An Example Of Honesty And Leadership
On this day in 1924, my dad, George "Sonny" Goddard, entered this world. Against the backdrop of poverty, crime, and a colonial system of exclusion and lack of opportunity, he rose to the highest levels of "service to country". George Goddard became a household name; an icon in the "steelband movement". Many knew the celebrity, however few know the man. I choose to share with my friends a couple of (true) stories...
On Honesty
It must have been sometime between 1972 and 1974, because I was still in "short pants" in Trinity College; a skinny but determined adolescent with the usual peer pressures that come naturally as a part of growing up. During that time, Schaeffer ink cartridge pens and Helix geometry sets were the desirable booty of choice for the school's young pilferers, and, yes, I too succumbed to the pressure, and broke into the occasional locker.
One evening, I brought home a pen I had stolen. When daddy saw it, he asked where I got it, knowing (of course) that neither he nor my mom gave it to me. I told him: "A friend from school gave it to me." (Thinking back, he must have been in a very good mood that evening; under "normal" conditions, have would have immediately instructed one of my younger brothers to get him "the broad belt".) Daddy then told me to take the pen and place it outside his property, on the pavement side of our front wall, and to return it to my "friend" the next day. I did as I was told; the pen spent the night exactly where he instructed, and was never to be seen again at our home.
On Leadership
In January of 1986, six months after immigrating to the US, I met Mr. Clifford Alexis at the home of Hugh Borde in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where I had been staying. Mr. Alexis came to tune the pans for Hugh's band. As an introduction, Hugh said: "Clifford, you know who this is? This is George big son."
Mr. Alexis looked at me and immediately responded: "You is George son? You doh know your father. Let me tell you the kind of man your father was..." He then went on to explain that he was a part of a steelband tour, and that on the final night of the tour, daddy called all the panmen together. Clifford then told me how daddy started explaining that he understood there were no opportunities for them in Trinidad, and began handing each one of them their passports, advising them not to return home (defect). He told them that he would return and "take the heat" for his decision. (Obviously, he was violating US immigration law.) Shortly thereafter, Mr. Clifford Alexis would found the first steelpan program in an undergraduate program at the University of Illinois in De Kalb. If Mr. Alexis had not shared that story with me, I would, most likely, never have known about it. If George Goddard had not made the decision on that moment in history, the pan program at De Kalb campus may have never materialized.
On Honesty
It must have been sometime between 1972 and 1974, because I was still in "short pants" in Trinity College; a skinny but determined adolescent with the usual peer pressures that come naturally as a part of growing up. During that time, Schaeffer ink cartridge pens and Helix geometry sets were the desirable booty of choice for the school's young pilferers, and, yes, I too succumbed to the pressure, and broke into the occasional locker.
One evening, I brought home a pen I had stolen. When daddy saw it, he asked where I got it, knowing (of course) that neither he nor my mom gave it to me. I told him: "A friend from school gave it to me." (Thinking back, he must have been in a very good mood that evening; under "normal" conditions, have would have immediately instructed one of my younger brothers to get him "the broad belt".) Daddy then told me to take the pen and place it outside his property, on the pavement side of our front wall, and to return it to my "friend" the next day. I did as I was told; the pen spent the night exactly where he instructed, and was never to be seen again at our home.
On Leadership
In January of 1986, six months after immigrating to the US, I met Mr. Clifford Alexis at the home of Hugh Borde in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where I had been staying. Mr. Alexis came to tune the pans for Hugh's band. As an introduction, Hugh said: "Clifford, you know who this is? This is George big son."
Mr. Alexis looked at me and immediately responded: "You is George son? You doh know your father. Let me tell you the kind of man your father was..." He then went on to explain that he was a part of a steelband tour, and that on the final night of the tour, daddy called all the panmen together. Clifford then told me how daddy started explaining that he understood there were no opportunities for them in Trinidad, and began handing each one of them their passports, advising them not to return home (defect). He told them that he would return and "take the heat" for his decision. (Obviously, he was violating US immigration law.) Shortly thereafter, Mr. Clifford Alexis would found the first steelpan program in an undergraduate program at the University of Illinois in De Kalb. If Mr. Alexis had not shared that story with me, I would, most likely, never have known about it. If George Goddard had not made the decision on that moment in history, the pan program at De Kalb campus may have never materialized.
Past and Present Presidents of the "Steelband Movement"
- Sydney Gollop, President. 1950-1956. Steelbands Association.
- Nathaniel Crichlow, President. 1956-1957. Steelbands Association.
- George Goddard, President. 1957-1959**. Steelbands Association.
- Albert Jones, President. 1959-1960. Steelbands Association.
- Junior Pouchet, President. 1960-1961. Steelbands Association.
- Cecil Hunte, President. 1961-1962. Steelbands Association.
- George Goddard, President. 1962-1963. Steelbands Association.
- George Goddard, President. 1963-1971. National Association of Trinidad and Tobago Steelbandsmen (NATTS).
- Aldwyn Chow Lin On, President. 1971-1972. Pan Trinbago.
- Roy Augustus, President. 1972-1974. Pan Trinbago.
- Bertie Fraser, President. 1974-1976. Pan Trinbago.
- Melville Bryan, President. 1976-1978. Pan Trinbago.
- George Goddard, President. 1978-1979. Pan Trinbago.
- Arnim Smith, President. 1979-1988**. Pan Trinbago.
- Owen Serrette, President. 1988-1996**. Pan Trinbago
- Patrick Arnold, President. 1996-2009**. Pan Trinbago.
- Keith Diaz, President. 2009-Present. Pan Trinbago.
* George is the ONLY president to author a book on the "steelband movement", Forty Years In The Steelbands - 1939-1979. He is also the only one to lead all three organizations (the Steelbands Association, NATTS, and Pan Trinbago).** Dates to be verified.
