Bermudian Shelby Durham Jackson will deliver the keynote address at a glittering gala banquet at the Southampton Princess tomorrow.

At an afternoon press conference at PLP headquarters on Court Street yesterday, Mrs. Durham Jackson, the president and CEO of Rehab Options Inc., a health management firm based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, sidestepped any attempt to find out what the theme of her speech would be.

When asked to hint at the theme, she said: "please come.'' Meanwhile, PLP leader Jennifer Smith said that she was "very pleased'' that Mrs. Durham Jackson had agreed to speak at the banquet, the culmination of a week of party activity.

She said: "I know we often talk about a son of the soil, but I am very pleased to be here with a daughter of the soil.

"She is a daughter of the soil who has brought distinction to the title of Bermudian and who has achieved much as a woman and as a role model. We think she will have a have a wonderful message for Bermudians.'' Mrs. Durham Jackson, a speech pathologist, was facing unemployment in 1992 and saw a creative challenge.

Over the next four years her own medical therapy business has grown from a make-shift bedroom office to 25th largest female-owned business in the Philadelphia area, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. The company employs therapists on a full-time basis, and provides its services, plus an on-site co-ordinator, to health care facilities and providers.

The provision of the on-site manager enables the development of rehabilitation programmes, rather than disparate therapy treatments. And, according to Ms Durham, therapists are given the opportunity to "actively participate in the development and improvement of programmes, because the therapist is the most integral part of any successful rehabilitation effort.''