RETIRED TEACHERS OF ONTARIO VISIT ST. VINCENT

To paraphrase an old expression, retired teachers never die, they just keep on learning. They travel world-wide and this past week, a group of Canadian teacher retirees from the Kingston, Ontario Region have been visiting and learning about St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

Ontario has the largest population of all Canadian provinces. It is proud of its education system and through the years has had a close connection with St. Vincent & the Grenadines. There are currently 155,000 school teachers in Ontario and 55,000 retired teachers as well as many thousands of Vincentian immigrants whose children have benefitted from Ontario’s education system.

Retired Teachers of Ontario, Margaret and Meikle Turner

The Vincentian interviewed the Chair of the Travel Committee, Meikle Turner and his wife Margaret at the Paradise Beach Hotel. When asked why they chose St. Vincent & the Grenadines, they explained that they custom design their travel itineraries to meet the needs of their members. Influenced by positive recommendations and many years of visits by the Elder Hostel Association, they selected St. Vincent as a destination that would meet the safety, adventure, intellectual and post retirement needs of their members. Their visit has been an outstanding success.

The group arrived on Sunday January 20 and returned to their homes two weeks later, February 3. The group’s itinerary, with some modifications, was similar to the Elder Hostel Group tours. It was arranged by Joanne Gotsis of Odyssey Tours in Kingston, Ontario and Kim Halbich of Fantasea Tours in St. Vincent. There was lots of free sun, swim and personal time, plus opportunities to attend and participate in lectures on the history of St. Vincent. They enjoyed a tour of the Island of Bequia, trips to both the Windward and Leeward coasts of St. Vincent and a visit to Darkview Falls. They toured Erica’s pepper factory, attended an evening church folk service, had a flight to Union Island and a day sail to the Tobago keys; and back at the hotel, the Paradise Beach Hotel chef, Rhonda Arthur gave lessons in Vincentian cooking. This past Friday, when winter storm warnings with up to 30 cm of blowing snow, ice pellets and freezing rain were broadcast across Southern Ontario, they enjoyed the welcoming warmth and beauty of Montreal Gardens and on Saturday, they topped off their visit with a farewell barbecue at the hotel, complete with local entertainment.

Retired Teachers Never Die; They Just Keep on Learning
Stella Stefan, Rose Schultz, Chef Rhonda Arthur, Carol Williams

The Vincentian asked the Turners what impressions they thought the group would be taking home following their visit. Without hesitation they responded that apart from the beauty and interesting features and history of our island state, they were most impressed with, “The wonderful, friendly, helpful attitude of all the people they met on the island”.

They did say however, that they hoped our planned international airport would not change the unique culture and the natural beauty of St. Vincent & the Grenadines. They voiced concern that unless we took steps to preserve what we have, we run the risk of becoming just another “Cookie-cutter, North American Holiday Inn tourist destination.”

We must listen to the caveats left by visitors to our shore. This is the first visit for this group to St. Vincent and it received a very positive first impression. It will take back excellent recommendations to not only their friends and neighbours, but to a collective population of colleagues both active and retired that is more than double our own population. Our Ministry of Tourism can spend tens of thousands of dollars in promoting St. Vincent & the Grenadines, but nothing is as cost-effective or can compare to the personal recommendations of visitors who have had a positive vacation experience in our country.