MANY BARBADIANS AND SOME VISITORS filled churches and thronged entertainment venues on Saturday night to celebrate in various ways the start of 2012.
Churches held the traditional watchnight services where people prayed for better circumstances for themselves, their families and this nation.
At St Mary’s Anglican church in Bridgetown, Reverend Dr Noel Titus told his congregation that Barbadians face several economic, moral and safety challenges in the coming months. He spoke of the need for a change in attitudes and for people to become more self-sufficient in these trying times.
The scourge of drugs and violence and lack of respect for life and those in authority are major challenges people will have to confront in the coming year, Canon Titus noted.
The church too has to play its part, for “there is an unhealthy religious climate in this island where the churches simply compete for numbers in order to upstage others”, Canon Titus said, adding that this kind of approach offers nothing during a crisis.
On the West and South Coasts, thousands of party-goers enjoyed the sounds of live and recorded music as they dined and danced the night away while they joined with others who had simply come out at midnight to see the spectacular fireworks.
As usual, many held house parties, one of the most popular being staged by Minister of Health Donville Inniss, who also celebrated his birthday yesterday.
