As soon as you enter the Ocho Rios Craft Market in St Ann there’s a well laid out stall to the left with colours so inviting it’s next to impossible to walk by without taking a look. This is where, for 44 years, Dennis “BullyCat’ Gordon has earned a living.
At 17 he already had land and a house and, over the years, he’s earned enough from the stall to care for his seven children. It’s been in his family for years. It’s where his mother Esmin Davidson once sold her handmade items and, in his childhood days, it was Gordon’s way of staying close to her.
“When I was little boy my mother gave me away to some family members because she had to leave Jamaica for work. Then when I was around eight I remember she came back and then I decided that I wasn’t going to leave from around her. So everywhere she go, I would be around her because only thing in my mind was that she might leave me again. That is how I end up just watching how she did the craft stuff and I catch on to it,” he says.
Gordon, who is from Pineapple, a small community in Ocho Rios, St Ann, remembers travelling to other parishes with his mother as she sourced straw and other material used to make hats and craft items. By nine years old he was hooked and even today he rarely takes a day off.
The business has been good to him. He’s earned enough to take care of his family, with enough left over to ensure that he is able to keep the Pineapple Citizens’ Association afloat. He is president of the 20-year-old charity group.
“At the age of 14 I buy my own piece of land and I finished my house when I was 17. I send my seven children to school out of the craft and every year I do a back-to-school drive where I give away school supplies. So I’m proud to say it has done a lot for me and my family,” says the 54-year-old. “I know that persons can gain a lot by doing the craft so I try to teach and bring in as much people as possible,” he says.
One of those people is 32-year-old Marvin Scott, who has been carving and painting since he was 14 years old.
“Me appreciate… that he taught me a trade while I was in school. Me use to leave school and come here in the evenings to carve and paint because I loved it so much,” says Scott. “I could make a money… to help me with back to school and such. It was a good amount so I just decided to stick to it and now it’s helping me to take care of my family.”
For both men, and many others who depend heavily on the tourist industry, business has slowed significantly because of COVID-19. But Gordon is confident things will improve soon.
“[It has] affected us all terribly but I’m hopeful that we will see brighter days. We have already started to see persons frequenting the space,” he says.
Gordon can’t wait to get back to days when he can immerse himself in his craft and once again showcase his gifts as he cheerfully chats with visitors to his stall.
“I really love the craft business and I chose it for my career because it brings me peace when I carve and… create beautiful things. I also love to talk to the tourists, meet new people and show the stuff that we create from Jamaica to the international market,” he says.
