Boys from seven primary schools were ready to bowl. Wearing coloured T-shirts representing their teams, they gathered at the lanes inside the Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duffs Bottom.
“The purpose of starting this tournament is in honour of Jelani Lettsome, one of our fallen soldiers, and we did this tournament with his age group so that we could keep him alive,” said Henderson Tittle, president of the boys’ club Mentoring Anointed Leaders Everywhere. “Jelani passed away with a serious head condition, and we decided to keep him alive among us.”
After other speakers took the podium, the first annual Jelani Lettsome Memorial Bowling Tournament officially got under way with the cutting of a ribbon by Connor Chalwell, a cousin of the late teenager.
“This is the occasion that we have been all waiting for, and it’s good to have all of you that are here this afternoon,” said M.A.L.E. Vice President McKenzie Baltimore Sr.
After the bowling started, about 100 spectators cheered the boys with shouts and applause.
Mr. Lettsome, who died on Nov. 19 at age 13, was lucky to live as long as he did, said cousin Kaisa Penn.
The teenager, who had been born prematurely, died from an intraventricular hemorrhage following the rupture of a blood vessel in his brain that had weakened as he grew older.
See the Oct. 1, 2015 edition for full coverage.
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