By

Gabriel J. Christian, Esq.

“We are surrounded by unlimited opportunities for self-education.
The real challenge is our personal response to this exposure, and our passion to get ahead in life”

Retool or Rust (2007, by Dr. L. Earle Johnson)

Amidst the doom, gloom, and uncertainty attendant to the COVI 19
Pandemic, I received a box of written material, mementos, and historical material
from one Lyndon Earle Johnson in April 2020. In our time at the Dominica
Grammar School in the early 1970s, we knew him simply as “Major” as he was the
commandant of the Dominica Cadet Corps. But he was more than that. Indeed,
when one recites his seldom heralded contributions to Dominica’s progress, his
true badge of honor is that of: Nation Builder!

The Major was born on December 19, 1939 at Roseau, Dominica. His mother was
Eulie Anastasia Defoe nee LaRocque, a seamstress; and his father was Stanley
Johnson, a joiner of Antiguan ancestry. Educated at the Dominica Grammar
School, Earle Johnson graduated in agriculture from the Eastern Caribbean Farm
Institute at Centeno, which fell under the aegis of the Imperial College of Tropical
Agriculture (ICTA). Johnson joined the public service on January 1, 1960 until his
resignation in 1978. A qualified agriculturist, he served for seven years as Director
of the Dominica Regional Youth Camp at Londonderry, and at the time of his
resignation was General Manager of the Dominica Marketing Board. During his
last years on island, Johnson served as President of the Dominica Association for
Industry and Commerce. Major Johnson migrated to the United States where he
later earned his DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) from California Coastal
University. While in the United States Johnson has remained dutiful to Dominica
by serving in the leadership of the South Florida Association of Dominicans
(SOFAD), a civic development-oriented organization. SOFAD once brought the
local WCK bouyon music band to a US tour. He is the author of an exquisitely
written part memoir/part motivational text Retool or Rust (Dr. Lyndon Earle
Johnson, Xlibris Press, 2007).

To assess the contributions of nation builders such as Johnson, one must first
establish the criteria by which that designation should be given. What must a
nation-builder do? They must do as follows: Education – provide people the tools
to be productive in life; Inspiration – they must be able to inspire a society to
commit, volunteer, and contribute to improving the society within which they live.
Opportunities – they must provide practical tangible opportunities in the work of
nation building to all people, especially young people, to show what should be
done and how it can be done.

In summary Major Johnson’s nation-building became known to our
generation primarily through his service as director of the Dominica Regional
Youth Camp at Londonderry. That facility, which was unique in the subregion,
was a training school for men and women in agriculture, animal husbandry,
automobile maintenance, plumbing, construction engineering and electrical
systems maintenance. Designed to train young people from across the English
Eastern Caribbean, Dominica eventually came to foot the bill; hence the origin of
most of the students. Some of the barracks such as Sisserou and Whistler, (which
we used as cadets during our summer camps) were constructed by the students themselves.

The students tended to their own cattle, chicken, and pigs; they also
grew much of the food they ate. Curiously enough, and by a strange twist of fate, Johnson’s qualifications as a professional agriculturist and his military background made him the prime
candidate and specific choice of then Premier E. O. Leblanc to head the pioneering
efforts at the Dominica Regional Youth Camp. Camp Londonderry was built and
developed from scratch, with the only guidance coming from preceding Youth
Camp Projects in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the governments of which
placed their experts at the disposal of the project without reservation. The camp
developed rapidly and well. It was a labor of love and unreserved adventurism.

Aside from having its own cadet unit, the Londonderry Youth Camp, had its
own steel band. Formed on September 1, 1972, the Londonderry Steel
Harmonettes was greeted with thunderous applause at the 1972 Dominica National
Day Steel Band Competition. In 1974 the Harmonettes produced what may well be
the first locally produced LP record. During those 1970s summer camps the cadets
from the Dominica Grammar School and St. Mary’s Academy (the only other
cadetting schools on island in that time) were inspired by the cogs of industry
which animated the camp. We would sit at long tables, in a spotlessly clean
modern kitchen area, dining on locally grown produce – apart from the notorious
powdered eggs. At night-time, prior to taking leave to visit the village of Wesley in
mufti, we would listen to the Londonderry Harmonettes Steelband at practice. With
our young faces cooled by the steady breeze coming off the nearby Atlantic, and
fireflies dancing in the night, we would be serenaded by the melodious metallic
notes of the young Londonderry steel band players plinking at their pans.

Camp Londonderry also had its own home-grown Jazz Band – a seven (7)
band called the Londonderry Combo. That band became so professional that they
were hired out regularly to play at dances in the villages of Marigot and Wesley,
and the town of Portsmouth. The well-known calypsonian Lily was a member of
the Londonderry Combo.

Today many Dominicans, at home and abroad, involved in construction,
automobile maintenance, and those plying the vocation of plumber and/or
electrician, learnt their trades at the Londonderry Youth Camp.
Aside from his role as Youth Camp Director, Johnson successfully
advocated for the revival of the Dominica Defense Force (DDF) in 1966. The DDF
had gone defunct during World War II as most of its members, led by D.K. Burton,

Sergeant Gerald Morris Clarke, and others, joined the regular British Army. The
DDF made many worthy contributions in disaster relief, and protection of public
safety during its almost thirteen years of revival. Johnson had left command of the
force by 1972. Regrettably, the DDF was disbanded in 1980 by Prime Minister
Charles Dominica Freedom Party over its inability to properly maintain its arsenal
(some of its weapons ended up in the hands of a band of Dreads in the mountains).
There were also issues attendant to its perceived loyalty to the Dominica Labour
Party which had lost the 1980 general election.

In the 1980s Major Johnson displayed his passion for civic duty and
volunteerism. He was at the spearhead of the Rotary Club movement, both at
home and in the extended Caribbean Rotary District. It was an era in which the
Rotary Club of Dominica hosted herculean fund raisers such as the hugely
successful Donkey Derby competitions at the Windsor Park, established a Blood
Bank and built and donated a Psychiatric Unit to the Princess Margaret Hospital.
The Rotary Club even went commercial when it established and developed a
Timbers Project (Rotary Can-Do Timbers Ltd.) in conjunction with a Canadian
Rotary Club.

To appreciate the pioneering spirit of Earle Johnson one must look back on
his transition from Public (Civil) Servant to Business Entrepreneur. It was around
1978 when, recognizing that his time in Government Service had ran its course,
Johnson decided to pursue one of his dreams of establishing Dominica’s first fast
foods service. Under the auspices of his newly registered company, Jaws
Enterprises Limited, he started what became known as Jaws Snack Bar and
Kabaway Club in Old Market Square in Roseau. It was an instant hit, as for the
first time ever patrons could sit down in a café-styled setting and order a snack to
either eat in or take out.

A few years later he introduced JawsCream, a brand of ice cream which had
more than its fair share of followers, who reveled in the sweet and silky sensation
of local flavors such as guava, soursop, and coconut, which they could watch being
manufactured right before their very eyes.

But the spirit of entrepreneurship and pioneering did not stop there. In short
order, over a period of ten years, Johnson established Playworld. This was a risky
venture, designed to make toys and educational paraphernalia available to kids
year-round. Prior, the only time boys and girls were expected to have new toys
was at Christmas time. But the bold and fearless Johnson pioneered on.

His thinking was: “if it can be done in Puerto Rico, or Barbados, or Trinidad and
Tobago, then why not here”. So, for the first time ever, a parent could walk into a
local toy store in April or July and buy that coveted item for their child. If a
bicycle was needed you could find it there. Johnson’s joy came from seeing the
excited children rub their noses against the show windows as they dreamed of
acquiring their next special toy come Christmas. Such ventures in commerce by
the Major brought fun, excitement, and novelty to the average consumer.

Then there was Visions Advertising, a public relations and advertising
agency, which designed and produced the many logos and business visuals that are
now so popular in Dominica today. This was essentially a joint venture between
Johnson and Guyanese born Harry Gill, a renowned graphic expert. The agency
created some of the better advertisements of that era for companies like the DCP,
Belfast Estates, J. Astaphan & Co Ltd, and Raffouls.

Visions Advertising also became quite reputable for the publication and
printing of the annual Carnival Magazine, and the annual Reports for such
reputable firms and agencies like the Dominica Social Security, National
Commercial Bank, The Roseau Co-op Credit Union, and Domlec. In 1988, the
year of Reunion, Johnson was commissioned to design and produce Dominica’s
first Visitor’s Information Handbook, which featured Carnival Queen Julienta
Coipel on the cover.

An entrepreneur at heart, the Major went on to start Golden Fried Chicken
in 1981. Golden Fried was the product of Dominican self-confidence, and pride in
local ownership of enterprise. This was a challenging joint venture with Norris
Prevost of By Trinee and Antilles Cement Ltd fame. These two like-minded
entrepreneurs were convinced that it was time to introduce the KFC concept of
Fried Chicken into Dominica. However, both men having travelled extensively
abroad, understood that Dominica’s limited population density might not be able to
bear the high cost of acquiring a KFC franchise at that time.

Following extensive research, the two entrepreneurs determined that
utilizing the very same concept of KFC that they could create a local fried chicken
concept, unique to Dominica with success. It was a bold gamble, which their
bankers gave a 50/50 chance of success.

The Golden Fried chicken product was encrusted with a special herbal
seasoning that surpassed that of the Kentucky Fried Chicken that is on island
today. The first modern fast food restaurant of its kind, Golden Fried Chicken was located at the corner of Kennedy Avenue and Great George Street. In short order,
Golden Fried became the night-time hang-out for young and old, who engaged in
consuming the finger-licking chicken to their hearts delight.

In the realms of social responsibility and community outreach Johnson’s
commitment to Rotary International and Rotary Service should not go unnoticed.
He has the distinct honor of being the Charter and First president of the Rotary
Club of Dominica, which was formally established in 1974. The contributions of
Rotary International to the development of Dominica are well documented.
In his well-neigh 50 years of Rotary Service Johnson is a Past District
Governor with the distinct privilege of having led three (3) unique Rotary Group
Exchange (GSE)Teams. In 1977 he led a GSE Team to Washington State in the
USA and British Columbia in Canada. This team included Jefferson Joseph, a
professional insurance agent from Dominica. In 1991 he led a GSE Team to
Australia. This team included the now famous Major Francis E. Richards (the
cadet officer of the pre-independence Dominica Cadet Corps who spear-headed the
revival of the cadet program in 2000), who at the time of his selection was a food
products research specialist with the Government of Dominica.

And finally, since migrating to the USA, he was selected to lead a GSE Team to India in 2009. (A
Rotary GSE Mission involves the selection and chaperoning of five (5) specially
screened young business professionals to spend a period of 4-6 weeks touring
another country , and to enable their exposure and interaction with comparable
professions, so that they could return to their homelands better equipped to face
the challenges of their chosen careers. At least two other Dominicans have
benefitted from this highly acclaimed program. They are well-known business
entrepreneur and former senator Norris Prevost, and insurance specialist
Solange Bellot Magloire.)

Johnson is currently an Active Member in the Rotary Club of South Lake
County, in Clermont, Florida, USA. From which vantage he continues to support
many of the Dominica projects related to Rotary and the Dominica Cadet Corps.
Throughout the years the Major has made tangible donations of musical
instruments for the Cadet Corps of Drums and sports equipment for schools.
When Hurricane Maria struck Dominica, he was instrumental in personally raising
thousands of dollars, through Rotary towards the Hurricane Relief Funds. In the
aftermath he was somewhat influential in a first ever visit to Dominica by a sitting President of Rotary International, who wanted to see firsthand how Rotary International could assist in Dominica’s recovery efforts.

Major Johnson was a force of nature; zealous in guiding us and urging us on
to excel. He was meticulous in dress, refined in speech and finessed in his use of
the English language. We did not always appreciate his iron clad discipline in
approach. Such was the case when the Dominica Cadet Band stage a mini rebellion
at the 1974 summer camp at Londonderry over being each fed a boiled green
banana in salt water at one breakfast, accompanied by a cup of cold sugar water.
Some of us, including myself, scrambled around the lime trees on the compound to
find limes to squeeze into the sugar water to make a reasonable lime squash. To
this day, we are unsure whether the Major was testing the mettle of the mostly
Roseau bred boys in the band; accustom as we were to the niceties of bread, butter,
and cheese. Johnson had Band Major Francis Richards drill us to his billet where
he strode out, ramrod straight in his army fatigues. He was furious and tore into us.
He upbraided us for our indiscipline. He referenced the war years when marauding
German U-Boats stalked the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, torpedoing ships
with supplies bound for our islands. Food was scarce thereby compelling our island
people to make do with little. He called us to embrace a sense of national duty and
to always strive to engage our better selves. Shaking in our boots, and so,
chastened by our mini tempest over being served a hot green banana breakfast, we
returned dutifully to our practice. The Barbadian Cadets from Combermere High
School were coming to camp with us that summer. Major Johnson’s exhortation
did the trick, and our cadets and cadet band were on par with the visiting Bajans
(Barbadians). Such was the power of Major Johnson’s stern lecture and
motivational speech on the importance of national pride and sense of commitment
to duty, I remember it to this day. (See- https://www.thedominican.net/2013/07/of-nation-
building-dominica.html)

As Dominica grapples with how to fashion a viable economy in the
disastrous wake of the COVID 19 Pandemic, we must remember leaders like
Major Johnson. Johnson led from in front, taught us what he could, and led by
example in industry. In those days we had several soft drink factories, agro
industry factories producing jams and juices and rum distilleries. Bananas
flourished, thus giving birth to a new middle class. Today, we must rebuild the
commitment to enterprise and industry and so be a more productive nation. The
life of the Major is a reminder that there have arisen among us men and women who made valuable contributions to national development within the terms of reference noted above.

Major Earle Johnson is one of those men as he acted with a
disciplined passion, in educating, and inspiring our generation to do our best. So,
educated and inspired, Major Johnson gave us the opportunity to succeed in
various fields. It is upon such inspirational leadership that great nations are built.
And we can be a great nation, little though we may be. To that end we shall be ever
grateful for the Major’s monumental contributions in nation building.