Former president of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM) and head of Kontact Band, Anthony Layne, confirmed earlier today in relation to hints how popular Kadooment bandleader Squires, passed away, after lingering from an illness.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley informed the public how the death of “icon” Gwyneth Squires was a major loss for Crop Over and Barbadian lifestyles…

To say that my heart is saddened by the news that Gwyneth Squires has passed would be a gross understatement. As the Prime Minister, under whose office the cultural portfolio falls, as Minister of Culture in a previous administration and as a Bajan to whom Crop-Over means the world, the death of Gwyneth is a real blow.

There are few names in this country more synonymous with Junior Kadooment and Grand Kadooment than Gwyneth’s. The number of children who grew up in her junior band and then graduated to the style, flair and tradition of her Grand Kadooment offering for more than 30 years, must be in the thousands.

She was an icon.

According to the records of the National Cultural Foundation, Gwyneth is the most decorated bandleader and designer in the history of Crop-Over, with an enviable record for continuous participation in the annual festival. She has won more Band of the Year titles at Grand Kadooment and Junior Kadooment and Designer of the Year trophies than any other — more than 60 in all.

But she is also a perfect example of how the lives of people in all of our territories can be enhanced when we embrace each other and see the Caribbean Sea as a bridge rather than a boundary. Gwyneth was born in Trinidad and moved to Barbados as a teenager more than half a century ago — and I dare anyone to try to convince me that she was not as Bajan as anyone born here.

She competed in Grant Kadooment as a designer/bandleader in 1985 and since then has remained unmatched in her depiction and showcasing of our history and culture in costume, as well as her commitment to tradition when others found comfort in beads, bikinis and feathers.

Added to that, she would have won numerous King and Queen of the Band trophies along with other top prizes, which led in 2013, to the award of the Barbados Service Medal for her contribution to Masquerade.

Gwyneth has also represented Barbados with distinction at the Notting Hill Carnival in England and Miami Carnival in Florida.

On behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I extend sincere condolences to her family. May her soul rest in peace.

Before the day drew further, another giant from local entertainment also met flights of angels… Mark Williams died at the age of 83 – he wore many hats in his time. He was a promoter, broadcaster and a sitting MP for the ruling BLP (in a keenly contested St Michael riding against Clyde Mascoll in 1996)…

Ms Mottley was equally poignant in her summation; This morning, when I received the news of the passing of Mark Williams and reflected on the man I knew, I could not help but think that were he in a position to speak now he would declare that his life was full and complete.

In fact, Mark was involved in so many aspects of the life of this country over the years that I would not be taking too much poetic licence if I said: “If it has not been done in Barbados it is only because Mark Williams did not do it.”

Mark was a “boss” at sales, he was a show promoter at the top of the class, he was a politician who could hold his own against the biggest names, he lived to showcase the Bajan culture and was a social influencer long before social media was even conceived.

And if you had the heart to pick a verbal battle with him, but were not prepared for a war, then clearly you came prepared to lose. He was a small man, but just as you do not judge the power of a stick of dynamite by its size, it would have been a mistake to judge Mark by his physical stature.

While many Barbadians knew the more mature Mark Williams because of the success of his two-decades-old “Looking Back” programme on CBC radio, he was making waves long before that. He started as a salesman in the 1950s with C.F. Harrison, worked with London Transport and merchant marine as well as sold insurance, but one of his most fundamental contributions to the development of Barbados occurred away from the limelight.

In its adolescence days, when its Editorial independence was perhaps at its highest and its fearlessness unmatched, Mark was one of the primary driving forces in the Nation Publishing Company’s Advertising Department. By ensuring, with his colleagues, that the Nation’s advertising portfolio was robust and diverse, the company was able to stand as a strong voice for democracy and change in Barbados, knowing that no single advertiser, no matter how powerful, could constrain its independence.

Then there was the other side of Mark, the young man who helped to promote Bajan legend Jackie Open — both before and after his death. There was the Mark Williams and Al Gilkes duo that organised and promoted calypso shows before the National Cultural Foundation came on the scene, and of course, there was the Mark Williams who filled every seat in the National Stadium, with hundreds more trying to storm the perimeter wall to see the biggest names in international wrestling do battle there.

Closer to home, there was Mark Williams the politician: The man who boasted of convincing National Hero Sir Frank Walcott to contest the St. Michael West seat for the Democratic Labour Party in 1971, handing him the victory, and after a falling out the following year “took the seat from him” in 1976. Interestingly, Mark played the spoiler’s role by joining Al Gilkes and the late Eric Sealy to form the People’s Political Alliance. While he only secured 80 votes, the campaign ended with Sir Frank being defeated by the Barbados Labour Party’s Vic Johnson.

Twenty years later, in 1996, with the resignation of an ailing Speaker of the House of Assembly, Lawson Weekes, Mark was back in the political race, this time as a member of the BLP, contesting the St. Michael North-West seat. He lost to Clyde Mascoll but was not daunted, for three years later he entered the election as the underdog and emerged victorious. Mark was now a member of the House of Assembly.

I wish publicly to thank Mark for the support he has given to me and the Barbados Labour Party over the years, and while I readily admit that his independence of spirit led him to be publicly critical when he felt it necessary, I also confess that it has helped to sharpen my focus. I will always be indebted to him.

On behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I extend sincere condolences to his entire family. May his soul rest in peace.