Ms. Telator Cumi Strachan This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. www.more94fm.com

   www.more94fm.com/news.php?acti - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/11/2007   Last Visited: 11/11/2007

   The President of the Straw Vendors Association, Telator Strachan, who spoke on behalf of the group, said they feared if they moved to Prince George Dock, they would never be allowed back on Bay Street.
   
   Mrs Strachan also said the building that the government has proposed can only accommodate about 250 people - not the 600 vendors in the present market.

2. 2. www.more94fm.com

   www.more94fm.com/news.php?acti - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/11/2007   Last Visited: 11/11/2007

   Spokesperson for the Straw Vendors Coalition, Telator Strachan is accusing Works Minister Earl Deveaux of double talk when it comes to the fate of the straw vendors.
   ...
   But Ms. Strachan said the vendors were not given any options. She said Mr Deveaux said only that the government was going to relocate the vendors to Prince George Wharf.
   
   Ms. Strachan also said that the Prince George Wharf would not be a suitable or lucrative location, and that vendors wanted to remain on Bay Street.

3. 3. '99 Lifetime Achievement Winner

   www.caciqueawards.com/Lifetime - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/1/1995   Last Visited: 4/20/2004

   Half a century of work in the tourism industry earned Telator Strachan the 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award. Her tireless efforts to develop the straw handicraft industry and upgrade the disposition of straw vendors forever changed the landscape of the straw business.
   
   Ms. Strachan was pursuing typing and shorthand, along with correspondence courses in English to become an Executive Secretary. But the straw business became her focus and she decided that she must equip herself to be the best at it.
   
   Fascinated with the industry after a trip to the straw market with her friends, she started her career in the straw industry in 1955. Ms. Strachan worked as a straw vendor for the first time when her grandmother, the late Deacon Pearl Moxey, asked her to to look after her stall, located at the Emerald Beach Hotel, Cable Beach.
   
   In 1968, Ms. Strachan was elected president of the Straw Vendors Association. She organized incorporated self-help programs into the industry and promoted straw vending as an integral part of the tourism product.
   
   Under Ms. Strachan's leadership, the Straw Market Thanksgiving and Carol Services were started. These traditions continue today. Ms. Strachan was also instrumental in forming the New Providence Handicraft Cooperative Society, an organization to promote local straw work through interaction with suppliers of raw material and straw items from the Out Islands, and to facilitate overseas exports.
   
   In 1987, Ms. Strachan was appointed to serve in the Senate.
   
   As a straw vendor, Ms. Strachan has traveled the world, promoting the Bahamas and its handicraft industry. Today, she still works out of stall #48 and entertains many friends who continue to visit the Bahamas and the straw market to see her.