Meet Ms Betty at the Border - JamaicaObserver.com

Sunday, November 08, 2009 2:38 AM

Western News

Meet Ms Betty at the Border

WAY OUT WEST

DAVID ELLIS

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Border, the roadside fish and bammy zone just outside the community of Whitehouse where the parishes of St Elizabeth and Westmoreland meet, has been the scene of Betty Bowen's business for over twenty years. She has built up a loyal following and it is not unusual for her fellow fish and bammy vendors to halt their movement toward certain vehicles as they stop because they recognise "A Miss Betty customer dat".

FINGER-LICKIN'GOOD! Betty Bowen displays a sampling of her famous cooking (Photo: Dwight Findlay)

Ms Betty, who hails from Fostick Grove in St Elizabeth, learnt the art of preparing finger- licking fish and bammy dishes while she was in primary school, from her mother who sold such items at Border. It was a natural take-over for her after she left school and she is proud of raising four children through this business. Today she is one of the most established individuals there and says without any reservation "I have the best tasting fry fish right here at Border". When she gets large orders for functions she gets the assistance of two of her sons who have also become expert fish and bammy cooks.

She counts among her faithful customers over the years entertainers the likes of Eddie Fitzroy and the song bird Karen Smith. She said many hoteliers and church leaders have been supporting her for years, among them Carl Hendriks and Pastor Paul Blake of Church on the Rock. Her ability to please her customers has been the reason they have always stuck with her and she points out that she does not just sell to her customers, but chit chats with them and gets to know them a bit, so they become friends.

One of the things she is happy about is that Jamaicans are her largest support base.

Although tourists visit the location, they do not provide large levels of support. For this reason she is very appreciative of the Jamaicans who support not just herself but all the other vendors.

Right now it's difficult to source cassava to make the bammy and she would like to see more farmers from the outlying communities growing this crop. The vendors support the local fishermen too, especially those from Whitehouse but she noted that sometimes getting the fish is equally difficult.

On a typical day, Ms Betty is at her location from 9:00 am and will be there until about 6:00 pm. If business is good however, she will stay on longer. Holiday times are the best period for the vendors.
Sundays you will not find her as she is a devout Christian and reserves that time to attend her church services. Ms Betty is a proud Jamaican, who enjoys feeding people and gets a thrill from seeing her customers satisfied and plans to continue serving her customers as long as she is physically capable.

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