Heroes' Day should honour inspirational Bermudians from our past and present

Dear Sir,

I was very pleased to see the article in the May 28 edition of the Bermuda Sun concerning Bermudian ­citizens being called upon to nominate someone to ­celebrate as a hero for the 2011 National Heroes’ Day.  

This has been a long time coming.

Since the conception of Heroes’ Day, we have been ­celebrating the same one.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against Dame Lois Browne-Evans and I do not deny her ­considerable achievements and contributions to Bermuda.

But there are so many other people in Bermuda’s past and present we could celebrate with this holiday.

As a young person, I was glad when Government first announced this ­holiday. I saw it as an opportunity to learn more about my history and the people who contributed to making Bermuda a better place.

After all, this is rare knowledge as Bermuda ­history is, unfortunately, not commonly taught in schools.

National Heroes’ Day was such a great idea and it has so much potential.

But Government has let us down by not allowing it to reach its full potential.

This holiday can be a rich learning opportunity and I’d like to see it become just  that.

I have had a few ideas ­myself on how we can ­celebrate National Heroes’ day in a enriching light.

One is to honour both a Bermudian from our history and one who is still alive who is taking positive steps ­toward creating a better Bermuda.

This is also a good way to honour the young people trying to do positive things for this country.

There could be a display in a gallery about the life and achievements of the hero chosen from our ­history.

These are small ideas but will help to bring National Heroes’ Day to its full ­potential.

I am not excited about celebrating the same hero for the third year in a row.

But I am hopeful that whoever is on the committee will finally start putting some effort into making this a meaningful holiday and not just another reason to get out the office and on to the beach.

Davika Hill