The Munro College Old Boys’ Association (MCOBA) annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony returns this year after a brief COVID-19-related hiatus, and therefore will cover two years in one, since the event was not held in 2021.

The inductees for 2021 are prominent banker and businessman OK Melhado; world-acclaimed paediatric specialist and University of the West Indies Professor Robert Gray. The late Sonia Hayden, a banker, Munro wife and Munro parent who gave outstanding support to Munro College and singlehandedly helped dozens of Munronians secure first, second, and third jobs, will be an honorary posthumous inductee.

For 2022, the inductees are businessman and former School Board Chairman Dave Lyn, and posthumously, Elias Azan, former Munro College Head Prefect, Old Boys Association President, School Board Chairman, leading businessman, and Honorary Consul for Jamaica to Barbados.

AUBYN HILL TO BE GUEST SPEAKER

The J$10,000-per-plate event, slated as a brunch tomorrow morning (October 9) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, promises to be an elegantly entertaining affair.

Senator Aubyn Hill, minister of industry, investment and commerce and Munro College old boy, will be the guest speaker, while Munro College old boy Kumar Bent, former lead vocalist of the Grammy-nominated Raging Fyah, will make a special guest appearance to complement entertainment provided by Desi Jones and Friends.

The event will be streamed live on a pay per view basis courtesy of Caribbean Events on Demand.

The Munro College Old Boys Association Hall of Fame was launched in 2012 by then MCOBA President Arthur Williams. It seeks to recognise outstanding individuals who have had a significant positive impact on the evolution, development and direction of Munro College, as well as those who, by virtue of outstanding national or international achievement, have made Munro College proud.

The 52 previous Hall of Fame Inductees to date include the likes of Jamaica’s greatest all-round athlete, the late Lindy Delapenha; late business icons William ‘Billy’ McConnell, Jackie Minott, and Tony Hart; late former Prime Minister Sir Donald Sangster; former poet laureate and tennis star Professor Mervyn Morris; Jamaica’s longest-serving JDF Chief of Staff, Major General Robert Neish; Jamaica’s first decorated war hero of WW2, the late Ron Sturdy; decorated war hero and Pulitzer prize poet, the late Louis Simpson; Jamaica bobsled star and Federation President Chris Stokes; legendary Munro Headmaster the late Richard Roper, former dynamic Board Chair Laurie Sharp, and late Munro College co-founder Caleb Dickenson, whose family also founded Appleton Estate and world-famous Appleton Rum.

The induction ceremony is a major fundraiser for the MCOBA, which is the major fundraising arm of the school, the last-surviving boys boarding school in the island. Proceeds from MCOBA fundraising go toward school-related projects like scholarships and grants for students and teachers, supporting sports programmes and extra-curricular activities like debating and Schools Challenge Quiz, and repairing and upgrading school infrastructure. The event is usually staged on the second Sunday in October each year.   

Sygnus and Megamart combed to be title sponsors while CB Group supported as the platinum sponsor. Other sponsors include Sagicor, Barita, Jamaica Broilers Group, Azan’s Supercentre, CIBC, Bert’s Auto Parts, NHT, Rainforest, Appleton, CPJ, Lasco, Jakes Hotel, Sandals Resorts, Blue Dot Insights, iPrint, Image One, and New Media Solutions.