This photograph locks so much history that instead of a flashback article, the editor suggested a feature article in this column. It features so many people, young girls who are now in their fifties, women who are now deceased (RIP), and historic buildings from the village of the 1950’s.
At the head of any procession, (this is the Dia de San Pedro Procession) the primary school children marched in their nice white dresses. A few boys usually carried a banner of Saint Peter. Notice the older women with their headpiece. This was called a “mantilla” or scarf. There are lots of babies in the procession because in those days there were no nannies.
The men usually marched at the back of the procession. This procession is going up Caribeña Street and the buildings from near to far are the home of don Ines Rosado, the Holy Redeemer Credit Union, Home of Florentino Gonzalez later to become Hotel Sanpedrano, and then Tio Pil’s House which later housed the World Famous Cholo’s Bar on the ground level.
Now let’s talk about the second building. In the 1950’s The Holy Redeemer Credit Union had a branch in San Pedro. Children used to go there every Saturday to deposit 50 cents to a dollar. Others deposited five or ten dollars.
For some unexplainable reason, the branch of this credit union was closed. Many Sanpedranos had savings in their books and some still do. I understand that a few people might have their books. Also it is rumored that some people had big loans, and with the closure, they did not have to pay back. Whatever the real facts, it is definite that some people did lose their savings, and this does not seem fair. For a big business organization like a credit union, there must have been some records in the main office in Belize City.
But do Sanpedranos have their books and records? Many of them have died, and so the accounts have died.
What a sad story! It is a story that Twenty Five Years Ago accepts but does not condone. We believe it with disbelief. Now let’s spend a few minutes identifying some of the persons in this photograph.
– by Angel Nuñez, Columnist
