit of history. The Bicentennial Committee has organized a family fun day on St. George’s Caye for this Sunday, which for the first time will bring many Belizeans to the scene of the famous event.

Paul Hunt, Member, Bicentennial Committee

“We have two events. First there is a memorial service, an ecumenical service. I think there are five different churches represented there. And we will have a service to remember those who stood for freedom in the settlement. And people such as the Prime Minister are invited. The Governor General has graciously agreed to attend, several other official parties.

And after that event we will move on to a more public occasion which is a barbecue and cookout at Cottage Colony. That’s one of the resort hotels on the island out there. And that should be fun because I think people will relax a bit. We’re gonna have Steve Babb to give us some music, and it should be a good day.”

Q: “Mr. Hunt, what does an activity like this do to enhance the commemoration of two hundred years of the Battle of St. George’s Caye?”

Paul Hunt

“Well, let me say that, of all the celebrations that are happening these few days, the only one that will take place at the place where the battle took place is at the caye. And so I think this contribute to a very conscious recognition of where this whole event took place and perhaps a little bit of history.”

Hunt says that the Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association will be providing transportation to and from St. George’s Caye beginning at seven a.m. on Sunday, from the Marine Terminal at the foot of the old Swing Bridge. Round trip is twenty dollars. Hunt says that by a strange stroke of coincidence, some members of the first battalion of the King’s Regiment who have been on jungle training in Belize, will be on the island for Sunday’s event. Hunt says they are direct descendants of the infantry that observed the Battle of St. George’s Caye in 1798.