I can’t recall exactly when Bruno Fink built the Bequia Beach Club, but I DO remember in detail the time he invited my mother and father along with Mac and me to his Tuesday night barbecue!
Bruno Fink arrived on Bequia from Germany and proceeded to build a hotel complex behind the beach at Friendship. It was to be a dive resort, and the accommodations were not pretty, functional but not pretty. It looked like any motel you might see during a road-trip in the ‘80s, and he filled the place week after week with avid German divers. The sandy beach was right in front of the hotel, and each morning his guests would wade into the surf in full diving gear, repeating the exercise in the afternoon. It was quite a sight to watch 20 German frogmen and frogladies suddenly emerge from the surf after a dive, hilarious actually!
Bruno had invited us to the barbecue he put on for his guests on Tuesday nights, complete with a steel band. This was looked upon with scorn by Islanders, a newcomer trying to compete with the Frangi Jump-up!!?? Mac and I went with my parents and were seated right in front of the band, effectively ending any conversation we might have had.
When we lined up at the buffet table we were presented with a choice of chicken, steak or fish. One look at the steak with its curled-up ends was a clear indication to me that it was local beef, and local beef had to be stewed, you couldn’t serve it as steak! I opted for the fish, and noticed when we sat down with our meals that Mom had taken a steak.
Mom wasn’t able to chew the steak, and instead of spitting it out she tried to swallow a chunk of meat. Bad idea! She was unable to speak, it wasn’t until she waved her arms and started turning blue that we realized she was choking. Video cameras were a brand-new invention, and the tourists were filming the steel band (and therefore our table!) as I hauled my mother from her chair to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Pulling Mom suddenly to her feet was enough to dislodge the chunk of meat from her windpipe, which flew through the air with her entire set of dentures wrapped around it!
Mom, still holding onto my hand, grabbed her teeth from the bushes where they had landed in front of the band and we ran to the washroom. Locking the door, we collapsed on the bathroom floor and held each other as we laughed, tears rolling down our cheeks. My father and Mac hovered outside the washroom, not quite sure what they had just witnessed, worrying about the gasping sounds they could hear coming through the bathroom walls.
To this day I have visions of those German tourists showing videos of their vacation in paradise to friends and family. What WAS that object flying past the steel band!!??