Final goodbye to a dear friend, Patrick Lee of Apple Valley Park, St. Elizabeth

I don't know if many of our fellow boardites know about Apple Valley Park in Maggotty, St. Elizabeth but the owner, Patrick Lee, one of my oldest and dearest friends passed on a few days ago. I have been thinking a lot about our many years of friendship and thought you might like to read about the last time I went down from Accompong Town to see him. Not a Negril Story but I think you might find it kind of amusing.

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Taxi Ride from Accompong Town to Maggotty

It was a cool, crisp morning in Accompong Town and I dressed unusually warm instead of my usual shorts and t-shirt as I decided the night before to make a pre-Christmas trip down to visit my old and dear friends The Lees at Apple Valley Park in Maggotty. We have been close friends since my first visit to this part of St. Elizabeth some 24 years ago.

This was Saturday and the taxis start running before dawn taking residents mainly to Santa Cruz to shop for gifts and food supplies that would be needed with family and friends coming over to visit during the Holidays. I walked down to Troy and Winsome’s shop where I could sit and wait for a taxi to pass through town. After a half hour wait or so, John (a regular driver) came past with a full load of passengers to drop off at an area of Accompong Town called Gipson and would be returning soon hopefully with room for me before descending to Maggotty.

A short time later, John returned and asked a young lady sitting in the shotgun seat to move to the rear to give the “big man” some room. As she exited, I gave her $100 to cover her fare for giving up the prized seat. She reluctantly accepted the money and wished me a “Merry Christmas” with a big smile. Before leaving the town, we had eight people in the car with John and I up front and six passengers across the rear seat in the Toyota wagon. A full load by anyone but a Jamaican driver’s opinion.

John had a wad of small Jamaican bills in one hand for change and often a constantly ringing cell phone in the other while navigating the twisting and narrow road down the mountain. When we reached the gate to the community that remains open during present times, three elderly gentlemen flagged us down to load two crocus bags of sorrel and yellow yams to deliver to the market in Santa Cruz but that wasn’t all. Up the side of the hill came a man dragging a reluctant ram goat. To my surprise they tied the goats legs together; secured his mouth to keep him quiet and placed a piece of crocus bag over his head before loading him into the back of John’s car for the journey to Harmony Hall for a Nine Night’s celebration the next evening. Another man handed me a bundle of scallions which John directed me to place on the dashboard and a lada bag of yellow yams to put under my legs.

What I have discovered is that a ram goat has an especially pungent smell. Some say it is from urinating on themselves but I think there must be a scent gland from which they excrete a smell to attract she goats. In either case, the smell quickly permeated the car surprisingly to no complaints from the rear seat passengers. A ram goat MUST be used to make Mannish Water as that smell is preferred to that of a she goat by discerning palates.

Every few seconds the cell phone would ring and John would answer with an “eh?”. It seems that John and another regular driver “Juici” worked together in a fairly efficient fashion to make the most out of every trip to and from Maggotty. After listening to the caller for a few seconds, John would say “mi full” followed by some Patois I can’t translate before hanging up and dialing Juici to direct him to pick up that person if he was able for a share of the $100 fare. Now, this may seem minor but it costs a driver a little less than $500 (one gallon of petrol) to make a round trip to Maggotty and back so every dollar is important.

When we reached White Hall, John took the road to Bethsalem to drop off a farmer and we picked up a young lady and her baby pickney making seven passengers across the back seat before turning around and heading back to the main road at White Hall. By this time, I was doing my “dog with his head out the window” impersonation to absorb as much fresh air as possible along with the temporary resolve not to ever eat Mannish Water again. Now we had a full load in John’s opinion.

After stopping just before Harmony Hall to drop off the scallions and the lada bag of yellow yams to a young girl, she thrust a $500 bill to John past my nose with an order for something he should buy for her in Santa Cruz. Taxi drivers are personal shoppers too. If someone needs to buy something and can’t make the trip to town, the taxi driver buys the item with a small fee added. Off we went again to Harmony Hall to drop off my friend; the ram goat who I was not at all sad to see us part company and I could see cheer returning to the back seat passengers as well.

A few miles later we were finally in Maggotty and John dropped me off at Apple Valley Park. After paying the fare and before leaving the car, John told me to call him for a returning trip when I was ready to go home. The trip cost me about $2.70 US for the approximate 10 mile journey but the experience was priceless.

Peace and Guidance

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Accompong, I'm sorry the time with your friend Mr. Lee has come to an end. Did he and his wife have a bakery in the town? If so, I met them both years ago and they were wonderfully warm and welcoming - it seems to me they also served hot food at the bakery (but I could be wrong).

We are sorry to hear of this great man's passing ,Accompong ....

Sorry to hear about your friend. The story is great I have had the pleasure of sharing a couple of very full taxis. It's always a great adventure. I feel a lot closer to the people and less like a tourist when I am riding in a crowded taxi thanks for sharing. Peace

sor
ry to hear you lost a dear friend , I really enjoyed the story , always nice to have fond memories of times gone by with friends

Rest in peace. I wonder if I knew him? I used to stay in Newton when I stayed at the Estate and spent a lot of time in Maggotty.

BTW. The ram goat aroma is what MAKES mannish water. "If it don't have the smell it won't make you swell........."

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

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Originally Posted by Olivia

Accompong, I'm sorry the time with your friend Mr. Lee has come to an end. Did he and his wife have a bakery in the town? If so, I met them both years ago and they were wonderfully warm and welcoming - it seems to me they also served hot food at the bakery (but I could be wrong).

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No Olivia, you are correct. The business started as the Sweet Bakery before there was a 550 acre park across the road. Patrick used to deliver bread for another bakery to the Aluminum plant on the northeast side of town many years ago. He then decided to move to Maggotty and open a bakery but he had no recipe for bread. A relative gave him one but it contained too much sugar. People loved the bread so much and call it "dweet" (sweet) so he named the bakery Sweet Bakery. I have a lot of pictures but they are at my home in Accompong Town Jamaica.

Over the years they served some meals there as well; had a small store and now it is a Post Office for the town.

Thank you all for your condolences. He was truly a great man and a good friend.

CaptD, you must have met him at some point as he and Shakespeare were the two driving forces that kept Maggotty alive after the bauxite plant closure.

With your indulgence, I am going to post the eulogy I wrote for the family.

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Even when I learned your first name was Patrick, I continued to mostly call you Mr. Lee. That was out of the total Respect that I had for you. Before meeting you, I knew only a few Jamaicans and most of them I could only consider to be acquaintances. I felt the love in your presence and I soon adopted you and your family to fill the void of a true family experience that I never had.

I first discovered Maggotty in the late ‘80s after a train ride from Kingston. Peter Bentley told me about the Great House and all the natural beauty of Apple Valley but he played down going to the park that was under construction as it wasn’t his style. Well, it certainly was mine. The park became a refuge from where I could feel secure as I spread my wings out into Jamaica’s interior. You, Mr. Lee, became not only a best friend but a mentor too. You taught me so much, my friend, about Jamaica’s History and Culture as well as how to live.

Mr. Lee, you were a man of many talents. You could sing, play a guitar, paint and dance and you could weld, plumb, build and (most importantly) you could dream. Many of us are dreamers but only a few can make dreams into reality. I will always remember the painting of you on a bulldozer clearing the swamp from where the fish-stocked lakes were born and the engineering process of building the Jacuzzi and the evenings at the park singing songs and playing the guitar while educating me about Politics and Culture. You were a very busy man but you always seemed to take time to teach me.

I learned a lot about what shaped your life from escaping China to meeting Mrs. Lee to the extra sugar in the bread recipe. I learned valuable lessons on how to treat Jamaicans and family. I loved our time traveling to places like Kingston, Montego Bay, New Market and Treasure Beach. I was eager to learn about Jamaica and you were proud to show it to me.
Words can never fully express the void your passing has left in my heart. I do, however, feel that the work you have done will live long after your time on Earth. Faith and Family were the most important things in your life. You have sowed the seeds and the fruit has sprung forth and long they will continue to multiply and prosper. R.I.P. my friend.

Bill Evans

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Peace and Guidance

Sorry about your friend. Your eulogy is amazing. You got it right my friend. Very nice .

So very sorry!

Will you be back in time for the funeral?

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Originally Posted by captaind

Will you be back in time for the funeral?

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No David. I believe the funeral will be late this week or sometime next week and I don't return for another month and a half. I have, however, been in contact with the family and will take some extra time to visit with them on my return.

Hope to see you there later this year.

Peace and Guidance

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Originally Posted by Accompong

No David. I believe the funeral will be late this week or sometime next week and I don't return for another month and a half. I have, however, been in contact with the family and will take some extra time to visit with them on my return.

Hope to see you there later this year.

Peace and Guidance

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I've helped dig four graves in my time. Death in the district is so much more personal than here in foreign.

I'm home for the last week in Oct. Linston and I plan to come up there

D

Accompong, maybe sometime, if you have some time and some photos, the readers on this site would like to learn more about Apple Valley Park and the vision and determination Mr. Lee had to bring it all to reality. Though Apple Valley Park has nothing to do with Negril, those who have covered all of the typically offered day trip experiences might enjoy a day spent here. I always enjoyed my days spent at the park, whether they were quiet ones with hardly anyone there or days when loads of children were there on school trips. I had always planned on staying in the Lee's guest house but never got around to it. It still, after all these years, astounds me that for as small as the island is, there is still so much to do and see and experience.

I am sorry for the loss of your friend. For me, the hardest part of growing older is losing those who have helped shape, who and what we have become as individuals. May your heart rejoice in the knowledge you knew him and what he brought to your life, more than the the sadness you are experiencing for having lost him. Great Vibes to you my friend.