NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022 13 JAMAICA AT 60: MANCHESTER Keisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer IN JAMAICA today, with so many societal ills plaguing our country, including crime and violence that continues to rear its ugly head, there are urgent pleas from every sector of the society for a return to decency, and law and order. Businessman and custos of Manchester, Garfield Green, is undertaking a programme aimed at fostering positive values and attitudes and a sense of social responsibility among citizens in the parish. The initiative, dubbed ‘Manchester Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes’, will serve to restore those core values and principles that make communities thrive. “Our objective is to foster positive values and attitudes and to help create a sense of patriotism among people in the parish. We want our young people to become more civic-minded and to participate in civic duties. They will learn about their history and have a sense of civic pride, and self-respect. If this were the case, then the crime rate would not be so high,” Green said. Custos Green said the programme will target young people, schools and other areas of concern within the parish. According to Green, the programme will promote a number of projects, including the establishment of at least one uniformed group in each school, including the Cadet or Scout group. “If wehavepride inourselves, respect our own lives and respect the lives of others, then the nation will be better by far. Many of our people aregrowingupnot knowingwhere they are from or where they are going. They have nothing to live by, so they live too free,”Green said. Custos Green, who is also a past president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, is well known in the parish and is respected by a wide cross section of persons. In accepting the position to the office of custos, Green had committed himself to serve the people of Manchester, promote the rule of law, public order, and civic pride in the parish, and supervise and swear in the execution of the legislated functions of justices of the peace. The custos is inviting collaboration on the initiative, noting that while it is being spearheaded by his office, partnerships are needed to ensure that the transformative goals can be achieved. “If we can instil national pride and respect for our country in our people, then they will want to preserve our nation and want the best outcome always. These values and attitude wouldmotivate them to believe in themselves and embrace the country’s growth and development,” Green said. Overall, Green is urging all Jamaicans to embrace positive values and attitudes in order to mend the moral fabric of the country and thereby contribute to economic development. With the social issues the country is now grappling with, Green said people must be given a vision about Jamaica, have them buy into that vision, and buy into a certain set of values, which cannot be achieved until persons adjust their moral standards. keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com Custos seeks to foster positive values and attitudes Garfield Green, custos of Manchester, points to his instrument of appointment. NATHANIEL STEWART/ PHOTOGRAPHER IN 1920, when Richard Henry Haughton moved his family to Mandeville, Manchester, to start his own drug store business, he had no idea that his legacy would span over 10 decades. The business was first started by Haughton, who was a chemist, and the family-run business has been passed down from generation to generation since. Haughton’s Pharmacy, now operated by 1920 Investments Limited, is one of the oldest pharmacies in Jamaica, celebrating over 100 years of continuous operation. Stafford Haughton, a third-generation proprietor in the family business, said in those days, Mandeville was abuzz with life and commercial activity. “As a little boy, when my father and mother took me into the town, I remember the town square. It was quite an alive town as I remember it as a young person. It was beautiful, and the park had palm trees all around it. There was the courthouse, and the parish church and the market, and my grandfather’s drug store was al so adjacent to the park ,” Haughton said. Haughton attended school in Mandeville in the 1950s and was one of the first students when Manchester High School opened its doors at its present location in 1953. The school, he said, was first located adjacent to St Marks Anglican Church, where the taxi park is now located. “I went there in second form and went right through to sixth form,” Haughton said. Haughton’s father was an apprentice pharmacist at the Kingston Public Hospital. Following the passing of his grandfather, his father returned to Mandeville and operated the family business. “As a young man, after school I went by the drug store, and stayed with my father. I also learnt many things about the business during this time,” he said. Years later, af ter Haughton’s father also passed in 1969, he too returned home to continue the family business. “I was in quality control at Federated Pharmaceuticals, and I was getting the opportunity to see the other side of pharmacy business. However, my sister, now deceased, and I came back to Mandeville. She was the business manager and I was the druggist (pharmacist),” he said. According to Haughton, Haughton’s Pharmacy is more than just a pharmacy; it’s a landmark. “It is a household pharmacy in three parishes. With close relationships in the medical community, we endeavour to supply their patients with the required medication at a moment’s notice,” he said. In early 2000, the business was sold to one of his daughters, and there are plans in place for continuation of the business for many years to come. keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com STAFFORD HAUGHTON’S EARLIEST MEMORIES OF MANCHESTER Stafford Haughton, chief operating officer and chief pharmacist, Haughton’s Pharmacy. NATHANIEL STEWART/ PHOTOGRAPHER jamaica at
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