Anguillians, led by acting Chief Minister Mr. Victor Banks,  gave strong support to the fourth in the series of OECS 25th anniversary lectures, held at the Teachers Resource Centre in Anguilla, August 31st.

The lecture on “Preserving Cultural Identify in the Face of Globalisation” was delivered by Dr. Gordon Rohlehr, of the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies.  Dr. Rohlehr who has been at St. Augustine for almost 40 years, drew on his extensive research experience to review and analyse the challenges facing the Caribbean as it tries to promote a cultural identify.  The Guyana born Dr. Rohlehr has a keen interest in West Indian literature and has written two books on the calypso artform.

Coordinators of the lecture in Anguilla added a new feature to the event - short presentations by  three “discussants”. This well received feature,  preceded questions and comments by the audience. The discussants were Dr. Aidan Harrigan, Permanent Secretary, Economic Development; Mrs. Patricia Adams, Retired Certified Teacher and Mr. Foster Rogers Permanent Secretary, Labour, Immigration, Lands, C?Newshief Minister’s Office.

A highlight of the event was an appearance by the first runner up in the recent 2006 Anguilla Calypso Competition Johnny Lloyd “the Mighty Springer” to do his hit calypso “OECS We Celebrate You”.  This well written and melodious calypso brought rousing applause from the appreciative audience. Participating Radio Stations on the OECS News Link www.oecs.org recorded the lecture via Radio Anguilla for airplay.

The lecture series is part of on-going OECS 25th anniversary celebrations and is being coordinated by the Lecture Series Committee, chaired by Programme Officer with the Economic Union project, Allister Mounsey.  The series began in St. Lucia with Dr. Vanus James, who was followed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by Dr. Vaughn Lewis.  The next lecture has been scheduled for Antigua/Barbuda.  The series is being sponsored by Scotia Bank.