Dear Sir,

The 20th Annual Seniors Party was held on Saturday, December 8th 2018 and it was a true community effort.

The introduction was done by Carol Clarke, QCBH, a blessing was then done by the Reverend Gladstone Thompson, soup was served to the partygoers, which was a sea of seniors between 400 and 500 persons who broke all records.

David Thompson, QCBH, then welcomed the seniors in fine style. Please note that Mr Thompson is the president of Bermuda Overseas Missions, a registered Bermuda charity No 758.

It is the norm for Mr Thompson to make visits to the high schools of Bermuda to inform students of his endeavours to assist the underprivileged.

He organises a trip each year and takes 40 to 50 persons overseas to construct homes for less fortunate families. His contact is david.thompson@ams.bm.

The Reverend Allister Bennett, pastor of Christ Church Warwick, was then slated to deliver the opening prayer but declined to proceed as the blessing had already been done by Mr Thompson, the pastor of Community Contact Ministries. The Reverend Leon Jennings, assistant pastor of Vernon Temple AME Church filled as master of ceremonies for Sean Tucker, the “Voice of Summer”.

Jonae Roberts then rendered ministry in song and delivered well. The Reverend Jermaine Tucker brought the meditation of the afternoon and ended with Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Mr Tucker can be found at Holy Trinity Church in Hamilton Parish.

The free raffle started the afternoon. After the first raffle segment was finished, lunch was served.

Menu: Split pea soup, turkey, ham, cassava pie

Mashed potato, peas ‘n’ rice

Macaroni and cheese

Vegetables, candied sweet potatoes

Stuffing

Dinner rolls, salmon, veggie loaf

Rolls, desserts, different types of cakes, cookies and other delicacies,

Fruit punch, iced tea

The lunch was served by many volunteers, which consisted of members of the public, members of the police department, and students of the Impact school.

A tempo show choir, a group under the direction of Sister Malinda Jennings was then slated to minister. However, the members who had been chosen to attend were all out with the flu.

Master of ceremonies had now arrived and finished the first segment of raffles.

The head table guests were the Reverend and Mrs Malcolm L. Eve, the former presiding elder and first lady of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, representing the Opposition leader Craig Cannonier, the Reverend and Mrs Jermaine Tucker, Kristin Burt, the Premier’s wife, and their two children.

Deputy Governor Alison Crocket gave this honour up to serve the seniors, as did David Burt, the Premier. They both thought and felt they should honour the seniors for doing so much for Bermuda in the past.

Greetings was next on the docket. The Deputy Governor ended by saying she hopes this event goes on for years to come. Mr Burt told the seniors they had been given a raise in Parliament the night before.

Next was Ms Gordon-Pamplin, who echoed Mr Tucker’s sentiments and wished everyone a merry Christmas.

We then heard from host pastor the Reverend Nicholas Tweed, who talked about love and fairness to all.

Raffle segment two was then started and when this was over, The Five Keys, a choir of men from Angle Street’s First Church of God ministered two selections. Raffle segment three commenced once this ended.

Bethel AME Male Voice Choir then ministered in song two selections and ended with the theme song We’ve Come This Far by Faith, which was chosen by eight-year-old Naché Anderson-Clarke, who in actual fact celebrated her birthday that day and gave up her party to be a raffle attendant to the seniors. Remarks were given by the hostess and she stated that we should dare to be different.

“It was in this very room that over 20 years ago Leon Edmead and I held a night of poetry and song, and our guest speaker was Roland Flint, the poet laureate from Maryland. I was on the docket to do the closing remarks.

I ended with We Need by Susan Polis Shutz. I would like to end with her last stanza and add that in Bermuda we need to create a Bermuda where we can all live the life we choose. We need to create a world where we can trust each other.”

Raffles and Santa continued the afternoon with event planner and hostess Carol Clarke and Ms Gordon-Pamplin ordering a drum roll call to announce the grand prize, which was a round-trip ticket for two anywhere that JetBlue flies. The winner was Helen Mateen.

Salutations were given to the centenarian Ruby Sampson and also eight-year-old Naché Anderson-Clarke.

Tinée Furbert helped with the raffle. Chris Famous served. Scott Simmons donated from Constituency 32 four $50 vouchers from MarketPlace, Neville Tyrell served.

The afternoon ended precisely at 4pm. At this time Ms Clarke thanked the many sponsors.

CAROL CLARKE