[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ur recent Year in Review online poll resulted in a flood of responses from readers all keen to share their choice of STAR Person of the Year for 2016. The responses ranged from politicians and musicians, to athletes and other ordinary citizens. This week we decided to share some of the responses that stood out most!
Person of the Year should be: Hon. Allen Chastanet because he has proven himself to be a man who will not let anything nor anyone put him down. He is very persevering, very humble. Throughout all the insults and degrading talk he never lost his cool and never wasted time on entertaining them. He has the country’s interests at heart. If he continues with the good work Saint Lucia will become a better place for everyone.
Person of the Year should be: Claire Daisy Charra. At the age of 17 she is Saint Lucia’s youngest female pilot! At just 18 she got her commercial pilot license and is almost done with her CFI and ready to teach aviation.
Person of the Year should be: Pam Devaux for the sterling work that she has achieved as President of SLAPS. The stray and sick animal situation on this island would be at critical levels if not for Pam and her team. The remarkable thing is that Pam is still doing this at the age of 75!
Person of the Year should be: Allen Chastanet. He took a political party from scraps and defied all odds thrashing the SLP government at the polls.
Person of the Year should be: Daren Sammy. He showed some serious heart this year and proved that you only fail when you give up, and not when people who do not have your best interests at heart try to push your back against the wall. Kudos to the start of the Daren Sammy Foundation!
Person of the Year should be: Boo Hinkson. He is one of the most passionate and determined musicians on the local scene, who’s managed to tap into international markets, and this year received the distinguished OBE award. I vote for him hands down because of the sort of inspiration he imparts without even trying, just as a result of him being such a go-getter. Thank you Boo for continuing to inspire all of us to shine!
Person of the Year should be: Allen Chastanet. I really did not expect the result from the 2016 general election. Great job Allen and the United Workers Party for making something happen out of very unfavourable circumstances!
Person of the Year should be: Michael Cosmay. You know how they say, “We live in a dead hero society”? There are athletes, especially, who continue to be forgotten. When I was growing up Michael in particular used to run with this other guy, I think it was Anthony Fessal. These were two of the top runners in the Caribbean but, because of a reservation being badly made, they missed a flight to France for a meet. The flight was overbooked and they never made it there but word got back that the Africans were asking about them. The Africans were considered the world’s fastest long-distance runners, but they were asking about these guys because they were so good. That may have been back in the 80s. Adidas had sponsored both of them, and in those times a sponsorship like that was unheard of. I nominate Michael as Person of the Year, in the hopes that we start to recognise the contributions of our athletes young and old!
A special thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. We’ll be announcing the STAR Person of the Year for 2016 in our next issue. Don’t miss it!
