Annie Bodden Looks Back at Her Adventurous Life

Mrs. Annie was the oldest of 10 children. John Alons Bodden was her father, her grandmother was Hester Diamond Flynn and her Grandfather was Hester Diamondy Flynn. “We were all family: happy, jolly people,” remembers the 1930s Mrs. Annie. “The people were poor. The clothes you had to sew them yourselves. Everybody walked, or rode horses.”

The island education was basic, but solid and provided a great starting point to a person’s life. “I was told never to forget it: “there are five things to remember. To whom you speak. How you speak. When you speak. Where you speak. What you speak,” remembers her school days Mrs. Annie.

Her subjects were taught by a Belizean. “[Honduran] government didn’t want any English to be taught here,” remembers the 1930s Mrs. Annie. Until the sixth grade the education was all in Spanish and taught by mainland school teachers and there were a few Spanish workers who migrated to the island. Utila counted around 300 souls who spoke and thought in English.

“It almost blew the house down. We were scared to death.”

Mrs. Annie ended up meeting her husband when she was 21. A letter correspondence followed, and the relationship blossomed. “There was no kissing, no courting,” remembers Mrs. Annie. Finally, a marriage date was set for December 30, 1949.

Her husband was US Navy World War two veterans. He was a mechanic and moved to Honduras to work for the Standard Fruit Company as a head mechanic in their “Taller” – workshop. “He was the first Hand radio operator in Honduras,” Mrs. Annie remembers her husband.

Life was simple, and nature was a big part of it. Sometime the biggest part. “It almost blew the house down. We were scared to death,” Mrs. Annie remembers the 1955 hurricane. “The walls were cracking. But the good God has helped us.”

The couple had three children: two boys and a girl. They moved as Standard Fruit Company required her husband’s skills all over Honduras’ northern coast. Mrs. Annie spent seven years in Coyoles, another nine years in La Ceiba and 14 years in San Pedro Sula.

Today Mrs. Annie lives in a modest one-story home in Utila Town. A photo of her great-great grandmother: Merceta Ann Werner, who came to Utila from England via Belize, hangs on a wall less than a foot from a well. That well, part of the sitting room is vital to many homes around her. It’s PVC tubing supplies water to a dozen of nearby homes.

“I am a peaceful person raised in a Christian home,” says Mrs. Annie as she sits in her armchair gazing and smiling out onto a quiet Utila street.

Island Volleyball Tournament Helps

Roatan has a lot of young talented volleyball players and not surprisingly the island has been on top of the Honduran Beach Volleyball Tour since 2015. Shanna Rivera (aka Madonna) and Cecille Johnson, are Roatan’s best representation in the female category. They won 2nd place at the U21 Central American Beach Volleyball Tournament in 2018 and placed 4th at the Women’s Central American Beach Volleyball Tournament 2019. “They have made history, the Honduran female teams have never done so well,” said Dennis Hill, defender and the new coach of the BIBVA (Bay Islands Beach Volleyball Association). Alejandra Cruz and Soniva (aka Chubby) also performed very well and competed at U21 Central American Tournament in 2019.

Volleyball offers Roatan youth a way to stay away from drugs and crime and develops ability for them to stay focused. “Playing sports, in general, can rescue a lot of kids from staying out of trouble. It is a great opportunity for the kids to travel, to see more of Central America while playing leagues,” says Giselle Brady, BICA’s program director became part of the Bay Islands Volleyball League (BIVL) in 2011.

The Blue Abyss

Freediving Competition Brings 11 World Records

In August 2019 Roatan hosted the 7th International Annual Caribbean Cup Freediving competition, immediately followed by the CMAS World Cup Freediving Competition. “The conditions are perfect here.The abyssal, dramatic steep walls were an important part of the decision taken by the federations to hold the competitions here,” said Esteban Darhanpé, owner of the Roatan Freediving School.

For the Caribbean Cup there were 68 athletes from 26 countries, and for the CMAS World Championship, 60 athletes from 24 countries. In the Caribbean Cup four new freediving world records were set and in the CMAS World Championship 7 new world records.

Italian Alessia Zecchini and Alenka Artnik from Slovenia shined setting a joint world record of 113 meters in the CWF- constant weight with fins category. “The new Queens of freediving”, says Alex St. Jean freediver and underwater photographer of this event.

Alexey Molchanov from Russia broke a free Immersion descending to 118 meters and staying submerged for 4 minutes 26 seconds.