For seven years, the Loyal Gazette has been a prominent feature at the entrance of North Shore Road and Loyal Hill in Devonshire.
It offers handwritten messages of encouragement, congratulations and condolences to area residents. According to Loyal Gazette publicist Gayhlia LeMay, messages are changed two to three times a week, depending on the weather and what is going on in the community.
Saturday afternoon, the organization decided to honor Bermuda’s first-ever Olympic medalist, boxer Clarence Hill, presenting him with an official Loyal Gazette t-shirt and a keychain which contained a miniature replica of the bronze medal that he clenched back in 1976. According to Hill, the actual medal, which he gave to his father, is in New York.
In addition to Mr. Hill himself, the ceremony was attended by Loyal Gazette members, family and friends of Mr. Hill, area residents and even former Premier Michael Dunkley, JP, MP.
“We [at the Loyal Gazette] had actually discussed honoring Mr. Hill at one of our speaker’s corner events on a much larger larger scale [before the pandemic], for putting Bermuda on the map back in 1976,” Ms. LeMay said. “ Unfortunately, that event never materialized since, due to the pandemic, we have not been able to hold speakers’ corner for the past two years.”
“ We did not want to leave [recognizing Mr. Hill] another year, so we went ahead with the presentation this afternoon,” she continued. “ His accomplishments have gone virtually unnoticed for [many] decades, so we wanted to do our small part in recognizing him.”
Mr. Hill was humbled by the ceremony and thanked the Loyal Gazette for their generous gifts, as well as everyone who came out to show their support and brave the November weather.
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