Study Tour of Belize

Press Release – San Pedro Town Council – May 31, 2011 – On Saturday 4th June a group of 12 emerging (future) leaders will arrive in Belize on AA 2103 to commence a Study Tour of Belize from June 4 – 8, 2011. The members of this group have been selected from several countries, including Canada, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.

During their visit they will be travelling to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Xunantunich, Spanish Lookout, Marie Sharp Fine Foods, Citrus Products of Belize, Belize Natural Energy and Belize Sugar Industry; they will also be addressed by a representative of the Banana Industry. These visits will serve as an opportunity for dialogue and for participants to be exposed to the diverse challenges faced by leaders in Belize. They will report on their experience in plenary sessions in Barbados at the end of the conference.

This is part of a unique experience and initiative entitled the Caribbean-Canada Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue (CCELD) which brings together 120 future leaders from Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean to participate in a two week, leadership development conference from May 28 to June 11, 2011 under the Theme: “Growth Through Connection – Enabling Sustainable Progress”. The CCELD opened in Ottawa, Canada on May 28 where they participated in discussions on the challenges facing leaders and engaged in two days of presentations, discussion and networking.

While this group is visiting with us here in Belize, five (5) Belizeans will be participating in other Study Tours in various Caribbean territories. The countries involved in this initiative include the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago.

The Local Planning Committee takes this opportunity to thank all our sponsors/partners, without whose support the Belize Tour would not have been possible. These include: Social Security Board, Belize Electricity Limited, Belize Natural Energy Ltd., Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., The Radisson Fort George Hotel & Marina, Belize Defense Force, Atlantic Bank, Mirage Belize, National Trade Union Congress of Belize (BNTU), Bowen & Bowen, Belize Telemedia Ltd., House of Culture, The Mayors of: Belize City, San Pedro, San Ignacio & Santa Elena, Dangriga, and Belmopan.

Special appreciation is also expressed to all the companies and enterprises that opened their facilities to host the group of emerging leaders during the Belize Tour.

Coral Reef Ed-Ventures is Returning to San Pedro

The Coral Reef Ed-Ventures is returning to San Pedro for its 12th terrific year of coral reef programs!

Smith College – Hol Chan Coral Reef Ed-Ventures is an educational summer program that teaches children about reef ecology and conservation. In 2000, three professors from Smith College, USA, Al Curran, Paulette Peckol, and Susan Etheredge collaborated with the managers of Hol Chan Marine Reserve, especially Miguel Alamilla, to create a program that provides a way for Smith students to give back to the community of San Pedro while supporting its beautiful resource of the coral reef. The goal of the program for the past ten years has been to foster collaboration between Smith students and the residents of San Pedro to promote an understanding about the environmental and economic benefits of a healthy reef ecosystem nearby, in the hopes of increasing the conservation of this remarkable resource.

This program has two programs for children who are interested in learning more about the coral reef. There is an advanced program for children ages 12 and over, who will create, with the Smith student teachers, a coral reef conservation project. For the past two years the group has published a magazine focusing on the Meso-American Barrier Reef nearby and its links to the community. The magazine printing was generously supported by community donations and was distributed free of charge throughout San Pedro. We will start on Thursday, June 23rd and ends on Friday, July 1st. The program runs from 4 to 6pm (Location TBA).

For children ages 7 to 11, there is a youth program that lasts for two weeks. It runs from Monday, July 4th to Thursday, July 14th. The children participate in many hands-on activities that emphasize the care and preservation of the reef. The program runs from 9:00 to 11:45 am at the RC School.

Interested students should pick up permission slips at the library (across from the RC School) or at the Hol Chan Office and bring it to the first day of the program. We hope you will join us on our coral reef adventure!!

Before the program officially gets underway, there will be two movie nights with popcorn and juice for anyone in the community who is interested. Be on the lookout for dates and times!

Legends Burger House Raises $4,000BZD for ACES Crocodile Conservation

Press Release – ACES/American Crocodile Education Sanctuary – May 31, 2011 – This past Saturday Legend’s Burger House was rock’n for crocs. Gino and the Shack Shakers entertained guests while they enjoyed pulled pork and chicken tacos and cocktails under the shade of a Belikin tent. The crocodile conservation display by ACES/ American Crocodile Education Sanctuary was educational as well as entertaining. Visitors marveled over the difference in skull sizes between the freshwater Morelet’s and the saltwater American crocs, and enjoyed watching both a photo gallery of ACES provided by The San Pedro Sun and a fantastically exciting video of ACES’s croc rescues and school visits which was created by Island Films.
Children took turns batting at a crocodile piñata made by Vince Rose, ACES croc wrangler and Wildlife Behaviorist, and Vince gave a live demonstration of how one of the croc traps works. After spending hours of preparation to set up the trap earlier that morning, it only took seconds once Vince crawled inside and pulled the bait for the net opening to be pulled tightly shut and raise high up into the tree, successfully capturing Vince. The crowd was impressed and delighted by the demonstration.
Tyler Cornell of Legend’s Burger House ingeniously helped ACES raise even more funds by giving away FREE rum drinks with the purchase of every $5 raffle ticket. Then, the raffle winners were drawn and 25 awesome prizes were handed out accordingly. As 6pm neared, people crowded the silent auction table to get in their last bids. As the sun set over the lagoon, silent auction winners were announced by ACES apprentice Chris Summers, and the winners received their prizes as the party dwindled down.

ACES would like to personally thank everyone who donated prizes for the day’s events and everyone that supported the cause by buying tickets or attending the festivities. “We are grateful to the whole community of this very special island. The generosity of everyone, from the band donating their time, to the San Pedro Town Council who permitted free bridge passes to those attending the event this is beyond what I ever could have imagined. We would especially like to thank Tyler Cornell, Jewels Von Rabenau and the staff at Legends Burger House for offering to host this event,” stated ACES Research Biologist Cherie Rose.

ACES will utilize the monies raised to continue building the new Educational Crocodile Eco-Sanctuary in Ladyville. Once the main facility is established and self-sustainable, it will give ACES the freedom to consider implementing a smaller croc sanctuary here on the island. And the biggest success of the fundraiser was that fun was had by all!

No Caye Caulker Lobsterfest for 2011

The San Pedro Sun was able to confirm that there will be NO Lobsterfest in Caye Caulker this year. This was necessary due to a decrease in support from the business community over the past years. The Lobsterfest Committee is a non-profit organization, and without the necessary support, the decision not to have a Lobsterfest was necessary. The main beneficiaries of Lobsterfest are the business community.

Our investigations further revealed that this is NOT the end of Lobsterfest for Caye Caulker. The team responsible for the event will be pounding the streets and working tirelessly immediately after the September Celebrations, preparing for Lobsterfest 2012.

With Lobsterfest not happening; you may ask, “What can we do in Caye Caulker instead?” Well, unconfirmed reports are that Lazy Lizard is planning a private Lobsterfest at The Split. Apart from that, Joanna Arellano, the Chairperson for the Caye Caulker Marketing Committee informed The San Pedro Sun that they have organized 2011’s Caye Caulker Cool Seafood Fiesta. The fiesta is scheduled to span two days, Friday June 24th and Saturday June 25th at the Central Park/Basketball Court. The event promises to be filled with music, fun games, lots of food and drinks. Times for the fiesta are Friday 12:00pm until and on Saturday 9:00am – 3:00pm.

Bees cause RC School Students to be evacuated

Students at the San Pedro Roman Catholic School (SPRCS) were seen walking in file formation heading out of their school grounds. But there was no special activity planned. The reason was BEES! At least one student was stung, leading to the evacuation of well over 800 students from the school compound.Staff from the nearby offices were evacuated as well.
School officials informed the public health department that bees were seen in the school compound, and when the relevant authorities arrived, they discovered the bee hive inside the space separating the first floor (public library) and the second floor (housing the BTB and the Minister of Tourism's Office) of the building located opposite the school.


According to San Pedro RC School Principal Roxanne Kay, it took the teachers about 20 minutes to get all 800 students off the compound to the central park.
While the bees are exterminated, a section of the street leading to the area is closed to the public.