The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

WITH the return of the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parades a few weeks away, the Prodigal Sons Junkanoo group is uncertain if it will be able to compete following a devastating fire at their shack on Tuesday.

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prodigal Sons were “excited” for the return of the parades.

According to Eric Knowles, the group’s leader, the Junkanoo group had lost everything in the recent fire at their Yellow Elder shack location.

When asked by this newspaper if he believes the group will be able to participate in the upcoming parades, Mr Knowles said he is uncertain about what the future holds.

“Right now, I honestly don’t know how we can do it,” Mr Knowles said yesterday.

 “To say that we could just get up and go like that, I would have to speak to everybody to see what their intentions are but, definitely what we lost here there is no way in hell we could just get that back in six, seven weeks,” he added.

 Having recently completed repairs and expansions of the Junkanoo shack, Mr Knowles along with the group members are devastated.

 Mr Knowles recalled what he believed transpired on that day, as he said that the welding of the Junkanoo costumes played a significant role in the fire as the costumes are highly flammable.

 He said: “What basically happened was we were in the process of opening up the step-down frames and making an adjustment to accommodate the two wheels and the handles where the person would actually hold it and push it.

 “I wasn’t in the shack that morning, the welder was in the shack that morning. He had already finished seven costumes so basically all you had to do was well three others.... Before I left, I told a colleague of mine who was in the shack to assist the welder and watch him because when you use those grinders and stuff like that cutting metal, they send sparks.

 “The difficulty with the costume was he had to go under the costume because this costume was already basically complete. So, he was underneath there welding under the costume and if you under the costume, welding then you can see what’s happening and basically on the side.

 “I think by the time they realised that costume was on fire, and it could have been another costume just too close to that costume, I guess I couldn’t do anything more so they just ran outside.”

 He said the group had recently purchased $2,000 worth of bass drums for the upcoming parades.

 At a loss for words, Mr Knowles said: “The mood I’m in right now, I really really don’t feel like talking to anybody. Just standing here, I can’t believe that it actually happened.”

 In September, the government granted $928,500 in seed funding to the groups for them to make a comeback on Bay Street.

 This came three years after category A Groups Music Makers and Prodigal Sons made the decision to scrap participation in the 2019 New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade, saying seed funding from the government at the time was simply insufficient and forced their decision to sit out.

 Yesterday, Mr Knowles said the government is their only sponsor, therefore it serves as a challenge to participate in the upcoming parade after the fire.