We held our Annual ExPo New Year Reception at the Officers Mess, Prospect, on Saturday evening 19th January 2019, courtesy of Commissioner Stephen Corbishley, who attended along with his wife Deborah and their two children. Commissioner Corbishley apologized for not being able to stay for long due to a prior commitment with his family, but he warmly welcomed everyone to the Mess, and stressed his great appreciation for the support of ExPo and its members who have so much police experience, pointing out that there is nothing new about policing as demonstrated by his move towards re-introducing parish constables to establish closer relations with the community we serve.
This was an exceptionally successful evening with approximately 70 people in attendance, including several serving officers, longstanding members of ExPo, some members attending one of our functions for the first time, and the wives of police officers who are no longer with us.
Roger Sherratt read out a list of those of our members who have died since last year’s reception as follows - Ray Needham, Dudley Proctor, William “Bill” Smith, Phil Every, Christopher Reynolds-Hole, Pat McBride, Terry Warrilow, Fred “Penny” Bean, Marvin Washington, Frank Deallie, Neil Cox, and two former officers who recently came to our attention, Gerry Molloy who died in Canada in 2009, and Steve Foster who died just a few days ago
He noted that Fred “Penny” Bean, who made history as our first black Commissioner, died in hospital in December after suffering a nasty fall in his garden. Roger had been in the process of interviewing Fred for an article on our ExPo website which has since been published in the Hall of Fame column and can be viewed at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latesthof/712-fred-penny-bean
Roger asked all present to raise their glasses for a toast “Absent Friends”.
Roger also thanked George Rose for writing a series of excellent article for our ExPo website, including one on the late Arthur Childs, a “Boxer Extraordinaire” which can be viewed at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latesthof/614-test-of-arthur-richard-childs-article and an almost completed article on the late Edward “Bosun” or “Bo” Swainson a legendary cricketer who scored the first century in Cup Match. This article will appear shortly in our Hall of Fame column.
He concluded by thanking Cal Smith for stepping up to the plate and doing a superb job as Acting President of ExPo following the resignation of Brian Robinson who had been experiencing some health problems.
Thanks also to Peter Stableford and his wife who did a superb job tending the bar, and to Roy's Fine Food at the Police Recreation Club for preparing the food which was a great hit.
Cal Smith thanked everyone for attending the reception and also thanked the members of ExPo's Committee, including Carlton Adams, Reese Bartley, Dave Cook, Larry Dean, John Skinner, and our Secretary Gail Correira for their support. He added that Gail had just undergone surgery in the U.S. and was at home recuperating. He asked everyone to keep Gail in their thoughts and prayers.
Dave Lunn closed the evening with the Irish Blessing "May the Road Rise Up to Meet You' that he has delivered at our annual functions for as long as anyone can remember.
You can view more photos of the reception on our ExPo website at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/photo-gallery/exporeception2019#!Reception_3