Oral History Project: Salt Cay Saturday Nights

During this trip I made a concentrated effort to take the oral history of some of our oldest citizens. I wanted something, anything, that left the impression of who these people were and what they wanted to say.One of the common threads was how they entertained themselves.

Miss Mabel Wilson is Gerty Landy’s mother. She and her sister Kathryn were the entertainers. They sang, danced, did skits, duets, solos, charades and vignettes from musicals. Miss Mabel was the wife of the leading lay person in St. John’s, the Catechrist...like Poley Dickenson is today.

Miss Mabel is now almost 90 years old and quite frail. I was invited into her home to video and photograph her. Though her memory has failed, the impish look of the entertainer is still there, as is the entertainer herself. With a little prompting from Gerty, Miss Mabel sang the entire song "There’s A Hole In My Bucket" for the camera.

The sound of applause from those in the room brought a smile to her face and I hope for a moment, she felt young again and on the stage of Salt Cay. I have not been that moved in a long time.