- PHOTOS BY WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
LEFT: U.S. Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson makes a toast with Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Anthony Hylton. RIGHT: There were plenty of fireworks, literally, at the July 4 reception, held at Bank of Jamaica Auditorium, Duke Street, downtown Kingston, on Sunday, July 9.
OKAY, SO it was five days after the actual date; but it was worth waiting for.
United States Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson hosted her first July 4 reception in Jamaica on Sunday. So popular is this celebration that the lofty steps of the BoJ office was the scene of huge lines before the scheduled 6:00 p.m. start.
The theme for the evening was 'The Spirit of New Orleans', so there was plenty of beads; from your typical to those adorned with shrimp, bananas and other items. All around the spacious BoJ auditorium there were effigies of past U.S. presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and a huge one of Uncle Sam. Street signs proclaiming some famed walkways including Bourbon and St. Peter streets added to the artistic hologram of the Big Easy.
Ambassador Johnson, who had her four children and two grandchildren in attendance, read President George W. Bush's proclamation before adding some words of her own. She said that the people of Jamaica and New Orleans shared a similar resilience to cope with disasters and spoke of the artistic heritage that linked both places. With the 'N'awlins' theme very much in effect, the embassy brought real chefs from the still recovering city so guests were eating the real Cajun food. Cafe du Monde, Antoine's Restaurant, Galatoire's, Brennan's, Pat O'Brien's and Jacques-Imo's Cafe brought smiles to the faces with their selections.
ENTERTAINMENT
Great entertainment was promised and thoroughly delivered by The Unique Vision band. They gave the mostly American audience a taste of their music. The dancing shoes were donned when the band got into selections such as Sea Cruise and Rockin' Robin. But pleasant pandemonium broke out when they paid homage to the king of reggae, Bob Marley. There was a noticeable drift toward the stage when Marley's selections were played. Reggae is truly universal music as the guests waved and sang along to favourites such as One Love and Three Little Birds.
It reached a climax when at the end of No Woman, No Cry the long-awaited fireworks went off. Thus ensued about 10 minutes of continuous explosions in the sky; each supernova eliciting a "wow" from the mouths, all eyes facing upward.
