However the number of riders on the Paget/Warwick route during the month slipped 23 percent or 3,421 from 14,912 riders in 1999 to 11,491 this year.

The Somerset route jumped 18 percent or 5,049 passengers from 28,099 riders in September, 1999, to 33,148 in September of this year.

And the overall passenger boost for the month was 3.7 percent or 1,628 passengers from 43,011 in 1999 to 44,639 in 2000.

Monthly pass carriers accounted for 4,040 riders (35 percent) on the Paget/Warwick ferry and 20,485 riders (61 percent) on the Somerset ferry.

Meanwhile figures for riders on the summer ferry from the east end to the west end of the Island showed a massive boost of 68 percent or 1,636 passengers for the month.

This took the recorded number of passengers from 2,395 in 1999 to 4,031 this year.

THANKSGIVING DAY SERVICE CHU Thanksgiving Day Service An American Thanksgiving Day Service will be held at 11 a.m. on November 23 at the Anglican Cathedral on Church Street in Hamilton.

Those attending are asked to be seated by 10.45 a.m. Further information can be obtained from the American Consulate at 295-1342.

CLOSER TO GETTING THE OK PLN Closer to getting the OK Montessori Academy's plans to transform the National Sports Club in Devonshire into its new campus moved a step closer to reality after planning permission to change the use of the building from recreational to institutional was approved.

However, a separate application for planning permission to develop the site must be submitted to and approved by the board prior to the approval of an application for a building permit.

Montessori paid $3.5 million for the six-acre property after the National Trust rejected a bid to expand its current base in Warwick.

The Academy is also planning to increase its intake to 300 students from a current school roll of 137 and implement in stages a Middle Years Programme for students aged 11-16 based on curriculum of the International Baccalaureate.

The school is expected to take up residence at their new site in September 2001 when their current lease runs out.

National Sports Club is the current venue for rugby and hockey and the site for the current Rugby Classic, but it is thought the new owners will let the sports continue.

MAN ASSAULTED AT CLUB CRM Man assaulted at club A 44-year-old Paget was assaulted and left bleeding in some bushes before being rescued by Police, it was reported.

A Police spokesman said officers went to the Mariner's Club on Richmond Road in Pembroke on Thursday night after receiving a report of an assault from a member of the public.

When they arrived they found the man lying in nearby bushes and bleeding from lacerations to his face.

The officers took the victim to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for treatment and he later told them that he was in the club around 10.30 p.m.

when he was involved in an altercation with two men.

He said he left the club later on and was attacked by the two men as he approached his vehicle. The attackers struck and kicked him about his face and body and when he tried to escape inside his van he was dragged out of it and attacked again.