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Members of the Anegada Steel Pan Group play in front of the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium Monday afternoon ahead of the musical tribute to H. Lavity Stoutt. Photo: CHRYSTALL KANYUCK

The Virgin Islands has a lot to thank H. Lavity Stoutt for, from his commitment to education to the groundwork he laid for critical infrastructure and economic development, said Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn.

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Members of the Anegada Steel Pan Group play in front of the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium Monday afternoon ahead of the musical tribute to H. Lavity Stoutt. Photo: CHRYSTALL KANYUCK
Speaking on the holiday established in Mr. Stoutt’s honour, Mr. Walwyn said he also would like VI residents to remember Mr. Stoutt’s humility and willingness to “sit in the streets with the common man.”

About a dozen musicians, plus poets and government officials, paid tribute to Mr. Stoutt’s memory at the college named for him on Monday.

Mr. Stoutt’s legacy should be recounted frequently, said poet Andria Norman-Flax, because otherwise VI youth may not realise how far the territory has come.

Opposition Leader Ralph O’Neal agreed, reminding the audience that it was Mr. Stoutt who brought the territory out of grant-in-aid status by “making $1 do the work of $2.”

See the March 6, 2014 edition for full coverage.

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