Richard Morais, Gleaner Writer

Olympic 200m gold-medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown unveils a picture of herself at Outameni Experience, in Trelawny, on Sunday. - Richard Morais/Freelance Photographer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The one-year-old heritage attraction, Outameni Experience, in Trelawny, rolled out its 'Heroes Walk', last Sunday.

The newest attraction is an area with lifelike pictures and information on outstanding Jamaicans. The inductees are Olympic gold-medallists Veronica Campbell-Brown and Usain Bolt as well as folklorist Louise 'Miss Lou' Bennett. A drawing of a Rastafarian called 'Ras Bob' completes the figures.

Campbell-Brown opened the attraction and unveiled her picture.

Lennie Little-White, executive chairman, lauded the large Jamaican support for this 'edutainment'.

Support from locals

"When we did our business plan we though that the majority of our visitors would be foreigners ... probably 90 per cent of our business came from Jamaicans especially schoolchildren. We felt that we could give no better gift to the children and the people of Jamaica than that of our celebrated persons."

Guest speaker Professor Rex Nettleford also praised locals for the support.

"I am so happy to see that the vast majority of the people here are us. We should be the tourists in our country; most people I see at tourists sites in America are Americans," he said.

Nettleford highlighted the athletes' recent performance in Beijing and the importance of "stick-to-itiveness".

Long-distance running

"One of the things is sprinting, but the interesting thing in life is long-distance running, not sprinting, and by that, I mean that the running didn't start in the 'Bird's Nest' in China, but long before."

He stressed hard work and commitment as an avenue to success and mobility.

Board member James Samuels chaired the proceedings, while Shamar Bruce performed two of Miss Lou's poems, 'Anancy and 'Smoked Pork' and 'Rolling Calf'.

Outameni Experience is a re-enactment of select historical pieces. The total package lasts for just under an hour.