The tanned team at Portland airportWe will be adding more posts to the blog - mostly on the vocational exchange visits - as we sort through our notes and pictures.
The team will also make a presentation on our trip at the District 5110 Conference in Eugene on Friday, May 21 at 3:15pm.
March 26 - I had such a great time on Barbados with the attorneys there. I finally got to go to court with a criminal defense attorney, which was just amazing, and this particular attorney was a notorious character on the island. He participated in the local theater and had been defending the most high profile cases on the island for years.
When I mentioned at the Rotary meetings that I had been with Andrew Pilgrim that day, the whole club erupted in laughter. But he and his associate drove me around to all the small courthouses and showed me first hand how the criminal process works. I also got to hear first hand about the different idiosyncrasies of the judges, which was exactly like some judges I know. In fact, practicing criminal law in Barbados seemed to be the most similar to my practice. We shared the same stories about clients and judges and the criminal process in general. I felt like I was sitting around with my colleagues here discussing another work day. It was wonderful.
I also met another attorney who was close to my age and he was very informative and interesting. He worked for a large law firm that handled corporate litigation, so we had a chance to discuss trial practice as well.
I also toured the new Supreme Court building and sat in on a criminal trial. This was great and the building was just beautiful. It also had every piece of high tech equipment a court room could need. I was jealous.
Lillah McBride
March 25 – My final vocational visit was spent with Justin Jennings-Wray at Stantec. Stantec is a Canadian engineering firm with branches in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Justin explained the EIA, or Environmental Impact Assessment studies he does on the island of Barbados. These studies sometimes determine the sustainability of the golf courses’ water drainage and management. I also learned about Barbados's unique water table.
Justin drawing me a diagram during our discussion about the water table of Barbados.
Monica Holzmer
The Legion building - The Main Guard, in the Garrison, Saint Michaels
The BDF was formed after independence in 1966. Prior to that, Bajans served in units of the British Army, at one time constituting (with other islands) the West Indies Regiment. Some members supported by the Legion served in British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. The first prime minister of Barbados, Errol Walton Barrow, was a WWII RAF veteran with 40 missions to his credit.
Following an excellent briefing and tour by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Florence Gettins, the Legion presented me with their organizational tie - I am wearing if in the photo.
My third vocational visit on Barbados was in two parts. First being a visit to Mahy, Ridley, Hazzard Engineering Ltd. I met with Gregory Hazzard (below), the director.
His company employs about 10-15 people and their offices are in a building (below)that was originally part of a large plantation.
Gregory was very nice and drove me all around Barbados showing me some of his projects. One was an impressive golf course club house with an amazing view of the ocean (but it was closed at the time, so I couldn't take a photo).
Another project in progress was a large office building that will house an insurance company that fellow GSE team member Lillah's host father, Keith, works for. It's interesting how everyone is pretty much connected to everyone else, since it is such a small island.
In fact, another project underway will be one of the largest retail centers in Barbados, and through my vocational visits I met the engineers, two construction companies, and the leasing office on the job. It's called Lime Grove (below) and is a large commercial and residential development on the west coast of Barbados in the affluent town of Holetown.
Lynne Williams (with me below) in residential sales gave me a hard hat tour of the three and four-story buildings, to be complete with a movie theater, underground parking, and retailers including Cartier, Ralph Lauren, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few.
Palm Grove includes more than 10 buildings, plus a second phase to consist of three-story town houses on an adjacent block. It will be a beautiful site complete with three courtyards and roof-top dining. Check out: http://www.limegrove.com/ for some great images and architectural renderings. The center opens December of this year, just in time for some Christmas shopping!
Heidi Ellis
March 25 - The GSE team attended the lunch meeting of the Rotary Club of Barbados, often called the "big club" or the "old club." The club, with about 80 members, is the largest in District 7030.
Monica - to her left is her host family member Ronnie Ramsey
Lillah presenting
Heidi presenting
Monica - Springfield Twin Rivers
Shelly - Springfield
Heidi - Eugene Airport
Lillah - Bend High Desert
Rick (wearing his Barbados Legion tie) - Port Orford
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