Fruitful Vale All-Age School in Portland where Jamaica's Dr Patrick Allen, Jamaica's sixth governor general spent his formative years. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Fruitful Vale, the hometown of Dr Patrick Allen, Jamaica's sixth governor general, buzzed with excitement and high expectations yesterday, as church members, colleagues and relatives fully embraced his appointment.

The mood at Fruitful Vale and Chatsworth, two adjoining communities in West Portland, was similar to carnival, as most residents crowded radios and televisions at just about every shop and bar.

Sixty-two-year-old Casmo Forrester remembers the early years spent with Allen at school and in the community as if it was only yesterday. He wept tears of joy. He praised God for the chance to witnessing the GG's appointment.

The Gleaner caught up with him inside his yard at Fruitful Vale. With a machete in hand, relaxing from a hard day's work on his farm some miles away in the Blue Mountain ridge, Forrester said, "I am so happy for Patrick."

"I am not surprised by his good fortune. While attending school, he was always a leader and I knew then that he would go on to greater things," said Forrester.

"Patrick was like our role model. Everyone wanted to be like him, as he was not only polite and disciplined, but also a brilliant student."

The Gleaner also caught up with Owen Grant, cousin to the GG, who found it difficult to contain his excitement. He shouted and danced following the swearing-in of his most-loved family member with pride and joy.

A God-fearing individual

"His mother and my father were brothers and sisters, " Grant said. "Patrick was a good boy and he was very obedient. He was also very intelligent, kind, and respectful. I last saw him at a funeral in November. I want him to also know that we are proud of his achievements," said Grant.

Arlene Marson and Novelette Nolan-Kerr, who were Allen's Sabbath school church sisters, also described Allen as a God-fearing individual, who was always calm, polite and disciplined.

But it was 76-year-old Edwin Wiggins, an elder at the Fruitful Vale church, who led us to Allen's place of birth, a property Wiggins assumed following the passage of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

"The house which Allen grew up in was a three-bedroom board house with a dining room and a veranda. After I bought the land, I pulled down the house and built a new one, and this is where I live," he said.

The church elder pointed out that a grape fruit tree, which was laden with fully ripe fruits, along with a sour orange tree were there from Allen's days running through the yard.

"Our bwoy is de big man now! A im a go run t'ings!" shouted passers-by, excited at the sight of the news team. The smiles on their faces and joy of their leaps into the air could only be described as hope.