bahamas abaco
Bahama Islands News, Articles and Information
Breaking the seal of silence
The Rotary Club of East Nassau recently presented thirty hearing impaired children throughout the Bahamas with new hearing aids and hearing aid replacements. As the children gathered in Doctors Hospital's conference rooms to be fitted with molds for their new hearing aids, or replacement hearing aids, the excitement could be felt in the air. The children, from Nassau, Andros, Abaco, Freeport and Eleuthera, enjoyed a day of fun and play, complete with clowns, face painting, games and balloons as Audiologist, Kim Scriven, and visiting Audiologist, Dr Ronald Jones, who traveled to the Bahamas at his own expense, to render assistance, adjusted the new hearing devices to fit each child's specification. Dr Ronald Jones who is also a Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders of the Department of Allied Health, Norfolk, Virginia, also presented a public lecture on "Current Theories And Practices In Teaching Reading And Writing To Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing" to the parents and attending teachers from The Centre For The Deaf.
Men could play best of seven national series
It hasn't happened since the Club 9000 Outlaws outlasted the D S Reds from Exuma in seven games in 2001, but now both island associations are calling for it, and it just might spice up one of the most unlikely championship series, which is already highly anticipated. Abaco has never played for the national title in men's softball, and the island of Eleuthera which was once dubbed 'The Softball Capital of The Bahamas', is making a return after 10-plus years. New Providence is missing for the first time in over 20 years, and Exuma which has won two of the past four nationals, is suddenly in a two-year drought. All of this can be traced to arguably the best pitcher in the country, Edney 'The JC Heat' Bethel, who will now be playing in the championship series for the seventh straight year and going after his fourth title over that span.
Joseph U. Albury, Boat-builder
Joseph Uriah Albury was born in Man-O-War Cay, Abaco on 6 October, 1944. He is a boat-builder as were his father Lewis Uriah Albury, grandfather Captain "Eddie" Albury and great-grandfather Thomas Albury, before him. He is also a descendant of Uriah Saunders of Green Turtle Cay. He was at the Island Roots Heritage Festival in Green Turtle Cay in May of this year (2006) demonstrating his tools, showing his models and giving dinghy demonstrations. I interviewed Joe Albury in 1993 when I was doing research for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival held in Washington D.C. in 1994. I was impressed by his dedication and skill as a boat builder. He told me how he had learned the craft and how boats were built. But first it is necessary to describe the importance of boats in the Bahamas' early years.
A new, uninsured reality
According to meterological data collected by the website hurricanecity.com, Grand Bahama is the second most frequently hurricane-hit land mass in the world, following Grand Cayman. Since 1871, Grand Bahama has weathered a hurricane on average once every 2.45 years, and Andros, Abaco and Bimini are close behind in the top 10 list. Hurricanes are a reality in the Bahamas, and so, too, are increasingly expensive premiums for hurricane insurance. Since 2004, insurance rates in Grand Bahama have jumped 20-40 percent, according to several insurance providers. The cost of hurricane insurance, according to Patrick Ward, CEO of Bahamas First General Insurance, has a lot to do with the cost of reinsuranceĀinsurance for insurance companies. Each year reinsurers put up billions of dollars in capital in a gamble against the likelihood of a catastrophe, and when disaster strikes, they pay dearly.