Heritage preservation was the theme of an international conference attended by three members of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands in Washington DC this week.
Trust general manager Frank Roulstone reported that 150 delegates from more than 50 countries took part. They represented National Trusts in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Oceana, North America and the Caribbean.
The five-day conference was primarily focused on heritage preservation, including the benefits and impacts of cultural heritage tourism.
Mr. Roulstone said the conference had made everyone aware of the similarity of challenges despite the extremely diverse number of countries represented. He also expressed a desire to see regional Trusts become better acquainted and has met with the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Lucia toward that end.
The general manager and Trust secretary Mrs. Lois Blumenthal made a presentation on the work of Cayman’s National Trust on Saturday, the first day of the conference.
‘Our presentation was warmly received and a number of Trusts have expressed willingness for closer cooperation,’ said Mr. Roulstone. ‘The group from New South Wales, Australia has asked to come down for a working holiday. I told them we still have a lot of cleaning up they can help with.’
Mrs. Gladys Howard, chairperson of the Little Cayman National Trust committee, was the third delegate for these Islands.
Included in the conference were visits to nearby National Trust for Historic Preservation sites such as the historic main street of Warrenton, Virginia, coincidentally the hometown of Reid Dennis. Deputy Mayor David Norden talked with Mr. Roulstone about growing up with Cayman’s ‘Durty Reid’.
Later, participants had dinner in Frederick, Maryland, where Cayman delegates joined Trust representatives from India, Ghana, Australia and Russia.
This was the 11th conference of worldwide National Trusts. The conference, held at the historic Mayflower Hotel, ended Wednesday night.
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