Anchor dedicated to Charlie
Reprinted with permission A.M. DIGITAL
A very nice gesture of Valero Refinery is to repair and give a new look to the
anchor at the entrance of Seroe Colorado, and formally dedicate it to Charlie
Brauns Jr., a native son of Aruba and a pillar of the San Nicolas Community who
passed away not too long ago.
Charlie was born 64 years ago on April 18, 1941, the first and only child of
Charles Brouns, Sr. and Marie Brouns. Charlie matured very quickly - he attended
mulo, and continued his education through secondary studies in Holland. Charlie
embraced life fully, and from an early age, began his world-wide travels
studying and earning a living by painting in Europe, mastering the varied skills
of the hotel service industry, and spending several years in the merchant marine
as a cook and able deckhand. In 1961, Charlie met his wife, Rosalba, and they
subsequently spent several years in various Caribbean island countries before
settling in Colombia. In Colombia, Charlie found his niche - he and Rosalba had
a son, Charles III and a daughter Montserrate.
Charlie’s entrepreneurial talents led him to open "Charlie’s" a nightclub &
restaurant that ultimately became one of the most famous nightspots in Bogota.
In 1976, Charlie returned home to visit his parents in Aruba. With his father’s
blessing and wishes, Charlie relocated his wife, son, and daughter to Aruba, and
took over the family business. Upon his return, Charlie quickly recognized that
the boom days of the Lago Refinery were predestined to end at some
point-in-time, and he began to involve himself in promoting San Nicolas and its
surrounding treasures as points of interest for tourists throughout the years,
Charlie was also heavily involved in promoting various sports and cultural
activities around the island, and his teams were readily identifi able by their
colorful “boozer” uniforms and competitive spirit. Like his father before him,
Charlie, in his own quiet and dignified way, shared much that he had with the
less fortunate. In many respects, the impact of the economic crash that followed
the close of the Lago Refinery was made bearable for many people through
Charlie’s charitable efforts on behalf of numerous families and individuals.
Charlie’s unique experience and knowledge of many different countries and
cultures, and his early, virtually single-handed efforts in promoting Aruba as a
vacation destination were instrumental in helping to create the foundation of
the tourist business that supports Aruba’s present economy. In his final years,
Charlie would be well-remembered for his selfless struggle to seek economic
opportunities for the residents of San Nicolas, for his dedication to preserving
the cultural history of Aruba and its natural treasures, and for his tireless
efforts to make Aruba a better place for all of us who live, work, and play
here.
Charlie placed the anchor at that location in 1985 as a memorial to all of the
seamen that have come to Aruba. He recognized that the collective efforts of
these countless individuals, over several centuries, have actually formed the
basis of our cultural heritage and society. In keeping with what Charlie wanted
to have done, Valero dedicate the monument “to all seamen” and in turn to every
Aruban, wherever they may be, home or abroad. It is Valero’s hope, through this
action, that the monument will serve to remind all of us, that although we live
on an island, we are all bound together through a common heritage, that we share
a mutual responsibility to protect our natural treasures, that we embrace and
share our cultural history with our visitors, and that we all work together for
a better Aruba. |
