When Allen Soares first started working on the Queen of Bermuda he weighed little more than the heavy platters used to serve passengers their dinner.

He started working on the ship as a 16-year-old in 1961.

"I was straight out of school," said Mr. Soares who now runs a painting business, Best of Brushes. "I didn't finish high school. My mother got a call from New York. A friend of ours said a boy on the ship had to be sent home because of illness, so there was an opening. They said 'get your passport'.

"So that Friday after school I went downtown and applied for my passport and they had it ready for me Monday morning when the ship came in."

When Mr. Soares joined the crew, there were about 140 Bermudians also working on Queen of Bermuda.

"Every morning we had to march around on deck to be inspected – to make sure our tops were clean, our shoes were shining," said Mr. Soares. "They would inspect our nails."

As a bellboy, his chief job was to work the elevators which had manually operated doors in those days.

"We got about $30 a week," said Mr. Soares. "That seemed like a lot of money at that time. We ended up getting $40 or $50 in tips as bellboys. At the end of the week we would have a lot of money."

His money was sent home to his parents, Joseph and Winifred Soares. His father worked as a fisherman.

After working as bellboy for a time, Mr. Soares became an assistant waiter to the captain, Magnus Musson.

"He was good to work for, but he scared me one time," said Mr. Soares.

"We were in New York and he had guests onboard. They were having tea in the afternoon.

"I never knew the English were like this. I had this stainless steel teapot and I started to pour the tea. He said 'Soares, milk first!' I was a really young person, and my hands started to shake. I said, 'yes, sir'."

Everything on the Queen of Bermuda was silver service. Rather than have a plate of food put in front of guests, guests were served from large platters and serving dishes.

"The only famous person I met on the ship was comedian Carol Burnett," said Mr. Soares. "She was here on her honeymoon. That was in 1963."

At the time he barely knew who she was because his parents didn't own a television set at home.

"When she left she gave me a hug and a kiss," said Mr. Soares. "And people cheered. She had just started her television programme, the 'Carol Burnett Show'."

Mr. Soares later graduated from assistant waiter to waiter.

"In the ship there was all wooden panelling," said Mr. Soares.

"It was beautiful. They would have big rugs everywhere. There was a smoke room with a tapestry. That tapestry was down in AS Cooper & Sons for a long time, before they built the new building.

"They were beautiful things that you don't see in modern ships of today."

Mr. Soares said he has loved ships his whole life.

"We lived in Boss' Cove in Spanish Point," said Mr. Soares. "We could see every ship that came in through Two Rock Passage. I could almost tell from the sound of every engine or ships' horn, what ship it was."

Mr. Soares still loves ships and has spent a lot of time collecting old pictures of the Queen of Bermuda and Ocean Monarch. He belongs to the Steamship Historical Society and The World Ships Society.

"I go to all sorts of things relating to ships," he said. "Being on Queen of Bermuda was a great experience. Being so young, everything was new."

When he landed in New York for the first time he jumped for joy.

"I was so happy just to be on foreign soil," he said. "That was the first time I ever left Bermuda.

"I remember going up the Hudson River. You couldn't see anything because of the fog, but all you could hear were the bells in buoys ringing as they rocked."

The first thing he saw on the Hudson River was a large sign advertising coffee on one of the ship piers.

"But you could smell the river," he said. "It had that certain city aroma."

Mr. Soares worked on the Queen of Bermuda until 1965.

"It made its last voyage the next year," said Mr. Soares. "If I'd known it only had one more year I would have stayed on to see it finish."

Now Mr. Soares is calling for more former Bermudian crew members to attend a reunion in England on May 16.

The reunion organisers, based in the United Kingdom, are trying to find more former crew currently living in Bermuda. So far more than 50 crew members from all over the world have confirmed.

For more information contact Allen Soares, bestofbrushes [AT]northrock.bm, or 337-3923.