Dr. Lisset Bird-Pickens, the last child of Sir Vere Cornwall Bird is visiting the
country from Atlanta, Georgia, where she now resides, especially to participate in
the events marking the annual observance of VC Bird Day on Monday.
Dr. Bird-Pickens is armed with multiple degrees in education, psychology and
behavioural sciences, and she is an educator who teachers at multiple universities,
including the University of the West Indies Global Campus, the Caribbean
Commonwealth University and the American Public University/the US Military
University,
She participated in two of the events held to mark VC Bird Day, the church service
held on Sunday at the Salvation Army Citadel and the wreath laying ceremony
held at the Bust of VC Bird on Monday.
“I am always interested to me to be afforded the opportunity to celebrate my dad
and his contributions to our country. It is important that we keep these memories
alive with the annual observance of a day in his honour,” she told Pointe Express
newspaper.
She was asked to deliver an address to the service on Sunday where she spoke on
the topic: The Ripple Effect of Leadership and the Legacy of a Servant Leader.
During her address, she remarked that the Citadel has special meaning for her.
“This was not only the place where I celebrated life with my father but also where
I would last see his face in human form. It was here at in this very church, a place
that taught and illustrated the beauty of unwavering faith, that my father’s soul and
spirit were literally ushered into the arms of our Lord. This place, the Salvation
Army, was more than just a building to him—it was a living, breathing
embodiment of God’s work here on Earth,” she remarked.
Dr. Lisset Bird-Pickens last visited Antigua and Barbuda back in 2014 when the
Gaston Browne Administration re-instated the VC Bird Day festivities.
She is the child of Leona ‘Cutie’ Francis and VC Bird.
