A SERIES of monthly lectures have quietly become a part of the island's cultural scene since they were first introduced last spring and are now anticipated by a growing segment of the local community.

Sponsored by the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Historical Heart Beats Lecture series continues this month with a tribute to a host of sports enjoyed during Bermuda's early years ? football, cricket, sailing, tennis, swimming, equestrian racing, boxing, track and field and marathon running.

This week, Mid-Ocean News reporter HEATHER WOOD and photographer TAMELL SIMONS spoke to Historical Heart Beats committee member and Acting Cultural Affairs programme director Marcelle Beach whose degree in social anthropology spurred her interest.

A: It's part of the Historical Heart Beats lecture series which started in March 2004. It's a complete and ongoing lecture series dedicated to the exploration of Bermuda's diverse cultural heritage and history. Each month we choose a different topic based on Bermuda's history and for the month of January 2005 we've chosen Bermuda's early sports. We went as far back as the 1850s. We looked at that period and on through the 1900s, to determine what sports were around back then. We came up with cricket, football, sailing, swimming, tennis, equestrian racing, track and field, boxing and marathon racing. We've scheduled them for three different days throughout January. The first was (last night) at the BIU Hall which focused on cricket and football. At each lecture we have a panel of historians, each knows a lot about that particular area. At (last night's lecture), we had historians talking about the beginnings of cricket and football and the instrumental role that the British military played in getting these sports here and developed in Bermuda.

The next lecture (focuses on) sailing, swimming, tennis and equestrian racing and will be held at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Thursday, January 20. We've approached the national associations for those sports so more than likely we'll have the presidents come out and speak (to those issues).

We have a committee. We meet and we come up with the topics we're going to focus on. We came up with sports. Because sports is so broad, we had to narrow it down to Bermuda's early sports. (After all), it's logical to start with Bermuda's earliest and move forward. So we started with Bermuda's earliest sports.: Joy Wilson Tucker, Leona Scott, VeeJay Steede, Dr. Pauulu Kamarakafego (the former Dr. Roosevelt Brown), James Smith, Gerald Harvey and Andy Bermingham and myself. I'm the Acting Programme Co-ordinator. I'm responsible for co-ordinating cultural programmes for the Department. This is one aspect of what I do, the Heart Beats series. It basically involves putting on events for the community that help to promote and heighten the awareness of Bermuda's culture. I've been with Cultural Affairs since 2001. I studied in London and got my degree in social anthropology and psychology. Social anthropology, of course, is the study of culture. I didn't dream I'd be able to come back here and find anything (work-wise), but when I came back from school in September of 2000, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was going on.

I was like, 'Wow. I studied for this. This is what I would like to do.' So I found a way to get involved in that. I started doing research for that project. I did that for a couple of months and then I was asked to come onboard officially with Cultural Affairs as the assistant programme co-ordinator for that programme.

I was in that position for two and a half years. Once the programme finished abroad ? we'd taken it to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington ? we brought it back to Bermuda, hosted it here and repeated it the following year, in 2002. After it finished I moved on for nine months but was asked to come back in March of 2004 to serve as the assistant programme director to Dr. Gary Burgess.

A: Yes. When he retired, of course there I was. And I was asked to act in his position until the position was filled. I studied at Brunel University in London. Not many. There's Charlotte Andrews (curator at the Bermuda Maritime Museum now on sabbatical). I think she did her first degree in it and there's (adjunct scientist at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research) Dr. Philippe Rouja.

It was just a fluke. (Big laugh). I went away initially to study straight psychology and, having done that for a couple of semesters, I was like, ugh, this is not it. A friend of mine who was a year ahead of me told me she was studying psychology and social anthropology. I immediately said, 'Really? What is that?' Once she told me all about it I decided to switch to that.

I switched to that major and it just opened up so many more opportunities for me. I was able to work and live in Guyana for four months as part of my work placement (study as required by the college curriculum). That was a real cultural experience.

I worked at a children's centre as part of an after-school programme. I had to write a report on my experiences ? the whole cultural experience in addition to my experiences at the children's centre. And it was a cultural experience. I lived first hand in an unfamiliar culture, experiencing unfamiliar situations. The experience immediately makes you become more open-minded. It was a good experience for me. No. Never been. Didn't know a thing about the country. The only thing I knew before going was that they spoke English. Which worked out well.

It's a former British colony ? the former British Guiana. My university had a link with a children's centre (there). Just the whole cultural experience. To go to another country ? a so-called Third World country ? and to see them have such a rich culture although they were lacking in many other areas. Financially, economically, materially, they were lacking but culturally and spiritually, they just were so rich and I learned a lot from that.

When it comes down to it, Bermuda's a rich country. We have a lot. But we need to do more when it comes to preserving our culture because it's the root of who we are. It helps for us to move towards the future, once we have that solid, cultural foundation.

It's so important for our young people to know their past. It was just a whole new experience to me. Prior to this I had no knowledge and little interest in wanting to know about my roots, my history or my culture. Now that I've been exposed to this it's so empowering. I've learned to appreciate a lot more ? to appreciate my elders and what they've been through.

You kind of think, 'What do we have in Bermuda that relates to this?' London is such a multicultural society and in my university there were a lot of people of West Indian heritage. We had a cultural club and when we had our cultural shows ? the Jamaicans had their culture, the Bajans had their culture.

They could talk about that. They could talk about their food dishes. They could talk about their folklore. When it came to Bermuda, I was like, 'What do we have? Codfish and potatoes?' Just being out there really made me think.

The only reason why I came home is because I gave birth in my last year of university. Otherwise I wouldn't have come back home. That wasn't my plan at all. A son, Osei. Four. Definitely. I've done a lot with my own family tree and my family genealogy ? just collecting pictures. When I'm older, by the time he's older, I'll have my own personal archive or collection of things so that he knows. Yes. I contacted the Department of Cultural Affairs and told them my background and started as a researcher. I think it's important. We need to have a well-rounded society. It's okay to encourage our youth to go into business but we have to have that balance. We can't be all business. We have to have people who are into the social side of things, who can understand and analyse our social fabric.Well, we've covered topics such as Bermuda's architecture, Bermuda's family and community connections, our economy. We're now doing Bermuda's sports history. We did a tribute to Bermuda's war veterans not too long ago.

Bermuda's history and culture is diverse. What I've learned is how important it is to preserve it. Especially for the black community. I've tried to do a lot of research. I've gone to the (Bermuda) Archives and there isn't much on the black community there.

Q: Do you have a method of preservation in mind?

A: The Department of Cultural Affairs had a lot of material in their own collection. They have videos. They have pictures. So it can definitely start with that organisation. They can make a plea to the community. They can ask if people have any old photographs they wouldn't mind sharing.

Older people, particularly, stick their photographs anywhere and everywhere. The photographs go mouldy. Their (negatives) go mouldy.

So what I think Cultural Affairs can do is make an appeal to the public for any old photographs, any documents, brochures, anything. Bring them in to Cultural Affairs and we can help to preserve them for the future.

Q: Where does the Historical Heart Beats series head after this topic?

A: After this one we're doing the history of education in Bermuda. That's right. After that we'll be looking at things like the history of arts and entertainment in Bermuda.

Yes. That was the Prisoners of War lecture. Because many of the prisoners of war had been situated on the islands of the Great Sound, we thought it was appropriate to get a boat and go around to the islands and actually show people where the prisoners were kept.

Yes. Very. It's free admission. There's refreshments and it's interesting. It offers something you can take away with you at the end.

The Department of Cultural Affairs' Historical Heart Beats Lecture series continues on January 20 with a talk on sailing, tennis, swimming and equestrian racing at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The event will be held between 7.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. Admission is free.