In the 1950's, Felipe Paz popularly known in the village as Tio Pil was perhaps the only man in the village who was not a coconut farmer or a fisherman. Tio Pil was a businessman engaged in the transport trade in the 1950's.. He owned the biggest sailing boat designed and built in Caye Caulker for cargo. With the Elsa P. he used to bring every piece of merchandise to the Island- groceries, lumber, drums of kerosene and gasoline, beer and soft drinks. Furthermore he used to purchase coconuts from the local farmers and took it to the city to sell to the coconut exporters.These two transport services brought tremendous mutual benefits to Tio Pil and islanders.
Of course The Elsa P named after one of his nieces soon offered additional services because of need. It became a passenger boat for those few who needed to go to the city. One had to get up at 2 a.m. , board the Elsa P and for a fee of 50 cents you got a comfortable five-hour ride sitting or lying down on the merchandise on board. Day and night Tio Pil was always at the rudder and saw his business grow as the Island progressed and grew. In 1964 with the founding of Caribena Fishing Cooperative ,The Elsa P brought the first vehicle to the Island, a Land Rover used to transport lobster from the piers to the processing plant.
Tio Pil will be remembered as a most charismatic, pleasant and outgoing fellow. At dances, he was the center stage. For Carnival, he was a most hilarious participant. He organized and hosted the annual "Baile de los Casados" Dance for married Couples on New Year's Eve. Those were the famous 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. dances. Such was his popularity that Tio Pil was the number one "pladrino" or Godfather for all occasions-Baptisms, Confirmations and weddings. It was said at the time that he was "padrino" for one half of the Island.
Tio Pil the business entrepreneur purchased all the corned grouper from the island fishermen during the season and took it to Honduras to sell during the Lent season. This was a huge mutual business for the fishermen and Tio Pil. It was the high season for fishing sort of like the high tourism season today. There was plenty of cash! On his return from Honduras Tio Pil brought bananas for sale to the villagers.
After many long years of this strenuous job, Tio Pil ventured into the tourism business by joining a team of San Pedranos and formed the Coral Beach chain of hotels offering local accommodation, gift shops, diving operations, restaurants, tours and even reservations for airlines. Soon Tio Pil's restaurant became the number one by word of mouth with seafood prepared and served under a family setting.
Hats off to salute this visionary entrepreneur who had the courage to convert a need into a prosperous business. Because of his great charisma and popularity, he acquired the title of "Tio", a title of respect and admiration and the entire village and town knew him and loved him as the legendary Tio Pil, He is "A Pride of San Pedro" giving us not only his footsteps but also his roots.
Text and last three photos courtesy Angel Nunez
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