Birthday News

From letter dated November 6, 1960

I was fascinated to learn from Uncle Frank that my Grandma Van Brunt kept house for so long in the same without-modern-conveniences way that I have here in Belize. Having known only a pretty soft way of living, we can’t realize how recently those conveniences all came to be part of the general standards…and how relatively tiny the percentage of the world’s population that even considers them “standard.”

 

The children are having a wonderful time here. They both have lovely friends and lots of activities. Alex’s crowd has been having “chip-in” parties where they all plan the food, decorations, and activities, and have as much fun ahead of time as they do at the party itself.

The first one was something of a fiasco for Alex since he hadn’t realized that it would involve dancing. He stepped on the little girl’s foot, she started screaming at him, everyone laughed, and he was so upset he left. At his request I gave him dancing lessons all the next week and apparently he had a wonderful time at the next party (two days ago) and wants to continue his dancing instructions.

I think not-quite-twelve is a little young to be starting these parties, but since they are carefully chaperoned, it is a lovely crowd, and all his friends are included, I can’t very well arbitrarily forbid him to go.

 

Bucher’s business is growing fantastically and it really looks as if finally he’s settled in one that will justify his work and hopes.

 

From letter dated January 17, 1961

I had a lovely little family birthday party on the fourth. It began with my hairdresser presenting me with a huge bouquet of flowers at my appointment with her in the morning. Anita is something of a gem. She’s intelligent, trained in the U.S., and has given me the best all-round view I’ve gotten of the life, points of view, background, etc., of Belize. I have loved my weekly indulgence of a hair appointment…which I never had in the States. Her prices are incredibly low by U.S. standards and with my long hair and a scarcity of water, I don’t feel that it is too extravagant. Anyway, she was leaving the following weekend for Detroit, where she is taking a refresher course and planning to work for a while to earn money to expand her shop in Belize. Although she wasn’t working that last week, she insisted on my coming in on my birthday. Her giving me the lovely flowers was deeply touching.

I baked my own cake, of course…more to please the children than because I felt the need for it…and decorated it elaborately with Carli’s help.

Bucher came home early and we had tea and I opened my presents then. The children had gone shopping that morning, each separately, and there had been quite a frenzy of hiding packages behind backs, sidling into the house, locking themselves in the bedroom with the gift-wrapping supplies, etc. Honestly, both Bucher and I were so impressed with their selections.

Alex had bought me an elaborate set of Evening in Paris toiletries…soap, bath salts, dusting powder, and perfume. Actually, I wasn’t too surprised. He had given Carli a smaller set for Christmas, doing the shopping himself, and was terribly pleased with the delighted reception it got both from her and from me. So I just knew that was what he would get. I was thrilled, however, I need almost nothing, but I do so adore frivolities like that, which I won’t buy myself.

Carli had outdone herself, too, buying me a set of broach with matching earrings…a large brownish stone set in “platinum” with rhinestones. Children’s taste is jewelry is liable to be extremely dubious, but this set is charming. I wear a lot of brown and tan shades, so the things go with many outfits. She was so excited, herself, about it and I was deeply pleased.

After the presents, we all went to the Pickwick Club for supper. We have our main meal in the middle of the day, so we eat very lightly in the evening. Bucher and I had a drink and ordered cokes for the children and then, to their complete surprise at first, we all danced to the jukebox, Bucher with Carli and Alex with me.

Wednesday is a very dull night there and we had the main room to ourselves. The other people were just a handful of men, mostly oil-company personnel dropping by for a solitary drink or a few men playing snooker by themselves.

Our dinner was U.S.-style hamburgers, which they do very nicely…quite ordinary but still a treat to the children. Bucher had offered to take me out for the evening but I really preferred to have a just simple little evening with the whole family.

We were home by eight and had the birthday cake then. I thought it was a lovely little celebration.

 

The children started back in school a week ago Monday and it was high time. Not only had it stretched plenty long for me but they, too, were bored and at loose ends and quite ready to return.

 

Baymen Fisheries has been keeping Bucher very busy. There were the usual delays in getting the refrigeration equipment installed in the boat, so his partner left last Wednesday for Miami to hurry things up. They have a full load returning and all the merchants here are hoping their goods will arrive soon. All of them (jokingly) insist that it is my fault they don’t have the things I want to buy.

Meanwhile, the grouper run is starting, and the fishermen are working extra long hours to make up for the holidays plus a stretch of bad weather. Bucher is working till almost midnight every night. However, things were so slow for two weeks through Christmas that their backlog of fish and lobster tails ran out completely and he’s delighted to be getting back into production.

For about two weeks now, they will catch incredible numbers of grouper. Bucher’s plan is to buy and process as much as the plant can manage and, as soon as the boat returns, fill her up and turn her around to Jamaica. It’s quite amazing that, for some reason, Jamaica is an even better fish market than the States, buying more fish at a better price. Just why a large island would have to import fish, I can’t imagine.

Epilogue: Bucher’s Work at Baymen Fisheries

From letter written July 22 1995

At a recent party, I visited with Harry Lawrence, an old friend and the editor of one of the local newspapers. He just had attended a large celebration by one of the fishing cooperatives when they acquired a new shrimp trawler. Harry said that over and over again fishermen told him how much help Bucher gave them thirty-some years ago.

Bucher offered them loans when the American scamp who ran a freezer plant tried to starve them into accepting too little for their lobster. Government encouraged the fishermen to organize into cooperatives to protect themselves. They were delighted to have Bucher take the initiative in helping them organize. I remember well the time he spent on it. Even after the co-ops were running, we continued going out to the various cayes so he could attend meetings of the cooperatives. It involved an enormous amount of education, diplomacy, and direction on Bucher’s part.

Man after man told Harry that Northern Fishermen’s Cooperative never would have existed without the encouragement and guidance Bucher gave them. Naturally, it was gratifying to hear Bucher remembered so warmly by the fishermen he cared a great deal about.