A Home-made Creole Display

How Petrolina Depradine Preserves The Past.

FOR the past four years, PetrolinaDepradine has been transforming her Mary Ann Street, Castries home into a Creole exhibition showcasing some of the traditional items used in times past.

It’s a passion, she told me, that’s close to her heart, especially when she gets to reminisce about the good old days that many Saint Lucians either don’t know about or have forgotten.

As a young girl, Depradine grew up in the old Victorian style of things in her native Choiseul. She had always cherished the simple traditional things back then. However, after becoming a mother and joining the workforce, it was not possible for her to continue collecting these items. Besides, she had already thrown away a lot of stuff from the past, something she says she now regrets.

“After a while, I decided to keep whatever I had for posterity,” Depradine tells me. “Soon people began encouraging me to start running an exhibition so that everyone could see some of the things we used long ago. So for the first two years, the exhibition was free. But since I found that it takes so much time and effort to put together, I decided to start charging a small fee.”

Depradine left Choiseul for Castries many years ago and worked as a teacher before leaving that profession to work with JQ’s and later in the hotel industry. After returning to JQ’s some years later, she left the job when that company went through a merger to become Super J. As such, being at home gave her more time to dedicate herself to her passion of preserving the past.

This year’s exhibition ran for two weeks, ending last Thursday, during which time some preschoolers were able to view the antique items on display.

Depradine believes that even though people need to adapt to the technological age, they should not become far removed from their traditional past.

“Given the time that we’re living in, I would give anything to go back to some of the stuff we had long ago,” Depradine explained. “The children nowadays have everything and they’re still lazy and don’t appreciate what they have. But I don’t mind living the life of depending on the basics. I just hope that when I can no longer do it that someone else takes it up.”
LIME sponsors

LIME is sponsoring the 2015 Veterans Football Tournament as the company continues to pump more money and resources into St. Lucia’s favourite sport. LIME is providing the tournament with financial support and help with promotion and advertising.

The tournament is being organised by Veterans in Sports Inc in collaboration with the St. Lucia Football Association.
At the official press launch on Wednesday, LIME Commercial Lead, Cheryl Francis said the company remains unwavering in its commitment to assisting local sporting organisations build a culture of participation in sports, including among the youth. She praised Veterans in Sports Inc and the SLFA for developing the Veterans Football Tournament and helping to keep the football spirit alive in St. Lucia.

“LIME believes firmly in the power of sports to transform lives and communities. We consider it our corporate social responsibility to do whatever we can to help create opportunities for more St. Lucians to get involved in all kinds of sporting activities to improve their talents and, thereby, reach their full potential as athletes,” said Ms Francis.
The tournament kicks off Saturday, November 7 at the Phillip Marcellin Grounds in Vieux Fort and runs until January 31, 2016. Sixteen teams will be competing and two will be crowned champions – an overall champion who will receive the Caribbean Alliance Cup and a plate champion.