generally public dances continue to be one of the most exciting and sought after social activity that young persons look forward to on a weekend.  for a period in the seventies, "spouge", "cadasse" and "calypso" was the music of choice, with "dub" as well as the wailers, eric donalson, pluto shevington and jimmy cliff.  for a modest $2.00 you could dance to a live band.  a beer was less than a dollar.

the local la rose group led by alson martelly treated the saint lucia public to a history lesson in the culture of their favourite flower festival. "chantwelle elaine" did a wonderful rendition of "hep, hep hoorah we are marching..."  of course his majesty's company/regiment was on hand to perform an exciting drill.

most of us can identify with the god-fearing chritian tradition - a prominent feature in the rural community.  as a child growing up as a roman catholic, you would have gone through the sacrements of baptism, holy eucharist, confirmation and penance.   of the other three, extreme unction, holy order and matrimony, were largely left to fate or choice.
mon repos community can now boast at least seven active churches from malgretoute to mon repos. only praslin, ironically, does not have a church right now, but that community is about evenly split between catholic and adventists residents who worship on sundays and saturdays respectively.   good thing it is on different days as there would be a problem for vehicular parking with both churches opposite each other.
in the photograph the receipient of the sacrament is flanked by a parent and possibley godmother.

daughter of a prominent businessman in a rural community at the dawn of the seventies.  this young lady is elegantly  but conservatively outfitted in a beautifully cut dress. hmm, possibly sown by a local seastress.  what would a similar dress cost today?

the martinique athletic league has extended an invitation to the community of mon repos to send a representative athletic team to participate in "le relai neg mawon" which is slated to take place on sunday 22nd may, 2005.   a mon repos team was hosted last year when they took part for the first time.   the invitation also goes out to a female running team.    the hosts are willing to make the usual generous contribution towards the fare and would meet the cost of boarding and lodging.  they have a spanking new facility where they host such persons.   the martinique coodinator has extended a special invitation members of the public especially those who assist in the running of the mon repos road relay to come out and support.  special accommodation will be available from the thursday evenning.  we need to send confirmation by the second of may 2005.  interested persons should inform us as soon as possible

our roaming photographer could not identify these two ladies but he thought that they were  two of the loveliest persons one could have met on saturday morning of the 23rd day of april of the year 2005 a.d.  like me you will never know who are they!!

the mon repos under nineteen team qualified for the finals of the national limited overs cricket competition when they trounced soufriere in a semi-final game played at the phillip marcellin ground in vieux fort on sunday 24^th april 2005.
batting first mon repos amassed 231 in 45.4 overs; russell emmanuel 91 (run out), vaughn polius 35, leslie james 23, hazel charlery 14, kemel dorleon 14 and mervin wells 11.
successful bowlers for soufriere were mitchel xavier, 10 overs, two maidens 52 runs, four wickets;  jeserel prospere 10 overs, 38 runs two wickets; dashly victorine 10 overs, one maiden 42 runs two wickets and cleytus andrew 7.4 overs, 48 runs one wicket.
in their response at the crease soufriere were bowled out for 89 runs in 20.4 overs; jeserel prospere 16, cletus andrew13 and tenesey hippolyte 10 being the batsmen to reach double figures.
for mon repos the wickets were shared between, vaughn polius seven overs three for 21; kemel dorleon six overs, one maiden three for 30, hazel charlery three overs, four runs, two wickets and mervin wells 1.4 overs 15 runs, two wickets.
mon repos will now meet castries south in the finals on a date and at a venue to be confirmed. castries south defeated laborie in the other semi final game played on saturday 23^rd april.

photograph: victorious squad along with their manager julian "shah" serieux.

 amidst predicted high temperatures and bone dry outfield at the two principal playing venues,  a series of exciting cricket games are anticipated this weekend in mon repos when the fruta limited overs cup continues.
on saturday at the mon repos cricket ground pyo will seek to qualify early when they take on la pointe 4h, a game that they are expected to win if all their players are available. 
at the wenn playing field, a confident malgretoute youth movement, no doubt buoyed by the presence of darren sammy and craig emmanuel will seek early qualification as well when they play south wales.
on sunday, creation plays lowly ranked flames sports club, while lpyo will try to keep their hopes alive when they meet grass street at the wenn playing field.  this game is anticipated to be a keenly contested battle with the la pointe invasion of mon repos.
the "carrot flavour" fruta drinks will be the choice of refreshment at all games on this weekend's fixture.fruta is providing a record $1200.00 to the winning club.

insert : ms. fina, the regular caterer at the games

it took the only ever senior west indies player from saint lucia to assist malgretoute in securing an important victory against la pointe youth organization.  this is the "zone of death", with grass street having already secured a moral boosting victory over south wales.  each team has two more games to play.

the presschool sports meet for the schools in the mon repos parish went ahead with mija sachs and dean's preschool participating despite a "boycott" by patience and la pointe schools, for whatever reason.  when such actions are taken, it is always the children of la pointe and patience in this case who lose out.

under bone-dry conditions mon repos hosted some of the most exciting games to be played in saint lucia at this time of the year.  once again darren sammy playing for malgretoute had an undefeated innings - 66.  the last time he played at the same venue he got 114 not out.
photo insert : kervin james (lpyo) delivery to darren sammy.

at the mon repos cricket ground, grass street led by a man of the match swash buckling 77 from danny stephen took the initiative from south wales to win by one ball.  batting first, south wales got 191 for seven; john albert 64, nicholas jean-baptiste 44 and kendel samuel 31.
grass street 192 for seven; danny peter 77, gary mathurin 38 and linus mathurin 18.

lpyo will have a diffult time qualifying, with grass street getting a moral boosting victory over south wales on saturday and the star-studded malgretoute youth movement getting a measure victory of lpyo.  even south wales might prove to be an uphill task for them.

at the wenn playing field, la pointe 4h defeated flames by 80 runs. batting first la pointe 4h got 171 for eight in 30 overs; khashinko jason 41, lucas descartes 40, h. charlery 37, e. norbert and e. charlery 16 each.
for flames sports club evanus emmanuel had three for 26, hyacinth smith two for 16 and m. james two for 35.  in their turn at the crease flames were routed for 91.

it would not be inaccurate to predict that flames are not going to do much to heat up the competition in their "chocolate zone".  although there are some younger who will provide flashes of brillance from time to time they have never been seen as a credible force in local cricket.

for gagan, it might be the only home he will ever know.

one lives a normal active life while the other has been deprived of the normal acitivities associated with youth.  they however remain inseperable.

as we celebrate youth month, many of us can look back and say that we had a normal upbringing, doing and enjoying the things and activities that most youth would be associated with.  unfortunately for some, they may not have drawn the most desirable hand from the deck that life dealt.  such is the fate of ganesh moncherry, born on october 3, 1989. on the 5th of july 1995, well before his sixth birthday and in stage 2 at the patience combined school, he was the victim of a motor vehichular accident around the area of the old patience bridge, i.e. between knockay avenue junction and lumbard road junction.  it was one he never recovered from as he spent practically a whole year at the st. jude hospital.   he was confined to a wheel-chair from then on and even had his primary education cut short as there were no facilities to accomodate him.    today his is home and is almost bedridden.  (there is a weekly cost to the family of $40 for one huggies diapers). he has however developed his skill as an artisan as he producers wonderful drawings especially sketches which are sold for a small contribution.  he does fairly good handicraft and has constructed miniature items with sticks along with the use of electronic technology.  this explains why he watches a lot of techtv, his favourite.  he also draws a lot of cartoons. 

he has two brothers in dius and lindsay who was a member of the national under 23 football squad. (we will never know what ga-gan's full potential would have developed into).  he has three sisters in wanda, merie and merier.  his parents are linus kenay serieux and viviana moncherry.  linus was an adent sportsman who played for mon repos 4h and south wales.  viviana is currently the president of the mon repos chapter of the national organization for and of persons with disabilities.
we at monrepossports.org urge all fortunate persons who can assist ganesh during this youth month in particular in anyway possible.

telephone him at 455 3899 to give some words of comfort and encouragement.

lolie joseph is an ambitious and confident young person who is now the proprietress of shop smart supermarket, the only such facility on the st. marie road, patience.  lolie graduated from the mon repos combined school where her legacy is that of being possibly the fastest female athlete in living memory to have passed through the halls of that catholic institution.  since leaving school she has been involved in speculating, with the assistance from her mother and sister who provided the goods from overseas.  this slim dark young lady radiates a sense of optimism and confidence, so it is no surprise that she finally saw her dream of having her own business bear fruit.  yes, lolie hits a very high octave easily heard at a distance, when she is annoyed. she is a no-nonsense woman.  she had a grand opening on march 19th.   a little earlier, and she would have been the mon repos youth and sports council's nomination for young business person.  that selection went to euthalia philgence of praslin who operates the "sun spot" at the national heritage site in dennery.  eldon serieux of frootsy foods, praslin was nominated last year.

with a well stocked shop persons from st. marie and the community at large will have one less reason travel out of the community to do their grocery shopping.  we at monrepossports.org congratulates lolie on her achievement and encourage all to support her.

give her a call at 4553 886 to congratulate her.

following a successful lucky 3 cricket competition, the mon repos youth and sports council will be hosting a second limited overs cricket competition for the year.   starting this weekend 16th april, eight  affiliate clubs that have met the qualifying standards will participate in the fruta limited overs cricket cup.  there will be a top prize of $1200 for the winning club along with other individual prizes.   in this opening round of matches the mango-passion flavour of the real fruit juice - fruta will be given to the teams for sampling and refreshment.
in the photo, staff of smj beverages, at the production plant prepare the first delivery of product to be shared amongst the participating teams.
l-r: corney st. clair (fork lift operator), nicholas lionel (cleaner), shirnaya stephen (export clerk - miss carnival queen 2003-busta sponsored), richard khadoo (driver).

"belated birthday greetings going out to the worlds greatest dad, who celebrated his 30th birthday on the 9th day of april 2005.  he is none other than marcus bastien and he is my dad.
love you my daddy with a big heart. coming from your only son "j" "

young strikers sports club, praslin sports club, lumbard youth & sports club and morne bois den united have been left out of the inaugural 2005 fruta limited overs cricket cup set to bowl off this weekend in mon repos.  generally, these clubs have failed to show any interest in cricket this year or to demonstrate any serious level of organization that would impress sponsors or convince organizers to include them in a 2005 cricket sponsored tournament.  while the situation is understandable with morne bois, which enjoys provisional membership with the sports council, and who have not traditionally participated in cricket, and to a lesser extent lumbard, the same cannot be said for young strikers and praslin.  praslin is arguable the oldest club, while young strikers is close to 20 years old.  neither of these teams were able to play any game in the lucky 3 limited overs competition, much to the embarassment of organizers.  it must be said that these teams in recent time have not even been visible at general meetings.  while no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the above mentioned, it is clear that they have ruled themselves out of contention and would now have to regroup their membership and decide whether they should take themselves seriously in the world of organized sporting activities.  it is a good opportunity for some soul- searching.   meanwhile the organizing committee of the upcoming cricket competition have made it clear that members of such clubs do not have a right to play for other teams.  for that matter there will be a vetting and registration process for each club.

in the photograph - jude jn. baptiste and martin delice of the once vibrant young strikers sports club.  migration of players have been a major factor affecting many clubs. 

laborie under-19 defeated mon repos under-19 by 19 runs at the wenn playing field in mon repos when the two teams met  in a preliminary group game of the national competition on saturday 9^th april 2005.
batting first, laborie got 112 for 7 in 28 overs; miguel st ange 28 and gayle st ange 26, being the top scorers.
bowling for mon repos, mervin wells 2 for 20, brendon missol 2 for 23, kamel dorleon 2 for 31 and vaughn polius 1 for 21.
in their turn at the crease, mon repos were bowled out for 93 in 21.5 overs, russel emmanuel 42, kamel dorleon 21, being the top scorers.
bowling for laborie; jovel actile 4 for 8, andy alexander 2 for 7, tracy peter 2 for 14 and darren jn pierre 2 for 12.
meanwhile the inaugural fruta limited overs cricket cups bowls off this weekend in mon repos with all eight (8) participating.  on saturday, pyo plays creation at the wenn playing field while south wales plays grass street at the mon repos cricket ground.  on sunday 17^th april la pointe 4h meets flames at the wenn playing field while malgretoute will play lpyo at the mon repos cricket ground.

the community of la pointe mourns the passing of anthony "frankie" norbert who passed away at his residence at about 9:30 p.m. on sunday 10th april 2005.  he leaves his devoted wife of a 39 year marriage, lucianne norbert better known as vira.  together they raised eleven biological children and one adopted child.  they include michael, vincent, brendaline, christianise (bibia),matthew, cecilia, niles, nora, myra, meritus, linus and papous.  the norbert family is one of the most extended in the community of la pointe, surpassed in influence perhaps by the " descartes" and "charlery", all of whom have varying degrees of relationship.  the norbert family, in the last decade or more are easily the most visible members of the st. ann's parish church.  vincent, affectionately known as "veno" is a justice of the peace and a eucharistic minister of the church, as well as one of the leading furniture manufacturers on the east coast.  we at monrepossports.info extend deepest condolences to the norbert family, relatives, friends and neighbours of the late frankie norbert, as well as the church parishioners and the community at large. 

"belated birthday greetings going out to the worlds greatest dad, who celebrated his 30th birthday on the 9th day of april 2005.  he is none other than marcus bastien and he is my dad.
love you my daddy with a big heart. coming from your only son "j" "

this is the first in a series of historical photographs that will be shared with viewers.  this photograph shows some of the siblings of a well known family in mon repos.  the photograph was shot perhaps fifty or more years ago.  note the mode of dress and the nature of the house in the background.  all persons in the photograph are very much alive.  can you name any?

following the success of it third annual lucky 3 limited overs competition, the mon repos youth and sports council has secured sponsorship for the 2005 fruta competition from smj beverages.  this competition which bowls off on saturday, april 9^th with a final set for sunday 15^th may 2005.   eight of 12 affiliates have qualified for this competition and have been placed in two zones;
group a - pyo, la pointe 4h, creation and flames
group b - lpyo, malgretoute, south wales and grass street praslin, lumbard, young strikers and morne bois den failed to meet the qualifying standard.
the winning team will receive a record cash prize of $1200.00, a trophy and medals, while the losing finalist will receive $500.00.   in addition there will be a monetary prize for the losing semi-finalist.
individual prizes will go to the most outstanding batsman,  bowler and wicket keeper of the tournament.
fruta will be providing sponsorship package of nearly ec$10,000.00 which will cover the cost of prizes, clothing, products and paraphernalia and match officials.  this sponsorship represents the largest ever for a mon repos local cricket competition.
such an attractive package will make this competition the most keenly watched and eagerly anticipated final for the year.  the mon repos youth and sports council and the cricket loving community have already expressed gratitude to the management of smj for their sponsorship.
results of all games will be posted on the council's website; monrepossports.org

in the lucky 3 sponsored national under 19 cricket tournament, mon repos defeated choiseul by eights wicket in a game played on sunday 3rd april at the wenn playing field.
choiseul after being invited to take first knock were bowled out for 87 in 18.4 overs; wyclife auguste, avery mondeste and stanislus saltibus being the top scorers with 12 runs each.
the successful bowlers for mon repos were kamel dorleon four for 22, jackim joseph three for 15, leslie james two for 27 and hazel charlery one for 14.
in their response at the crease mon repos notched off 88 for the lost of two wickets in 13.2 overs; russel emmanuel 44 not out and hazel charlery 14 not out.
for choiseul, denver isidore had one for 24 and quincy st. rose one for 13.
with three consecutive and convincing victories mon repos will be meeting their stiffest opposition when they host laborie this coming weeking.