Ventnor Town Councillors and members of the public stood in silence for one minute at the beginning of the Ventnor Town Council meeting last night, in memory of the life of Brenda Lawson who died last week after a long illness.
Madame Mayor, Susan Scoccia made a heartfelt tribute to Brenda who had been a Town Councillor since 1991, a County Councillor and Mayor of Ventnor three times.
Referring to Brenda as the backbone of Ventnor Carnival, she felt that the carnival procession on Wednesday evening (the day of Brenda’s death) was a fitting tribute to the dedication and hard work that Brenda had shown to the town over the many years.
Cllr Rob Mew shared with the room how Brenda had always done the best for Ventnor and that the town will deeply miss her.
Cllr Val Taylor told us how Brenda and her had great fun plotting their campaigns, when they both decided to become councillors back in 1991. Cllr Taylor remembered fondly how Brenda would give her time freely to anyone, whatever their problem and said that she was a great friend of Ventnor.
Finishing the tributes, Cllr Elvers told us how he had known Brenda for 25 years. She had encouraged him to stand as a town councillor back in 1992 when a vacancy arose and gave him the confidence to take on the task, as well as offering invaluable advice when he was Mayor.
The subject of a memorial in the town to Brenda was discussed later in the meeting and it was reported that perhaps, the new sports centre in the Rew Valley may be named after her, as well as a Carnival cup and the fell run.
Image: Courtesy of Debby Robinson
