IT WAS GREAT to see the first Governor of the Central Bank, Sir Courtney Blackman, with Lady Blackman enjoying the ambiance of an evening of which he was the mastermind, when the bank hosted the 41st Sir Winston Scott Memorial Lecture at the Frank Collymore Hall during the week of Independence celebrations.
Long retired and living overseas, Sir Courtney beamed with pride and was excited to see that the institution which he guided in its formative stages was now standing as a beacon in Barbados’ financial landscape with many of the people he groomed making a name for themselves in the bank.
Sharing his delight were two other retired Governors who had come after him – Winston Cox, there with his wife Dr Sylvia Potvin, and Dr Marion Williams, who was accompanied her husband Clyde “CQ” Williams. The three former Governors did a lot of reminiscing with current Central Bank Governor Dr Delisle Worrell, a protégé of Sir Courtney.
There was standing room only in the hall, where hundreds turned out to hear this year’s lecturer Professor Richard Drayton, son of the late Kathleen Drayton, who was well known in academic circles and for her leadership of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons.
The din at the cocktail reception which followed the lecture was loud as friends and old colleagues reminisced.