This just in from Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, by our intrepid local correspondant, Shelly Lightbourn. Ms. Lightbourn, known among Nassuvians as Shellbert or Shellbertini was in Eleuthera over the weekend to participate in the “Ride for Hope” bicycle event to raise funds for the Cancer Society of the Bahamas and its programs.


A very emotional Shellbertini found herself in familiar territory, Lower Bogue, during the day-long event. The settlement was the site of the first Turning Tent checkpoint, six miles from the starting point at the North Eleuthera Airport. Shellbertini was raised from childhood in Lower Bogue, and the two are as intimately connected as Bahamian Siamese Twins.


“I didn’t expect this much fond memories to hit my brain at the same time,” she said, while wiping a tear from her eye with a piece of hot pink Spandex material, left over from her custom-made, one-piece biking outfit. “Dis my peoples. Dis my home,” she said.


Although not as well-known as Eleuthera’s Harbour Island, Lower Bogue nonetheless holds a special place in Shellbertini’s heart, as the background for many important life lessons.


“I learned how to handle conch slop for the first time at this very dock,” she said, fighting back tears of pride and joy. “I learned how to suck guinep, and yuck up cassava root right here in Lower Bogue.”


The unofficial mayor of Lower Bogue, Rufus Johnson, presented Shellbertini with a ceremonial tribute from the settlement: a life-sized conch shell, fashioned out of aluminum furl and plastic spoons. Although attendance at the presentation was sparse—several elderly locals who had wandered from their homes and a couple of mangy potcakes asleep under the dilly tree—Mayor Johnson pressed on with the tribute by hailing Shellbertini as “some kinda gal, dat be livin’ in the big city now.”


Visibly moved, Shellbertini thanked the mayor for his kind words, and shook the hands of each and every person in attendance. Five minutes later, she placed the conch shell in her carry bag, and hopped back onto her bicycle to finish the race.