Best of Linden Magazine

Jun 19, 2022 News

…Celebrating People, Places and Institutions in the mining town

By Vanessa Braithwaite

The Best of Linden Magazine

Kaieteur News – Lindeners boast that their town is the producer of some of the best individuals across various sectors and fields. Some of the country’s best athletes, academics, artistes and skills men and women were birthed and raised in the bauxite mining town. Linden is also credited as the town where some of the nationally recognised events were birthed such as Mashramani, Town Day, the Kashif and Shanghai Football tournament, among others. The town is also known for its unique gifts that are indigenous to its topography such as the blue lakes and towering white hills. There is nowhere else in Guyana you can find such aqua-touristic beauty. Linden is also the only town with a river running through it.
Celebrating these facts is a magazine produced in the town by Lindeners. The Best of Linden Magazine was produced by a son of the soil, environmentalist and community activist, Samuel Wright. While Linden is known for outstanding things, the narrative of its stagnated economy, its marginalisation as a result of politics, its massacres such as the Wismar Massacre and the Son Chapman Massacre, struggles and protests such as the 2012 struggle resulting in the death of three protestors, among other things over the years, have overshadowed the many celebratory features.

Magazine Publisher, Samuel Wright

“It’s really a celebration about what is good about Linden, the people who are selling, institutions that are doing well and it is important that the magazine document that. So it is a celebration about Linden, the best of Linden, again because the narrative, we only talk about what is wrong for Linden and what is bad for Linden, it has challenges and I won’t attempt to avoid that but we thought about what’s good and strong for Linden,” Wright outlined to The Waterfalls recently.
The second edition of the magazine was recently released and artistically captures what Linden has to offer as a people, a tourism destination town, an investment destination and a residential destination. It also captures the grassroot men and women who are often overlooked service providers but through their daily toiling, provide a necessary service to the community. These include small business owners, boat operators, taxi drivers, disk jockeys, among others. It also captures the hospitality sector and the tourism gems of the town. Linden is steadily gaining recognition as a tourism destination with the media frenzy surrounding the blue lakes, but the magazine features more than the blue lakes and details the hospitality sector of the town spectacularly.
“Part of it is showing parts of Linden that we don’t see and discuss and we feature the hotels, the ads in the magazine feature cook shops and bakeries, so from a tourism point of view, the magazine gives you some direct information about Linden for example if you are in Georgetown and you pick up the magazine and you come to Linden, you would know where to go, where the restaurants are, who are doing tours, so it’s a very good document to promote Linden and give those in Linden the access to know what is going on.”
The magazine promotes the excellence and quality of 50 service providers, which were determined through a limited survey. Some of those captured include Best Nursery School – Pine Street Nursery; Best Principal – Ms. Camille Cummings; Best Eating House – Kay’s Klassy Diner; Best Caterer – Denise Gordon; Best DJ – Quelly Ranks; Best Reporter – Tracy Liverpool; Best Barber – Romain Gilkes; Best Vegetable/Fruit Vendor – Kurtis, and Best Ferry Service – Adams Ferry.
“We have faced pandemics and scourges, exhibiting the resilience that we are known for, while accepting the lessons being taught. We celebrate the delightful variety of small businesses and the courage being shown by the youthful entrepreneurs,” Wright said.
At a cost of $1,200, the Best of Linden Magazine is available at the Linden Fund Trust Office, located at 94 Manni Street, Linden, as well as Mackenzie newspaper vendor, Jocelyn Benjamin, and the Stationery and Variety Store, Republic Avenue, Mackenzie, Linden. Digital copies are also available for purchase.