Legacy of Alfred Scatliffe alive in Serenaders

From as early as the 1980s, residents of the Carrot Bay community have been accustomed to a group of men prancing through the streets, stopping at their doors as the herald the Christmas spirit starting from the eve.

“We go at it partially all day all night we don’t sleep” – The heart of the Serenaders.

With the community being of the geographic structures with hills and valleys, sea sides and Alley ways it is usually virtually impossible for that groups of men to cover the community in its entirety so determined to touch ever heart the sing also until sun down on Christmas Day.

That group is none other than the home grown Serenaders. A band of string instruments and drums that has been one of the most popular in the British Virgin Islands for years un-numbered. They are the type of band that does not have a writer of lyrics but their music is always with a unique flare.

The sound of fungi style music makes the lyrics of established writers get that unique beat that is irresistible to those who hear it.

But how did this band get started. Today Mr Lincoln Hedrington aka Hubby is the respected leader of the band and sitting with Home and Gardening magazine he recalled how they got together as the serenaders.

He remembered it like it was just yesterday recalling them being in existence since 1989. “It was a tradition hand down from a man who uses to serenade through the village name Mr. Alfred Scatliffe. We have his son-in-law in the band today Mr Egbert Donovan.”

Serenading from house to house was not an easy task but the it was the love for it that kept Mr Scaliffe going from many years but there came a time that because he had advanced in age he was no longer able to continue with the pace and so he had stopped.

It was then the current group got together and decided that legacy must live on as it was something the people of Carrot Bay looked forward to annually. “So we pick up the strain and we carried on the tradition and the group has been growing from since 1989.”

The groups maintains its caroling and traditional singing in Carrot Bay local only during the Christmas season but other times of the year the step out to the wider areas of the territory. “New Years we step out of the village and go like from East End across the ridge road from Charles Wheatley to Eileene Parson for New Years and when we finish with Elieene Parson now, we go to Patsy Lake to finish up from let’s say about 10 in the morning to about 6 in the afternoon.”

That’s a lot of ground to be covering but for the group they said it’s something that comes naturally. Members of the community are always key to be listening out for the sounds of the serenaders band, whether its at Christmas time or any other season or if it’s just at the time of their regular rehearsals.

This was evident when the group was gathering together for this feature they were regularly interrupted by passersby who request to hear some of what they had to offer. “Nobody can stop the sweet, sweet sounds of some good fungi music, hi yi yi,” said one passerby as he made sure to dish out some of his own dance style as the band acceded to his request to play for him.

A number of tourists were at a nearby bar and they too were caught by the melody that struck the air and before too long the band was at the bar and it there was no stopping of the impromptu party.

Further up the road a family patiently awaited the group to entertain one of the community’s senior as she had celebrated her … birthday and her celebration would not have been complete without the live entertainment of the serenaders.

The band sees themselves as living on way into the future of entertaining the VI with fungi music but while they are doing this live one of their biggest dreams is to have a number of compact Discs recorded.

What Carrot Bay can expect this year from the Serenader? “Starting from the Saturday night after Thanks Giving we’ll by at Loydee’s that would be the first gig for the season, then we head hopefully, to Brewer’s Bay in December then from Christmas Eve we’ll be here in the village (Carrot Bay), New years we’ll be out of the Village. So the band really getting primed from this month (November) way into January,” said the band leader.

“No other carol like we does carol – we go from one end of the village every year, every house, we don’t miss a beat – so if you aint build for it you got to stay home – but see we, we build for it and we all ready for the season.”