Sunday’s inauguration of Prime Minister Harris’ second-term Team Unity Administration was staged with remarkable success before an exuberant crowd at Warner Park – a fabled place that holds a lot of history for Kittitians and Nevisians, perhaps none more so than Mr. Stanley Franks, Jr., who was born on May 1st, 1941 at Prickly Pear Alley in Basseterre.
Mr. Stanley Franks, Jr. served on the Warner Park Committee for 35 years and as a member of the Board of Directors of Cricket World Cup St. Kitts-Nevis 2007. Mr. Franks, Jr. also holds the honour of having managed both a West Indies cricket and football team (W.I. Youth to Canada in 1989 and Caribbean Football Team to England in 1993).
Moreover, when the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis hosted the 7th Caribbean Festival of Arts in August 2000, Mr. Stanley Franks, Jr. led the planning, serving as Director-General of CARIFESTA VII, which held its opening and closing events at Warner Park.
“Stanley loves Warner Park and knows it like the palm of his hand,” the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis said today, Wednesday, June 17th, adding: “My Cabinet and I also selected Stanley to chair the inauguration planning committee because he is a consummate professional who has an innate and impressive talent for managing intricate moving parts in a seamless and stabilizing way.”
Prime Minister Harris went on to note that, “From all accounts, he did not disappoint. Indeed, the country can always count on Mr. Stanley Franks, Jr., and I will continue to draw on his considerable experience as the need arises.”
The Prime Minister continued: “Stanley’s helping hands extend to just about every facet of civic life in St. Kitts and Nevis. He has served as Chairman of the Independence Celebrations Committee and the National Carnival Committee, and also as Co-Chairman of the St. Kitts Music Festival Committee; President and Secretary of both the Cricket and Football Associations; General Secretary of the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union, and Deputy Chairman of the Social Security Board. In a nutshell, Stanley Franks, Jr. is a national treasure.”
In 1985, Mr. Stanley Franks, Jr. received an Independence Honours Award and was awarded the nation’s Medal of Honour (MH) in 1991. Five years later, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce presented him with a Certificate of Recognition for his contribution to the educational development of the youth of St. Kitts-Nevis through Teacher Professionalism. Upon retiring in 2002 from a distinguished 28-year teaching career, Mr. Stanley Franks, Jr. received the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College Award for Dedicated Years of Service to the Technical Division. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Her Majesty the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for 2008.
