Former Mayor and Retired Councillor of May Pen Honoured

Minnie Clarke, former Mayor of May Pen and Uriel Denton, retired councillor of the Ritchies Division in Clarendon, have been honoured for outstanding contribution to the parish.
At a function hosted by the northwest Clarendon community at the Spaulding United Church recently, Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sports, said that the two honourees have had long and distinguished careers, had performed selflessly and were “richly deserving of all the praise that has been showered on them”.
“We have before us two role models of community leadership and service. Let us give thanks for this opportunity to let them know exactly what we think about them and how they have impacted on our lives,” she said.
Mrs. Clarke has served 30 years in local government, with 27 of those years as councillor of the Spaulding Division, where she worked to establish community centres in Sanguinetti and Silent Hill where citizens are taught dressmaking, handcraft and other home management skills.
She was also recognised for her involvement in the community as a Justice of the Peace, and for serving on the boards of the Spaulding People’s Cooperative Bank, the Alston Primary School and the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS).
In addition to 13 years as councillor, Mr. Denton was lauded for his role in the establishment of the Cumberland Health Clinic, the Coffee Piece Postal Agency and the erection of the Ritchies Basic School, where he now serves as board chairman.
He was Treasurer of the Northwestern Clarendon Constituency Executive; a deacon in the Beulah Missionary Church; board member of the People’s Cooperative Bank in Spaulding and member of the JAS.
In lauding the honourees, Member of Parliament for northwest Clarendon Richard Azan, proposed that the new transportation centre to be constructed in Spaulding should be named after Mrs. Clarke and that the Cumberland Health Clinic to be refurbished, should be named after Mr. Denton.
The honourees received plaques of appreciation and portraits.