Holly B’s legacy

Piper, who became affiliated to Carib Santa Rosa parang group in 1983, got to know Betaudier, personally, in 1984, after years of wondering if she would ever meet the fabled host of Scouting For Talent, which, at that time, was one of the few local talents shows in the country.

“As a child, he was the television personality and I had no way of dreaming if I would ever meet him,” she says. “Little did I know that I would become a friend of this larger than life personality.” Piper recalls that Betaudier’s special influence on three young musicians in Arima in the late 1960s gave rise to what is now known as the Carib Santa Rosa parang group.

The men, Stephen Caraballo, Vincent Caraballo and Rupert Simpson, found their way to Scouting For Talent and Betaudier welcomed them with open arms.

“They did not have a stage name to perform and he gave them the name, Forme Rouge, which meant Red Ants, because they were all red-skinned men,” Piper explains.

In 1969, the small group morphed into the Santa Rosa Serenaders and two years later, became the Carib Santa Rosa Serenaders. The group is now known as Carib Santa Rosa parang group and Simpson’s (one of the original members) son, Michael, now leads the band.

Piper, who was also associated with Carib Santa Rosa, recalls that as her vocal ability soared within the band, Betaudier took note. He later enlisted her to help get other parang bands from neighbouring communities and elsewhere to perform on Holly B’s Parang Bandwagon.

“He gave people the opportunity to shine and was always introducing someone to the microphone,” she notes, adding that parang bands from Arima and other communities were given a much-needed forum to showcase their talents.

Betaudier also broke new ground by introducing parang to Paramin, a mountain community of French origin.

“I remember him keeping shows under people’s homes and on the sides of the hill,” Piper recalls.

She says there used to be as many as 25 parang bands on Holly’s shows.

By the early 1990s, Piper became the official stage manager for Holly B’s Parang Bandwagon and her friendship with Betaudier blossomed.

They did shows for Independence Day and Mother’s and Father’s Day, in which prizes for the best dressed patrons, mothers with the most children and best dancer, were a common features, “The normal ballroom dancer was special and he would give them a gift on television,” she says.

During that time, Piper also witnessed the ascent of several prominent artistes, including soca star Machel Montano, who first appeared as a young performer on Scouting For Talent.

“I don’t think the country knows what it has lost,” she muses, her voice cracking. Betaudier’s influence also was felt in other areas of cultural life in Arima.

Former Arima Deputy Mayor Ricardo Bharath believes Betaudier will long be remembered as a tireless campaigner for the rights of the district’s indigenous peoples.

Bharath, Chief of the Carib Santa Rosa First People’s Community, says although he had known Betaudier for many years, it was during his stint within the Arima Borough Council that he really interacted with the beloved media personality.

“I was in charge of culture on the council and I used to liaise with him about parang celebrations in Arima,” he says.

Bharath believes Betaudier’s love for the indigenous people’s was drawn from the influence of late Carib Queen Maria Fuentes Werges Ojea, who lived next door to his family, on Woodford Street, Arima.

Ojea, who died at the age of 113, served as Carib Queen from 1908 to 1962.

“He would call me quite often because he knew about the Caribs as a child. He was quite familiar with their celebrations and took every opportunity to tell people about their history,” Bharath explains.

Betaudier also invited members of Arima’s non-indigenous community to partake in the group’s celebrations and observances.

“He was a true Arimian who knew most of the area’s traditions,” Bharath says.

Prominent Carib descendant Cristo Adonis agreed.

A product of the Karina Pogoto tribe, Adonis and Betaudier shared more than their proud Arima heritage.

They both spoke patois and ‘kreyol,’ (broken French), fluently.

“He (Betaudier) knew the language and we would often talk when we met at different shows,” Adonis says.

He described Betaudier as a knowledgeable, jovial and patriotic person.

Minister of Communications and Public Administration Maxie Cuffie says Betaudier had created a forum for performers to do justice to their craft. He credits Betaudier with creating local content that captured the public’s imagination.

“He developed a local entertainment show that was the most watched programme in its time,” Cuffie notes.

Cuffie says Betaudier’s shows, especially Scouting For Talent, which aired on the now defunct Trinidad & Tobago Television (TTT ), also facilitated careers in the entertainment industry.

“That, in itself, is a great contribution to the country. It shows that there is always potential for the creative sector to capture the public’s imagination, locally, to take us regionally and internationally,” he says.

“It is up to us to create the same environment to ensure that there are other Holly’s and that their work is better rewarded.”