A veteran St George’s All-Stars footballer was a Gombey devotee who mastered the art form’s dance steps from his childhood in the Curving Avenue neighbourhood of Pembroke.

Charles Wade, better known to many as “Nature Boy”, joined Norford’s Gombeys as a youngster, according to the Department of Culture, which recognised him in 2022 as an honouree at the Gombey Festival alongside close friend Philip “Marlo” DeShields.

Mr Wade followed in the footsteps of his father, Harold Wade, an accomplished tap dancer.

His dancing as he followed the Gombeys in the street caught the attention of a troupe captain, Francis Llewellyn Spencer “Merry Mice” Darrell, who asked Mr Wade’s mother if the youngster could sign up.

The department said: “Quickly, he became a tiny favourite and was one of the youngest dancers to perform at Castle Harbour and other hotels at about age 4 or 5.”

For the tribute, Mr Wade recalled being 7 when the legendary captain Charles “Boxcart” Norford trod on his foot by accident, causing him to tear up.

Mr Wade said: “He was a big fella. He took me aside and said, ‘Sonny, Gombeys do not cry!’ I haven’t cried since.”

The department said: “Nature Boy and Wendell Darrell created a criss-cross fast-step that people do today, but says nobody does it how they used to; although he loves watching Shawn Caisey of H&H dance today.”

The statement added that in his heyday, an individual dancer would perform for 20 to 30 minutes alone.

Wade said: “I didn’t used to show off, but I didn’t let myself get showed up. When I danced, I went into a zone with the music. Every beat of the drum, you should have a step for it, because the Gombey created that beat. I had a good Gombey tribe behind me.”

The tribute added: “He remained with Norford’s Gombeys until they passed the tradition along to the Warner’s Gombey group. But in his day, the Gombey was the Gombey. The best time of Nature Boy’s life has been dancing Gombeys, even representing Bermuda internationally.”

Mr Wade was quoted: “I know what I’ve done in the streets. I know what I’ve done for Gombeys. If you didn’t see me, then you missed it.”

Mr Wade’s spiritual side showed after a brush with death in 2014 when he suffered a serious burn from a live electric wire that had come down on the road in St George’s.

“I have always been a great believer in God, even more so today because of my experience,” he told The Royal Gazette. “There is a supreme being, I believe that.”

Mr Wade was an adept East End footballer throughout his life.

In 2015, after the passing of Cal Rayner, he recalled: “We played a lot of football together with St George’s All-Stars and at one time we were the oldest front line in Bermuda.

“Back lines couldn’t stop us and Cal was the finisher.”

Mr Wade’s skill on the pitch included hat-tricks across decades of coverage in the Gazette.

Harold Sinclair Charles Wade, an East End footballer and awarded Gombey, was born on July 25, 1952. He died in September 2026, aged 74