Naming of the Remarks by Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham Prime Minister At the Unveiling of Plaque Naming the HAROLD RANDOLPH DEGREGORY BUILDING FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA 20TH APRIL, 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am extremely pleased today to honour the memory and to memorialize a distinguished Grand Bahamian Harold Randolph DeGregory. He was known in the Grand Bahama community for his business interests, political pursuits, and as an avid golfer and former Junior Tennis Champion.

From a very early age Harold DeGregory was no ordinary person; he excelled academically and even though he was forced to leave school at the age of 15 he went on to become a very successful business man and leader in his community. As many did in the early days Harold spent some time working on “The Projects’ in Florida. Later he worked as a book-keeper on a crawfish boat and as an employee at the Palm Beach Ship Yard and at Symonette’s Ship Yard in Nassau.

Eventually, Harold and his brother Peter started a freight service between West End and West Palm Beach, Florida naming their vessels the “Bimini Joy and Bahama J”. I am told that it was at that time that Harold really developed a flair for business; a trait that reportedly continues in the persons of his children many of whom are successful entrepreneurs in their own right.

Mr. DeGregory caught the political bug in 1960 and ran as an Independent candidate. Declared the winner on the recount, the case was taken to Election Court where Mr. DeGregory lost. He was not discouraged and in the 1962 elections when women were able to vote he won election and became the Member of the House for the West End and Bimini Constituency.

In 1991 he was awarded the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen award in the business.

For his substantial contribution to Grand Bahama and in his memory, the Government of The Bahamas determined that from this day forward, this building shall be named and called the Harold DeGregory Centre.

I want to thank the DeGregory family for agreeing that we confer this honour in their father’s and grandfather’s name.