IN FIRST POSITION from St John . . .
Variations of that statement were said so often during the Spirit Of The Nation show at the gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex last Saturday that members of the audience came to the correct conclusion long before the announcement was made around 10:47 p.m. that the title would not be going back to the north.
That fact notwithstanding, it was jubilation for ambassadors Charlene Estwick and Shane Gibbons, friends and supporters alike, when confirmation came from the MCs.
Indeed, when the top four places were announced, the different teams got so caught up hugging and congratulating each other that it was some time before Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley could present the winners with their trophy.
The feat of taking the trophy for Most Outstanding Ambassadors back to St John for the first time since 2006 was a case of hard work paying off.
“We put in a lot of work. Every weekend we had we were going to events making sure people knew what our project was about – Flick the Switch . . . It is really good to see where the project has come and all the awards we have won for it,” Gibbons told the DAILY NATION shortly after being crowned last Saturday night.
In addition to winning the major prize and landing Omowale Stewart the Designer’s Prize for their costumes, St John also featured prominently among the prizes for mini parksand gardens.
Second place went to Rico Cumberbatch and Dionne Joseph of Christ Church, with St Lucy’s Sasha Corbin and Tio Yearwood landing third and Kerry Rollins and Crystal Providence of St Michael, fourth.
Attendant Margot Wilkinson-King and the Parish Committee put St Lucy in winner’s row for those categories.
Members of the audience were also loud in support of their representatives in the parish talent segment.
Jamar Brathwaite, who hails from St Thomas, took home the Most Original prize for his dramatic piece titled Blame It On The Recession; the Haynesville Youth Group topped for St James when they took the prizes for Most Impactful and Best Overall for their Tribute To The Landship. They shared the prize for Best Overall with the five-month-old SKF Steel Sounds of St Michael, which thrilled the gymnasium crowd with their National Blend. (YB)
