Mr. Smith's day at North Side Park
Mr. Jarold Henry Smith, relaxing in the shade at North Side's Hutland Park.
As part of the "Growing Communities" project, children of North Side are in for a special day of storytelling by Mr. Jarold Henry Smith, a long-time resident of the district who once lived on the very land that the new district's park is situated on.
When discussing the upcoming event with Mr. Smith, it was apparent that the history of the land and district as a whole holds a very special meaning. Specifically, Mr. Smith provided a sample of the storytelling he will share with the children of North Side at this Friday's event.
Mr. Jarold Henry Smith, the fourth child of Mr. & Mrs. John Smith, was born on 5 December, 1912 right after the famous November Storm. The home in North Side where he spent time growing up still stands at the southwest corner of Hutland Park. His grandfather built the home around 1925 from lumber that was auctioned off from a shipwrecked boat and the roof of his home was made of thatch, "as were most roofs in those times", explained Mr. Smith.
The land on which Hutland Park is now located was the area that Mr. Smith, his mom and sister used to cultivate potatoes, yams, cassava and bananas. He clearly remembers carrying the produce to the sea, then sailing by boat from North Side to George Town to sell it to local merchants.
Friday's event, which includes similar stories
first-hand from Mr. Smith, is from 11 am 1 pm at the Hutland
Park in North Side. All residents from North Side and other districts
are invited to join the festivities.
The family event is part of an island wide park development project
know as "Growing Communities", with North Side being
the third of five district parks to be built under the multi-million
dollar partnership incorporating public land provided by Government,
and design and construction donated by the Dart Foundation.
"We didn't have parks when I was a child", explained Mr. Smith, "in those days, we played cricket with a bat made from a coconut limb and a ball made out of cloth filled with sand and netted together with line". When asked about his vision of the new Hutland Park to be officially opened next month, Mr. Smith said he sees it as a place where everyone can relax; children can play and enjoy themselves and the elderly can sit and knit or read.
Founded by the Dart family in the 1980s, the Dart Foundation is a privately funded organization that is committed to public purposes, specifically, making donations to not-for-profit entities such as schools, hospitals, government and publicly supported charities and their affiliates. Historically, it has been and remains the Foundation's preference to make grants in support of educational and youth designed programmes that are community based and provide meaningful growth opportunities.