Opposition Leader Kim Swan was among the many hospitality industry icons who turned out to pay last respects to Mabel Stovell Robinson a week ago at St. Mary's Anglican Church, Warwick.

Born on March 23, 1927, Mrs Robinson was was 83 when she died on June 5. Mr. Swan stated it was most impressive seeing the number of former Belmont Manor hotel staff who worked with her turning out with other friends and family in final tribute. Mrs. Robinson, he stated, was one of the Belmont Manor Hotel ladies who dazzled tourists with efficiency, charm, grace and homegrown courtesy and love.

She was part of a teamof Bermudian waitresses of excellence that graced the Belmont and other hotel dining room for decades.

"It was a privilege for me between age 16 - 21 to work alongside Mabel; and others and learn a lot about the industry and about life," declared Mr. Swan. "Those were the glory days of Bermuda Tourism when Bermudians were an integral part of a vacation experience," he added..

That was also a time when the Mr. Swan was in transition from dining room service to his own climb to fame as a top Bermudian international golfer.

"Mabel's" passing prompted this columnist to retrieve from our archives the article we wrote about her when she celebrated her 80th birthday. Titled: "Mabel, Mabel, Set the Table!" It stated:

"There was nothing demeaning about that salutation by which the one and only Mabel Stovell Robinson of Warwick was known far and wide by countless visitors and colleagues alike during the nearly 50 years she made a career out of working as waitress, an ambassador, and an icon in Bermuda's tourist industry.

And her magnetic smile and gracious manner proved undiminished when those family members who adored her so tremendously and the old Belmont Manor Hotel Clan were among the 200 guests who joined at the St. Mary's Anglican Church Hall celebrating her 80th birthday.

Mabel was just one of those unforgettable personalities one comes across from time to time. Certainly, her minister the Ven. Archdeacon Alan Doughty was unabashed when he invoked a blessing on the party.

The Archdeacon remarked that he had some lovely mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers in his congregation at St. Mary's Church, and he was not fearful in saying "the sexiest of them is Mabel". And to boot, she was one of his most committed members, he added

Incidentally, one of the Archdeacon's Wardens at St. Mary's Church was and (is) Mabel's daughter, Leola Stovell, a great grandmother and television and radio personality in her own right. Leola was the mistress of ceremonies at the party that she and her four siblings planned for their mother.

This writer first got to know of Mabel, when she was a teenager wearing the banner of "Miss Warwick" in a "Miss Bermuda" Beauty Pageant at the old "Chili" Simons Patio on the South Shore in Warwick. That was "way back in the day" when I was biding my time driving taxi. I was hacking for the Harry Sharpe taxi concession at Belmont Hotel, while waiting for the opportunity to become at full-time news reporter at the now defunct Bermuda Recorder newspaper.

It is hard to believe that was some 60 years ago. Also, I just happened to be Station Manager and news director at the Capital Broadcasting Company's original ZFB when 43 years ago, Leola Stovell made her debut in television. Lee Stovell, vivacious like her mother, had an overwhelming abundance of charm and personality; and she also was a former Miss Bermuda contestant. We had no hesitation in engaging Lee to host Capital's nightly TV Bingo Game.

Lee became known as "Lingo Lee", and for ten years she was ZFB's "Weather Girl". Leola is now one of the sales executives as well as on air special events broadcasters at ZBM.

In any case, Mabel was typical of those ambitious Warwick youths who were keen about their careers in the hospitality industry where there was plenty of money to be made. As a matter of fact, black Bermudians and Portuguese had little or no other options at that time. They were absolutely discriminated against so far as jobs were concerned in the civil service, the banks, offices and the leading retail stores and the general hospital.

The girls started off in the laundry and graduated to the dining room as waitresses and housekeeping as chambermaids. On the other hand the young males began as bus boys in the dining room, or elevator boys, becoming waiters and gaining the opportunity to live in the dormitory on the Belmont property. Both sexes worked as porters in the kitchens, becoming cooks and chefs in due course. They were able to build their homes, educate their children, become entrepreneurs on their own and enjoy many of the finer things in life as hospitality workers.

There was something most intriguing about Mabel's generation of hotel workers. And I would daresay, ideals worthy or emulation in this day and time, given that Bermuda is poised for a bold new regeneration of its hotel industry with vast opportunities for beckoning for young Bermudians.

Mabel was the darling of Belmont Hotel clan, as we stated before. And likewise many of her contemporaries became icons in the hospitality industry, drawing repeat visitors to Bermuda over the decades especially to be served by those friendly Bermudians."