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Voyager couple give gifts to Trelawny students
Monday, February 21, 2011
FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Retired United States (US) schoolteacher Gail Hileman, 64, and her hubby Carl, have visited many attractions across the world on their frequent cruises.
Among them are the famous Dunn's River Falls in the resort town of Ocho Rios and the Rose Hall Great House in St James.
Students of Hope Basic School in Falmouth admire the toys presented to them by retired US schoolteacher Gail Hileman, a passenger on the Voyager of the Seas, which arrived at the newly constructed historic Falmouth Port on Wednesday. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Students of Hope Basic School in Falmouth admire the toys presented to them by retired US schoolteacher Gail Hileman, a passenger on the Voyager of the Seas, which arrived at the newly constructed historic Falmouth Port on Wednesday. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
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But last Thursday when the couple disembarked the Voyager of the Seas at the newly constructed historic Falmouth Port, they were not interested in touring the Georgian town, neither did they want to visit any of the raft of attractions in Trelawny and the adjoining parishes of St James and St Ann.
Instead, the charming couple, who reside in Flower Mound, Texas, opted to give words of encouragement and souvenir gift items to many of the large number of students who were on hand to witness the arrival of the first cruise liner to the historic town.
And not being able to move around freely on their own, the couple, with the use of motorised wheelchairs, left the pier less than two hours after the 8:15 am arrival of the vessel, with its 5,000 passengers and crew, in search of students.
But they did not have to go far, as just across from the pier, behind the chain-linked fence on Seaboard Street -- where large numbers of residents had been waiting anxiously for the ship's arrival -- were scores of students watching keenly the unfolding of the historic event.
The couple's first stop was with a group of students from Hope Basic School in Falmouth.
Digging into her bag, Gail removed a number of stuffed toys and presented them to the students, much to the surprise of the tiny tots, their teachers and other onlookers.
But that was not all.
The sociable retired schoolteacher then reached into her purse and gave each student a souvenir bag, containing a US one dollar bill.
"Keep this; don't spend it, and dream, dream big, dream that you have a million of these," she urged.
She also told the students to make use of their education and encouraged them to make a worthwhile contribution to Jamaica.
"You should do well in school and make a very good contribution to the development of your country," she said, displaying a radiant smile. The surprised students told Gail "thanks", as they admired their gifts.
Several other students from other schools benefited from the couple's generosity.
"I believe in education and I want to contribute to the development of this country that I love so much, and have lot of friends [in]," Gail later told the Observer.
She added that over the years several other countries have benefited from her benevolence.
"This is what I do when I travel all over the world, so to come here and not do it would not be me," she said, when the Observer sought the motive behind her kind gesture.
Representatives of the Tourism Product Development Company were later contacted by the couple, and arrangements were made by them for the funding of an essay competition to be held among students from the five high schools in Trelawny.
The topic, she insisted, should be: 'My dream for Jamaica'.
The couple then returned to their cabin on the vessel and vowed to return to Trelawny in the near future.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1Ec6DGHSi
Monday, February 21, 2011
FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Retired United States (US) schoolteacher Gail Hileman, 64, and her hubby Carl, have visited many attractions across the world on their frequent cruises.
Among them are the famous Dunn's River Falls in the resort town of Ocho Rios and the Rose Hall Great House in St James.
Students of Hope Basic School in Falmouth admire the toys presented to them by retired US schoolteacher Gail Hileman, a passenger on the Voyager of the Seas, which arrived at the newly constructed historic Falmouth Port on Wednesday. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Students of Hope Basic School in Falmouth admire the toys presented to them by retired US schoolteacher Gail Hileman, a passenger on the Voyager of the Seas, which arrived at the newly constructed historic Falmouth Port on Wednesday. (Photo: Alan Lewin)#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/1 But last Thursday when the couple disembarked the Voyager of the Seas at the newly constructed historic Falmouth Port, they were not interested in touring the Georgian town, neither did they want to visit any of the raft of attractions in Trelawny and the adjoining parishes of St James and St Ann.
Instead, the charming couple, who reside in Flower Mound, Texas, opted to give words of encouragement and souvenir gift items to many of the large number of students who were on hand to witness the arrival of the first cruise liner to the historic town.
And not being able to move around freely on their own, the couple, with the use of motorised wheelchairs, left the pier less than two hours after the 8:15 am arrival of the vessel, with its 5,000 passengers and crew, in search of students.
But they did not have to go far, as just across from the pier, behind the chain-linked fence on Seaboard Street -- where large numbers of residents had been waiting anxiously for the ship's arrival -- were scores of students watching keenly the unfolding of the historic event.
The couple's first stop was with a group of students from Hope Basic School in Falmouth.
Digging into her bag, Gail removed a number of stuffed toys and presented them to the students, much to the surprise of the tiny tots, their teachers and other onlookers.
But that was not all.
The sociable retired schoolteacher then reached into her purse and gave each student a souvenir bag, containing a US one dollar bill.
"Keep this; don't spend it, and dream, dream big, dream that you have a million of these," she urged.
She also told the students to make use of their education and encouraged them to make a worthwhile contribution to Jamaica.
"You should do well in school and make a very good contribution to the development of your country," she said, displaying a radiant smile. The surprised students told Gail "thanks", as they admired their gifts.
Several other students from other schools benefited from the couple's generosity.
"I believe in education and I want to contribute to the development of this country that I love so much, and have lot of friends [in]," Gail later told the Observer.
She added that over the years several other countries have benefited from her benevolence.
"This is what I do when I travel all over the world, so to come here and not do it would not be me," she said, when the Observer sought the motive behind her kind gesture.
Representatives of the Tourism Product Development Company were later contacted by the couple, and arrangements were made by them for the funding of an essay competition to be held among students from the five high schools in Trelawny.
The topic, she insisted, should be: 'My dream for Jamaica'.
The couple then returned to their cabin on the vessel and vowed to return to Trelawny in the near future.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1Ec6DGHSi
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