ENTERTAINMENT
The Mighty Grynner.. Photo by George Alleyne
BQ Caribbean Life, July 5—July 11, 2019 45
By George Alleyne
Campaigning since 1968, he began
winning CropOver Road March
competition — three in a row —
between 1983 and 1985, and now
with four more under his belt, Leo
MacDonald Blenman, The Mighty
Grynner, has had a main Barbados
highway named after him.
Amidst much pomp and ceremony
followed by a concert and rabid
partying, Prime Minster Mia Mottley
and the 73-year-old, who is still on
the calypso circuit and very much
in the 2019 CropOver competition,
unveiled the road sign renaming
Spring Garden Highway to ‘The
Mighty Grynner Highway’.
Not only is it a spectacular
highway linking Bridgetown to
the Barbados West Coast but it is
also the culmination point for the
island’s world famous annual festival,
CropOver, where band members go
through their final judging point
then join other revellers in a frenzy
Continued on Page 46
Jolene Mendes
“Extra Innings,” a period drama
produced by Trinidadian born
filmmaker Jolene Mendes, won the top
award for Best Feature Film at the
2019 Manhattan Film Festival held in
Cinema Village, New York in May.
The film, set in 1960’s Brooklyn,
tells the story of an aspiring baseball
player who is torn between pursuing
his professional dreams and remaining
devoted to his religious family who are
affected by mental illness.
“Extra Innings” features actors Alex
Continued on Page 46
“Widows’ Words,” edited by Nan
Bauer-Maglin
c.2019, Rutgers University Press
$24.95 / $28.95 Canada
270 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The covers on the other side of the
bed are barely rumpled these days.
There’s just one toothbrush in the
holder, one plate at the table, one coffee
cup in the sink. You didn’t want this,
weren’t expecting it, wish it wasn’t
happening but here it is, and in “Widows’
Words” by various writers, edited by
Nan Bauer-Maglin, you’re absolutely
not alone.
Welcome to the club. The rules are
simple.
The first one is that no matter how
Continued on Page 46
FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT, GO TO CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM/ENTERTAINMENT
T&T film wins
top award
Becoming
widowed
HIGHWAY
FOR A KING
Grynner king of Barbados road
/ENTERTAINMENT
