The Trinidad Cup was something that I initiated as a residents’ party after I had gotten back from the Army. The party prior to that was one that we initiated with two co-junior residents, Mose Macfie and Buzz Jack. The three of us were chief residents together, and it was the three of us who first had the residents’ party at the end of the year for the outgoing chiefs. We made little wisecracks about nuances or funny anecdotes. Then it evolved into a full-blown roast. When one of our residents who was a native of Trinidad, O.C. Mendes, finished, we ran a race up my driveway, which was about forty-three paces or thereabouts. We estimated that that was the approximate distance that O.C. would have to run with a tourist’s wallet after he had stolen it in his youth on the beach in Trinidad. This was all just a story. It got perpetuated, and turned into the “Trinidad Cup,” a wonderful opportunity for residents to get together, socialize, drink a little beer, and have a good time.

Robert D. Croom III, MD