Roderick Lewis (right), the proud father of Martin Lewis, coordinator of the ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony, and his son Allan in the south stand of the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium in Florence Hall, Trelawny. - Photo by Janet Silvera

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

With tears flowing down his cheeks, Roderick Lewis sat transfixed by the spellbinding First World, first-class production coordinated by his son Martin Lewis, while his wife Jeanette could not contain the glow of happiness that lit up her eyes.

The proud parents were among the thousands who witnessed the amazing spectacle of the ninth ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium in Florence Hall on Sunday.

Martin Lewis, the event coordinator, has been hailed as a hero as Jamaicans from all walks of life used words such as "awesome", "absolutely fabulous", and "incredible" to describe the historic occasion.

"It brought tears to my eyes. This is beyond words, I am overwhelmed," the shy Roderick Lewis told The Gleaner. "But I had no doubt that he (Martin) could have carried it through."

Phenomenal team

The event coordinator par excellence, and his phenomenal team, had not only gifted his parents with bragging rights, but Jamaica was awarded First World production status, with the eight other Caribbean countries hosting the prestigious 2007 games able to hold on to their pride and dignity.

Jeanette Lewis, whose hand was in a wrist strap having suffered a minor stroke three weeks ago, said nothing could stop her from claiming her seat in the stadium. In fact, the 13 members of the Lewis family in attendance bought the US$120 tickets each in support of the event.

A beaming Mrs. Lewis spoke of the long road travelled by her son to get to where he is today.

"I was always confident that with hard work he would get to where he wanted to."

Described as very understated and extremely shy by his parents, the 38-year-old father of four, who was trained by the Creative Productions Training Centre, told The Gleaner that as great as the event was, there were lots of challenges. "We had set high standards, missed a few, but were still able to deliver."

Humility is probably his greatest asset as, like every other interview he has done, he lauds his team. "It wasn't done by me. It was a team. All I did was to show that it could be done," he reiterated.

Elated by the outcome of the opening ceremony, his parting shot was, "I am excited that we got the opportunity to show that we could do it."