The Vere Technical family bids farewell to phenomenal coach Paul Stone

PAUL Andrew Stone, the 63-year-old retired track and field athletics coach of Vere Technical High School, was last month hailed as a phenomenal coach whose efforts produced numerous female athletes and hurdlers who excelled in many events under his guidance.

Stone, who served as coach for the school for the last three decades, died on July 12.A thanksgiving service celebrating his life was held on July 27 at the Christ Church located at Vineyard Town in Kingston.The service began with musical tributes from Harold Davis, Maria Myrie, Carole Reid, Marjorie Whylie and Winston Ewart.According to Stone’s former colleague Dr Paul Auden, while he served Vere Technical, Stone was a phenomenal coach by nature with no formal training.“This was a man with no coaching degree, but an excellent coach. He coached about 25 events at Vere. How did Paul come into sporting? He just loved sports. He never went to any top university for training,” Auden said.“The one thing that struck me when I went to Vere, was to see some girls from the wrong side of the streets, they had no future and Paul Stone got them to go to Vere. Paul was their father figure and showed them a better life,” Auden added.He reflected on the good times they both shared while monitoring the development of the athletes at Vere Technical High.“He was the nickname master at Vere. With the girls, he watched how they performed and gave each a nickname,” he said in a bid to cheer the silent mourners who gathered to celebrate Stone’s life.John Messam, who was appointed coach for Vere Technical immediately after Stone’s departure, also paid tribute to Stone’s immeasurable contribution to the sport.Messam said it was Stone and his selfless investment that assisted him in managing the hurdles coaching tactics he inherited from him.Stone’s sister, Ann Martin, who delivered the remembrance, said she mourned the loss of one of her best friends.“As far as I can remember, I was Paul’s best friend, sister and all that you can think of. We did everything together. Paul was someone who liked great and exciting things in his young years,” she said.After sitting the Common Entrance Examinations, Stone was awarded a place at Cornwall College, which he attended before relocating to Kingston and attending Wolmer’s Boy’s School. After his secondary education was complete, he migrated to the United States of America and entered the field of trade unionism.He later returned to Jamaica and worked in the field of trade unionism before becoming an entrepreneur, the joined the family at Vere Technical and served as their coach before his retirement.Under his leadership at Vere Technical, he coached Olympians from Vere Technical such as athlete Ethlyn Tate and hurdler Sophia Brown.He was also remembered for seeking academic opportunities and scholarships for the individuals he trained, as he believed in the combination of education and track and field.His death leaves a void in the lives of his wife Cherrin, sons Pierre, Paul, Paul-Anthony, Bobby, David and Chris, and daughter Peytra, and other relatives.His remains were cremated.Cherrin Stone, widow of the late Paul Stone, hands the urn with his ashes to the officiating priest, The Reverend Father Sean Major-Campbell.Ann Martin, sister of the late Paul Stone, offered the remembrance at the service celebrating his life last month.John Messam, who was appointed coach for Vere Technical High School after Paul Stone’s departure.Dr Paul Auden, former colleague of the late Paul Stone, offering a tribute to his close friend. (PHOTOS: GARFIELD ROBINSON)

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The Vere Technical family bids farewell to phenomenal coach Paul Stone

Rickshaw rider"s farewell to England

23 August 2013 Last updated at 19:03 ET By Helen Burchell BBC News Continue reading the main story Three years ago, a Chinese farmer packed his worldly possessions into a rusty rickshaw, and, after pedalling 37,500 miles (60,000 km) through 16 countries and more than 1,700 cities, arrived in London.

A remarkable feat, but for Chen Guanming, a 58-year-old from Jiangsu Province in eastern China, this was to be just the beginning of his adventures in the saddle.

Mr Chen, a huge fan of all things Olympics, initially decided to pedal his rickshaw all the way from China to “promote the Olympic spirit” and secure a role in the London 2012 opening ceremony.

His phenomenal journey was well-publicised and, while he did not feature in Danny Boyle’s opener to the Games, well-wishers got together to buy Mr Chen a ticket for the ceremony.

Road to Rio

Afterwards, Mr Chen decided one global trek to one Olympic venue was not enough. He wanted to do it again, pedalling his rickshaw to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the 2016 Olympics.

The BBC caught up with Chen Guanming last year

He took a break from the saddle for a few months, returning to China to nurse his father through ill health – and then he was back.

Using tickets donated by an airline, he arrived in London in July and earlier this month set off on the first leg of a trip which will be at least 5,800 miles (9,350 km) – and that’s as the crow flies.

His immediate mission was to pedal to Liverpool, where friends secured free carriage of the rickshaw to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, ready for Mr Chen’s journey south.

‘Nice’ policemen

However, for a Mandarin speaker with only four words of English – one of which is “toilet” – negotiating England’s highways in a rickshaw is not necessarily straightforward.

In Hertfordshire, police escorted Mr Chen off the busy A10 dual carriageway near Buntingford before helping him fix a broken pedal.

In Cambridgeshire he was stopped on the A14 when his rickshaw caused traffic jams and consternation among motorists.

Unperturbed, and refusing the police’s offer of a map, he headed on his way.

Although Mr Chen was not breaking the law, officers told him it was not safe.

Near Stoke-on-Trent he again came to the attention of police, pedalling along the A50, a road heavily used by lorries.

They offered him an escort to “more suitable roads”.

Asked why he insisted on using A-roads, Mr Chen said: “It’s too complicated to use small roads because I don’t have a GPS.

“I can recognise signs on bigger roads and know I’m going the right way.

“The police tell me it’s dangerous, but they’ve all been very nice and helpful.”

‘Chinese takeaway’

It is not easy to explain road safety without a common language, but people who know him say Mr Chen “gets by with a smile”.

Chen Guanming sleeping in his rickshaw during the London 2012 Olympics

He gets by with little else, sleeping in the rickshaw and funding his travels by offering lifts and doing odd jobs.

He does not get tired, he said, and has enjoyed almost everything about the trip so far.

Speaking through an interpreter, Andy Chen, he said: “The Olympics were very good and I enjoyed it all very much.

“I watched a lot on the television and especially liked the Paralympic wheelchair races.

“The countryside is beautiful, very secure and very enjoyable.”

English food, however, is not.

“I can’t get used to it. I prefer Chinese takeaway.”

Insurance broker John Beeston met the farmer last year, and with a smattering of Mandarin has helped plan the journey to Rio.

He joined Mr Chen on Monday as they said goodbye to the rickshaw at the Port of Liverpool, but, unable to secure passage for Mr Chen, they took a detour to Oxford “because Chen wanted to go there”.

‘Never stop’ Mr Chen’s rickshaw shows wear and tear after years on the road

They found a guesthouse run by a woman from Shanghai and a Vietnamese restaurant where, Mr Beeston said, Mr Chen was “instantly recognised and much photographed”.

With the rickshaw already on its way to Canada, Mr Beeston had to find a way for his friend to travel in its wake and eventually an airline offered an “affordable” flight from Heathrow on Saturday.

Mr Chen will then continue the next leg of his Olympian journey, with his friend tracking his progress.

“He wants to go through the Rockies to Vancouver, where there’s a huge Chinese community,” Mr Beeston said.

“He also plans to criss-cross America. I’ve told him about their cold winters, wolves and bears, but Chen’s not fazed. He’s seen them all before.”

With his sights set on Rio, does Mr Chen think 2016 will be the year he finally returns to China?

“This is my job now, to tell the people of the world about the Olympics and about peace,” he said.

“I will keep going. I’ll never stop doing the job I love until I die.”

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Rickshaw rider"s farewell to England

Cowick Park bids farewell to inspirational elder Martha Morgan

MARTHA Elizabeth Morgan, 82, retired farmer from Cowick Park, Manchester, was on June 22 remembered as a disciplined mother and an inspirational woman who always encouraged the youth from her district to seek opportunities in developed areas of the society.

Morgan, the mother of 11 children and wife of deceased Lloyd Morgan, died on May 20 at the Kingston Public Hospital after suffering for years from a heart-related disease.Her passing came just 10 days before her 83rd birthday.A thanksgiving service for her life was held in her hometown at the Antioch Church of the Nazarene which is located in the rustic Cowick Park, Manchester.According to Morgan’s neighbour June Lee Barrett, she was a woman who believed that every young person in her community should not stick to the occupation of their forefathers, but seek new opportunities with better standards of living.“She always motivated the young people. I remember she told me that June, Lloyd and I lived our lives already here, but go and seek opportunities. This is how I thought of entering nursing,” Barrett said while offering her tribute.She said Morgan encouraged the young people of her community through her eloquent speaking style. “Martha was well-known for speaking in a prestigious way with the youth, as she believed the way one spoke defined the social class and ambition he or she aspired to be a part of in their future, and she wanted them to aspire to be of the upper class with better opportunities than she was offered in her life,” Barrett said.“Martha had some way of counselling you, and she would look on you and say ‘Don’t worry yourself, life is too short, live it right’ and you would see her lifting her hand when saying those words. Martha, you were blessed,” Barrett added.Morgan’s niece Claudette Blair, who gave a tribute on behalf of her relatives, recalled her aunt as being a loving, kind, gentle and peaceful woman whom she was happy to have met in the years after her retirement.“The good book says you don’t scatter roses after I’m gone. You give it to me while I’m here,” she said, “There comes a time in life when we all have to say goodbye. Death is a hassle we do not find easy to cope with, but we can console ourselves by using the scripture which says ‘We cannot, Lord, thy purpose see, but all is well that’s done by thee’.”Morgan’s remains were interred in the family plot at Cowick Park, Manchester.The casket which held the body of deceased Martha Morgan at the thanksgiving service for her life.Mary Johnson (right), twin sister of deceased Martha Morgan, and her two daughters (from left) Cleo Morris and Lurline Matthews, at the thanksgiving service.

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Cowick Park bids farewell to inspirational elder Martha Morgan