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| Prince Henry of Wales, Rihanna, and Prime Minister Freundel Stuart |
Special greetings to you at this holy time! It has been awhile since I blogged. Tempus fugit! It is now officially winter in Canada and I’m still enjoying a somewhat rainy season despite a cold which didn’t dampen my independence celebrations of Bim. I especially liked the unveiling of the 50th Anniversary of Independence National Monument at the Garrison Savannah, St. Michael. The next day the Nation newspaper reported, “The unifying tone of the hour-long ceremony was set with a comprehensive prayer session by Hindu practitioner Pundit Thakor Pradash, Dr. John Hunte from the Spiritual Baptist faith and Dr. John Holder, Anglican Bishop of Barbados.” Also enjoyable was the Golden Anniversary Spectacular Mega Concert at Kensington Oval that same November 30th night. Several dignitaries attended including Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Prince Henry of Wales, and Rihanna. It featured several talented performances from the calypso, spouge, soca, and pop music genres of Bim! There were outstanding performances during this five hour free event that saw over ten thousand patrons.
Prince Henry, more popularly known as Prince Harry, who was on a 15-day tour of the Caribbean, brought on to the stage a Bajan environmentalist, Jamilla Sealy, and said, to cheers from the crowds, she had been named one of the Queen's Young Leaders for 2017.
He told us that, "She has been selected as one of the 60 exceptional young people from across the Commonwealth who are making an extraordinary impact in the lives of others. She will travel to London next year to build relationships with her peers from around the world and to be honoured by Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace. I know that we will be hearing a lot more about her in the years to come."
Among the Bajan artists performing during the night was Emile Straker, lead singer of The Merrymen, a group which has performed over fifty years to international audiences, and Red Plastic Bag - Stedson Wiltshire - a hugely popular calypsonian singer who too has performed in Europe, America and the Caribbean to great acclaim during a career spanning more than 30 years. We saw a reunion of The Sandpebbles which included original members, Norman Barrow on bass guitar, Roger Gibbs, lead singer who lives in Toronto, Canada, and Andy Weekes on drums (who now lives just outside Munchen in Germany and has not performed in Barbados in over 25 years), and an outstanding refreshing duet performance of Allison Hinds and Edwin Yearwood!
So now we are a few days from Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, so I want to wish you happy holidays and God’s blessings for 2017! I say Chag Chanukkah Sameach, Merry Christmas, and Joyous Kwanzaa!
I am presently reading From “Superman” to Man by J.A. Rogers on loan from my friend L.D. Perch, and The Dark Land by Ronald A. Williams, his fifth well-written novel in as many years which can be purchased at Cave Shepherd in Bridgetown. In case you missed them their names are: Four Saints and an Angel, A Death in Panama, A Voice from the Tomb, and The Butterflies Coat. I highly recommend that you give any of these as a present at this special time. Also, I think you will find the CD titled Bim: Folk Songs of Barbados by the Gibbs Brothers, and the coffee table book Beyond Rum and Salt Fish excellent gifts for this festive season!
In the meantime, I continue to give thanks for a beautiful Xmas gift from my son Julian as Katherine gave birth to Liana on Tuesday the 20th!!
