MRS. Carolyn Young, who has spent more than 50 years in the trenches and on the front line for the organised labour movement in Bermuda, has decided to call it a day.

And, seemingly, it is not a day too soon for the family of this trim, studious mother of six, grandmother of ten plus three great-grands.

For the past 17 years Mrs. Young has been the 'up front lady' at the headquarters of the Bermuda Industrial Union. Her official designation was supposed to be that of receptionist, but in fact she was the office manager, and, to be even more descriptive, she was said to have been the workers' specialist.

She was also on the executive board of the BIU, being its recording secretary.

The Union honoured her with a retirement luncheon last Friday. It probably was one of the longest luncheons on record, lasting more than three hours with so many, from top executives, past and present, among others lauding her dedicated service, making presentations and culminating in a sustained standing ovation.

Union president Chris Furbert, thanking Mrs. Young for a job well done, said: "Now you can really enjoy life."

Hers was a great feat spanning move than five decades, he said. It began on her job as a shop steward for fellow workers at Cambridge Beaches Resort, expanded to membership of the negotiating team of the Hotel Division, and service on the executive board.

The Union's education officer, Collin Simmons, said it was always a pleasure working with Mrs. Young.

He added: "She exemplified what trade unionism was all about, in the spirit of the Doctor Balls and Molly Burgesses. She did a tremendous job for the workers, demonstrating the difference between being a union member and a trade unionist at heart."

"We are proud of our mother," said Mrs. Laverne Simons, who is principal of Heron Bay School.

Speaking on behalf of her sisters and brother, she added emotionally: "Our one wish as a family for several years was to see this day. We know how much you have put into this union, on the picket lines, in the Labour Day and other marches, working behind the scenes, setting up and following up.

"We are happy you are home. We are with you," Mrs. Simons said while presenting her mother with a bouquet on behalf of the three daughters present; and flowers from daughter Antonia Gall, who is a registered nurse living in Toronto. Other sisters present were Marie Franklin, who is on staff at Bermuda College, and Patricia Joaquin. A brother, Anthony L. Franklin, a prison officer at Westgate for 11 years, was unable to attend.

Acknowledgement was made of Mrs. Young's other daughter, Barbara Scott, who was stricken while studying abroad to be an audiologist and died.

Proudly viewing the entire proceedings from the head table was Mrs. Young's husband of 20 years, Kenyetta, one of the BIU's most prolific organisers and negotiators, and former head of its Construction Division.

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MRS. Writa Johnson celebrated her 101st birthday on Tuesday last, entertaining in fine style some of her closest relatives and friends in her apartment on Morgan's Road, Warwick that she maintains under her own steam.

We call Mrs. Johnson "Bermuda's survivor extraordinary", not just because she has reached her ripe old age, with more agility and higher spirits than some folk in their 40s and 50s. But rather because of an event some 80 years ago.

She was a young bride then, on her honeymoon trip from New York to her native Bermuda, she and her young American husband were rescued from the Furness liner Fort Victoria just before it sank on the high seas after being rammed in a fog storm by another ship, The Algonquin.

Those were the days before the invention of radar and other measures put into place to cut down on such nautical disasters.

During the early years of the 20th century wealthy Americans, who considered Bermuda their playground, went to great lengths to secure the services of bright, young Bermudians because of their charm and to work in their homes and enterprises.

Writa became the envy of her peers, who considered her lucky when she took advantage of such an opportunity at the age of 16 to go to Newport, Rhode Island to be a mother's helper.

In her early 20s she met and married a Rhode Islander, Al Burton. Their intention was to spend Christmas in Bermuda in 1929, and to meet her family for the first time.

They travelled to New York and boarded the Fort Victoria on December 19, burdened with their Yuletide goodies. It was the liner's last voyage before the holiday season, and it too was loaded with much anticipated cargo that ended up on the ocean's floor.

Luckily, all of the passengers escaped unhurt, with only the clothes they were wearing. The honeymooners were taken back to New York and returned to their homes in Rhode Island. It was a year or two before they eventually got to Bermuda as a couple. Twice widowed and childless, Writa eventually made New York and the influential Bermuda Benevolent Association, Inc. the focal points of her busy life.

Born in Paget, near the Horizon Hotel, on February 12, 1906, she was the eldest of the ten children of Arthur and Bertha Knight. Her father, who lived to be 103, was a pilot at Dockyard and one of the founders of the Somerset Brigade Band. Eventually the Knight family moved to a home he built in Somerset.

Twenty years ago Mrs. Johnson decided to escape the rat race of New York and its bitter winters and returned to the island to settle down.

She is a very independent woman, friendly and frank. She lives alone, and keeps fully abreast of current events.

She has only one surviving sibling, brother Harold Knight. For many years Harold and his wife Amy owned and operated a motor lunch counter in Pembroke and Devonshire. Upon retiring, they moved to Virginia where a daughter has a home and family.

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BERMUDA will have a new representative in far-off New Zealand as of next week. He's Keidoe C. Jennings, a tall 19-year-old CedarBridge Academy graduate.

He's on target for enrolling in New Zealand's University of Waikato's School of Sciences for a degree in Conservation and Resource Management.

Thanks to the generosity and quick response of some public-spirited organisations and individuals, the shortfall he was facing for the $NZ15,455 fees, to be paid in full by the February 25 deadline, has been made up.

Two weeks ago we reported how he was under siege.

He had been well on the path of working his way to university the old-fashioned, hard way, holding down two jobs and saving his monies, when he was hit by hard luck that depleted his funds.

Keidoe's number one benefactor in Bermuda is New Zealand-born Mrs. Michelle St. Jane.

A barrister and resident here for some 30 years, she described as marvellous the response to the fund that her office set up through KAIROS Philanthropy.

The Bermuda Garden Club was swift, with a cheque for $4,000. A covering letter stated: "The Garden Club is pleased to sponsor as part of our Scholarship Programme a young man who has persevered and shows great promise."

Mrs. St. Jane said the international business community was most supportive.

Executives who requested a meeting with Keidoe seemed to be most impressed with his manner and particularly with the career he has chosen.

She also said a lady, who wanted to remain anonymous, paid directly into his account.

One of his teachers did likewise and other people had called and would be following through.

Keidoe himself asked us to record his appreciation to those who have come to the rescue.