The front page of 20 June 1974 edition of The Caymanian Compass was dominated with news of the recent Queen’s official birthday and its attendant announcements of honours for locals, as well as a piece on the imminent departure of Governor Kenneth Roy Crook from his role.
In a story headlined ‘Queen’s Parade Draws Large Crowd’, it was noted that hundreds attended the event outside the Law Courts in George Town, where Governor Crook inspected the Guard of Honour. During the ceremony, he invested those who were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for 1973 – Captain Eldon Kirkconnell with an OBE and Edgar Ulric McNamee with an MBE. Assistant Superintendent of Police Vernon Ebanks was given the Queen’s Police Medal and Angelia Jerrine Conolly of Bodden Town received the Queen’s Badge and Certificate of Honour.
A separate story, headlined ‘Two Awarded Honours’, reported that the ExCo Member for Tourism and Natural Resources, Warren Conolly, and Postmaster General Hope Glidden-Borden, had been named in the 1974 honours list. Both were to receive an OBE.
The main story, with the headline ‘Governor Crook to Leave July 26’, described “an announcement to newsmen in his office” by the governor that he would be leaving Cayman the following month to take up a position as the British government’s representative on a Canadian National Defence Course in Ontario. He was to be replaced as governor by Thomas Russell. The article quoted Crook as saying, “Cayman has tremendous potential.” The story continued, “The Governor pointed out that the place was going through a transitional stage and there were not enough skilled people for the sophisticated life it has to face in the future.”
On another page, an image of proud-looking young men lined up with flight instructor Peter Schmid was captioned “On their way to becoming pilots”, and it stated that they had “passed their technical exams and received dipomas from the Cayman Flying Service”.
Finally, a story headlined ‘Plane Lands Illegally’ reported that an American pilot who landed a private plane at Owen Roberts Airport without traffic control clearance was tried in court the following day and fined $20 for the offence. The pilot pleaded guilty to contravening the Colonial Air Navigation Order, under which $20 was the maximum fine.
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