 On behalf of the Excellencies Emmanuel Neville Snack and Lady Snack, Governor-General of St. Lucia, we welcome you to Government House. We are all gathered here today to witness the Investiture of the Recipients of Her Majesty, the Queen's Birthday Honours for June 2019, into the Order of Chivalry of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is the most recent amongst the sovereign's orders of chivalry. It was first instituted by King George V by letters patented dated 4th June 1917 to reward services to the war efforts by the thousands of civilians and servicemen in support positions during World War I. Also associated with this order is the British Empire Medal, BEM, which was originally awarded for the Loyal and Meritorious Service by civilians and military personnel during the Great War over 100 years ago. Since its institution, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has made subsequent alterations to the statutes of ordinances of the order so that awards are now given to those who make distinguished or notable contributions in their specific areas of activities or for achievements or services to the community or country. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire consists of the sovereign, being Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and a Grand Master, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as sovereign of the order, appoints all members on the advice of her government to St. Lucia. The number of persons appointed in each class and division of the order is set out in the statutes for the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which explains the quota system used to give these awards on an annual basis. St. Lucia's quota for this year's Queen's Birthday Honours List was one Commander of the Order of the British Empire, two Officers of the Order of the British Empire, OBE, four Members of the Order of the British Empire, MBE, and five British Empire Medals, BEM. Today, we shall witness the Investiture of eight of the eleven recipients of the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours as three of the awardees have chosen to travel to the United Kingdom for their Investiture. Before we commence with the formal Investiture of the recipients for the Queen's Birthday Honours, I would like to invite you to sit back and enjoy a rendition from the Royal St. Lucia Police Force. Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased on the occasion of her birthday and on the advice of her St. Lucia Ministers to approve of the following awards in the 2019 Birthday Honours List. CBE, Commander of the British Empire, Rick Wayne, for services to entertainment, professional bodybuilding, advocacy, and journalism. MBE, to be ordinary members of the Civil Division of the most excellent Order of the British Empire, Margaret Robert Steele, for services to broadcasting. BEM, British Empire Medal, Civil Division. Gaspah Peter David Shalmai, for services to education. Mary Pierre, for services to the community. Pamela Mary DeVoe, for services to charity. Joseph Riley Dulcy, for services to the St. Lucia Fire Service. Vincent MacDoom, for services to entertainment. And Mary Jones Smith, for services to entrepreneurship and business. Investiture of the Commander of the British Empire Medal, CBE, Mr. Rick Wayne. Rick Wayne is a respected author and journalist and a former bodybuilder who has won significant accolades bringing recognition to St. Lucia. Wayne is the author of numerous articles and books on bodybuilding and politics. While pursuing a professional bodybuilding career, he began to write regularly for bodybuilding magazines, particularly Joe Wader's Muscle, Builder, and Flex in the 1970s and 80s to separate periods of employment. He also wrote for Dan Loury's Muscular Development Magazine from 1994 to 1995. Mr. Wayne moved back to St. Lucia where he now resides, and in 1986, in collaboration with his wife, former U.S. bodybuilder Mae Moloca Sabar founded the Star Publishing Company. Its publications include a newspaper, St. Lucia Star, and two magazines, Tropical Traveller and Shee Caribbean. The St. Lucia Star is a hard-hitting controversial newspaper. Mr. Wayne is known for compelling direct interviews and fiery comments about various ills on the island. He champions press freedom, whether locally or internationally. For committed service in the areas of professional bodybuilding and journalism, Mr. Rick Wayne is being conferred with the Award of Commander of the British Empire Medal. Here are the applause once again ladies and gentlemen for Mr. Rick Wayne. Investiture of member of the Civil Division of the most excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, Ms. Margaret Robert Steele. Mrs. Margaret Robert Steele is a career broadcaster whose work spans decades on major events in history. She joined the Winwood Island Broadcasting Service in 1956 as an announcer and is trained as a Caribbean broadcaster having attended courses in England with the BBC. She is experienced in radio productions, musical features, news reports, and as a commentator. Mrs. Margaret Robert Steele has always had a fond relationship with St. Lucia, having been born in Grenada. And in 1996 she took over the management of the substation. She has worked freelance for Radio Caribbean and SLTV. She married in 1969 and settled in St. Lucia and was appointed to work with Radio St. Lucia in 1975 and eventually she became senior program organizer at the station. With her background in broadcasting, Ms. Steele was often called on to conduct training for young broadcasters and was instrumental in training Radio St. Lucia and Government Information Service staff in 1995 and 1999. Her familiar voice became synonymous with the Six O'Clock News Broadcast heard every day across the nation. For committed service in the area of broadcasting, Ms. Margaret Robert Steele is being awarded the Member of the British Empire Medal. Investiture of the British Empire Medal, VEM, Ms. Mary Pierre. Ms. Mary Pierre has always been of service to her community to the young and the old. She was born in Moghuj Choiselle on May 1st, 1951 and attended the Choiselle R.C. Girls Primary School and from that time she had a passion to serve those in need in the community. From 1968 to 1980, Ms. Pierre worked as a nursing assistant at the Moghuj Health Centre. She continued her path in promoting community health and from 1980 to 2000, she worked as a community health aide assisting with the immense needs of persons in the community and volunteering with various organisations. She's a member of the Choiselle Council for the Disabled, HelpAge St. Lucia. She serves on the Moghuj Development Committee and the Choiselle Women's Group. At the heart of her passion has been community building and she has assisted in projects such as the renovation of the old school building to convert it to a community centre which housed a library, preschool and adult literacy programme. For this committed service to her community, Ms. Mary Pierre is being awarded the British Empire Medal. Mr. Gasper Schalmein for committed service in the field of education. Mr. Gasper Schalmein was a devoted educator. He was born in the town of Souffre. His early schooling was at the Souffre Boys Primary where he later became a school teacher at the age of 16. After pursuing teacher training and successfully obtaining secondary education through that system, he pursued professional training at the Erdiston Teachers Training College in Barbados from 1962 to 1963. In 1968, he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship that enabled him to achieve a diploma in education at the Shoreditch College University of London. He later completed a Bachelor of Education degree from the Monarch Campus University of the West Indies. Mr. Schalmein was a former principal of the Souffre Comprehensive Secondary. His career in the field of employment with government and the private sector includes Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education, 1988 to 1990, Human Resource Manager and Chastney Hotel, 2001 to 2006, and Minister in the Ministry of Education, 2006 to 2010. Mr. Schalmein also loved music and had a great passion for art and culture. He served as organist in the Assumption Parish Souffre for 63 years and retired in January 2019. For committed service in the field of education, Mr. Gaspers Schalmein is being awarded the British Empire Medal and we invite his daughter, Mr. Kuo Schalmein Beset, to accept the award. Mrs. Pamela Mary DeVaux. Mrs. Pamela Mary DeVaux, nay Harding, affectionately known as Pam, was born in Surrey, England on 22nd February 1941. She arrived in St. Lucia in the late 1960s with her husband Robert and their family and she quickly grew to love her new homeland and is a true St. Lucia at heart. When the St. Lucia Animal Protection Society Slaps was founded in 1998, Mrs. DeVaux was one of its founding members. After the tragic murder of founding President Jane Tipson in 2003, Mrs. DeVaux was asked to take over the reins and she, reluctantly at first, accepted. Following in Jane's footsteps, she worked tirelessly to improve the plight of abandoned, neglected and abused animals in St. Lucia. Under her leadership, thousands of dogs and cats that would otherwise have been left to reproduce have been spayed, neutered and thousands of rescued animals have been adopted into forever homes. Slaps operates entirely on the proceeds from donations, subscriptions and fundraisers. Other than the care of the animals in slaps, all work undertaken by slaps is done by unpaid volunteers. Pam's goal is to establish a permanent shelter for slaps. All that would be required to make this happen is the granting of a small piece of Crown Land's property in the right location. Donations from international welfare organizations would take care of the rest. For committed service in the area of charity, Mrs. Pamela Mary DeVaux-Nay Harding is being conferred with the award of the British Empire Medal. Mr. Joseph Riley Dolcey, for dedicated service to the St. Lucia Fire Service. Mr. Joseph Dolcey spent most of his life devoted to serving his country in the fire service. He is a highly recognized firefighter with a passion for mechanics. He got his start in the engineering section of the fire service. During November 1981, he assisted in the operational department before suffering the loss of his right leg following an accident. Mr. Dolcey's disability did not stop him from pursuing his dreams and he did become a full-fledged mechanic. He went on to serve an additional 29 years in the St. Lucia Fire Service and attended various training courses to repair fire service vehicles and equipment in the U.K., U.S. and Europe where he acquired various skills and became certified in auto mechanics. During his tenure at the fire service, Mr. Dolcey went through the ranks and was promoted to station officer. In 1987, he was again promoted to lead fireman and then in 1982 to subordinate officer. After spending 31 years in the service, Mr. Dolcey left the service and formed his own company called Dolcey's Auto Repair located in Babano. To this day, he loves mechanics and his customers and he is well known in the community which he serves. For dedicated service to the St. Lucia Fire Service, Mr. Joseph Dolcey is being conferred with the award of the British Empire Medal. Mr. Vincent McDume for committed service in the field of entertainment. Mr. Vincent McDume was born in St. Lucia on October 27, 1965 into a family of 20 children. In 1988, he became the very first fashion designer awardee in St. Lucia. He was then awarded a scholarship to study fashion design at the prestigious college Esmode in Paris and served his internship for one year at the High Fashion House of Paco Rabanne. Mr. McDume went on to work at the fashion houses of Olivier Gilliam, Andre Walker, Angelo Talasi, Guy Laroche and became assistant artistic director for Mark Jacobs at Louis Vuitton. He was the artistic director for the first African fashion exhibition in 1998 held at Prenter Garry Lafayette, the biggest fashion mecca in Europe. Mr. Vincent McDume lives in Paris and travels extensively within the circle of the European fashion industry and is a French favorite on fashion and style talk shows as anchor or guest. He works ceaselessly to educate, inform and entertain through TV appearances, fashion involvement and engagement in social media with an enduring sense of fairness, outspoken indignation and all with a true sense of taste. Mr. McDume maintains a healthy interest in his native St. Lucia and the development of young, up and coming designers, models and artistic ventures. For committed service in the field of entertainment, Mr. Vincent McDume is being conferred with the award of the British Empire Medal. His sister Serena McDume Marshall will accept on his behalf. Ms. Mary Jones-Smith for committed service in the area of entrepreneurship and business. Ms. Mary Jones-Smith affectionately known in the community and throughout the preschool system as teacher Joanie was born on 24th April 1940 to James Smith and Alexandrine Smith, also known as Ms. Dean. She was the last of six children and the youngest of three girls. Ms. Smith devoted her entire life to the work of the Roman Catholic Church where she serves as the sacristan ensuring that the altar is prepared for daily worship. Currently, on any given day, she could be seen sweeping the church to facilitate worship in a clean environment. While church can be described as the center and summit of her life, teaching preschool is indeed Ms. Smith's first love. Ms. Mary Jones-Smith developed her passion for toddlers from the tender age of 15 when she assisted her mother who was the founder of the preschool. She began her full-time teaching career at the age of 18 years and is currently actively involved in teaching at the preschool which her mother founded. She has given over 61 years of service to the school and intends to remain at the school until she is no longer able to. Ms. Smith can recall all the students that graced the walls of the school over the more than six decades. She believes that every child deserves a good education and in fact has the right to receive preschool education regardless of their parents' economic circumstances or challenges. For committed service in the area of entrepreneurship and business, Ms. Mary Jones-Smith is being conferred with the award of the British Empire Medal. Thank you, Your Excellency. I now have the honor of inviting Honorable Alan Shastney, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, to deliver closing remarks. First of all, allow me to extend congratulations on behalf of the government, the people of St. Lucia, to the recipients of awards in Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday Honors list for this year. I note with sadness the passing of one of the honorees since the names of the recipients were announced in June and would like to assure the family of the late Gasper Schaulein that we do miss his presence among us here today. He was a devoted servant of the people of Souffre and St. Lucia and it goes without saying that his contribution will never be forgotten. There's nothing as rewarding as service to humanity and service to country and this is what these awards are designed to honor. To give back measure to those who have served and distinguished themselves through such service. I have to say we have some really incredible awardees and incredible stories here today. There is a line in a creed adopted by an international organization that once had a chapter in St. Lucia. I refer to the JC's which said that, and I quote, service to humanity is the best work of life and the quote. With this statement I wish to concur wholeheartedly because this is the kind of service that can contribute handsomely to the welfare of our men and women children as well as adults by offering examples and pursuit of excellence all in the quest of community and more importantly national development. Over the years we in St. Lucia have been blessed to have large numbers of men and women who took on the mantle of serving and providing service in every single field of endeavor in both the public and private sectors. It is mainly on the shoulders of these people that the development and the progress of St. Lucia has always and continues to deepen. As a country we must not allow our heroes to go unrecognized. We must continually thank them for their service and in some cases their sacrifices. In their pursuit of noble professions or in the service to the community they have given us a peace of themselves. I cannot help but make the point that each of the eight persons honored by the Queen this year have been stalwarts in their respective fields. Persons who have achieved and then use their achievements in the cause of helping others in such diverse fields as sports, entertainment, community development and social services, education, the media, business and the public service. Mr. Rick Wayne with a resume of entertainment professional bodybuilding, advocacy we all know and of course journalism we thank you. We thank you Margaret Robert Steele for your service and broadcasting and as we were so adeptly reminded by his excellency your voice. Delayed Mr. Gasper Peter David Chalmine we say thanks for service the field of education and in community development. Ms. Mary Peer for the services to the community we thank Ms. Pamela Mary DeVoe for your always charitable heart. Mr. Joseph Dalsy your devotion to the fire service St. Lucia fire service is something all recruits should emulate. Ms. Mary Jones Smith or Teacher Joni thank you for devoting almost your entire life to the work of the church and to education and last but not last but far from least Mr. Vincent McDume who's always used his celebrity status to bring attention to St. Lucia I thank you. St. Lucia owes all of you a debt of gratitude and to all of you for your dedication and commitment. It is my sincere hope that the example set by these honorees will motivate and inspire others to step up and serve their communities and country as well. It is your achievements and contributions that have helped to raise the character and profile of St. Lucia. I salute you all for taking the time to celebrate with us the investiture of the recipients into the most excellent order of the British Empire and invites you to partake of the refreshments which will be served out on the piazza after the national anthem has been played. The recipients are kindly asked to remain here for a short while with the prime minister and the governor general for the group photographer photograph sorry ladies and gentlemen please stand for the national anthem of St. Lucia