Former National Volleyball stalwart opens Berbice’s first Mini Mall

Jul 23, 2013 Sports

Overseas-based Guyanese and former National Volleyball stalwart and cyclist Charles ‘Wheels’ Henry has stepped into the business arena following an impressive run as a sportsman.

BRISTOL MINI MALL – Workers adding the finishing touches to the Bristol Apollo Lounge, Canje Pheasant Restaurant and Mini Mall.

Henry who dominated the volleyball court in Guyana during the late 1970s and 80s and also participated in a number of other disciplines including cycling, basketball, football and athletics, was proficient in pools and played a mean game of chess.
He competed alongside such stalwarts as Attorney at law and Member of Parliament Basil Williams. His exploits in cycling gave him his sobriquet ‘Wheels’.
Henry, who hails from New Amsterdam, attended the Vryman’s Erven Secondary School, Berbice Educational Institute (BEI) Berbice Collegiate High School, the Daniels High School and the New Amsterdam Technical Institute.
He migrated to the USA but recently came back home after spending more than two decades in his adopted home land. Since his return he has been organising a number of community-based activities, while staging or being instrumental in having a number of activities staged including the Charles Wheels Henry cycle race, volleyball and basketball competitions among other community based activities.
Also through his instrumentality the Rollers Volleyball Club was presented with a new set of uniforms and a significant sum of cash by former Commissioner of Police the late Henry Greene.
A former employee of the then Guyana Telecommunication Corporation (GTC), he worked as a Communication Engineer with the world renowned Verizon Telephone company in the United States of America.
He is a founding member of the Rollers Volleyball Club which was formed in the early 70s.
At the club level he dominated proceedings and participated in numerous tournaments including the Guyana Games, the Inter Corporation Games that pitted the skills of players from GUYSTAC and GUYMINE Corporations, as well as the Joint Services Games and represented Guyana in numerous overseas tournaments. He was a permanent feature on the national team, a position he retained for over nine years until migrating with his family to the USA, playing against such places as the US Virgin Islands, Cuba and China.
He had successful coaching stints with, among others, GUYSTAC and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). During his stint with the GDF he enjoyed the distinction of being the only civilian player in the military line up.
During a visit home Henry assessed the situation and decided that he should contribute to the all-round improvement of Guyana and not just concentrate on sports, thus his venture into business.
The mini mall which is located at the Corner of Main and Lad Lane is the first in Berbice. It will have such amenities as – An Apollo Lounge, A Canje Pheasant Restaurant, Multipurpose Hall that caters for all occasions including weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, conferences, jazz, and A VIP Attic that on the Upper Floor that overlooks New Amsterdam and the Berbice River.
The four story edifice will be declared opened by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds at a gala opening ceremony on Friday. (Samuel Whyte)