MIPA Names Mustique Community Hall After Pioneering Educator Ms Doreen Simon
The Mustique Indigenous Peoples Association (MIPA) named the Mustique Community Hall after local educator Ms Doreen Simon during a historic ceremony on Saturday, April 11, 2026, on the northern Grenadine island of Mustique, to honour her nearly 50 years of service as the island’s first indigenous resident recognised with a named landmark.
This event marked Ms Simon’s enduring legacy amid Mustique’s evolution from a privately owned island, purchased in 1958 by Colin Tennant, later Lord Glenconner, and home to a small number of local families, into a luxury destination for the global elite. Successive government agreements have protected the rights of these original inhabitants and their descendants.
Born on 14 November 1933, the now 92-year-old Ms Simon dedicated decades to education, serving as postmistress and headmistress, among other roles. Unable to attend due to severe dementia and being bedridden, she was represented at the ceremony. Her son, Mr Conrad Simon, recounted that Mr Hamlet Trimmingham proposed the renaming at a MIPA meeting—a motion unanimously approved and endorsed by the Mustique Company Ltd, which manages the island.
Mustique Company Managing Director Mr Roger Pritchard praised her impact, stating: “Teachers play a very important part in our lives, and as you heard, she was a teacher here on the island for nearly 50 years, from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. And there’ll be many people here who were taught by Doreen, and there are many people overseas, as you heard, who have been taught by Doreen.”
He added: “And whether it’s six, seven, eight years through junior school, primary school, before going back to the mainland, teachers have a big impact on our lives. And the heart and soul of this island is the people who live and work on the island.”
“And that’s a lot of the people who are here in the audience today. And for those of you who were influenced, mentored, taught by Doreen, I’m sure a little bit of Doreen has rubbed off on you. And that’s rubbed off on the island, because we’re very fortunate to have such a strong community, and have such strong personalities like Doreen.”
“So I’d like to thank everybody here for your contribution to Mustique and to the community. I’d like to thank Doreen for being a very important part of the development and the evolution of the community. And thank MIPA for taking this opportunity to rename the hall in honour of Doreen,” Mr Pritchard said.
MIPA, which represents the interests of Mustique’s approximately 150 indigenous residents, plus migrants and their offspring, plans to honour another community icon soon.