Celebrating with Dr Longmore-Dropinski

Chester Francis-Jackson, Gleaner Writer

After yearS of being a general medical practitioner, the charmingly lovely Dr Saphire Longmore-Dropinski, has opted to broaden her scope to include psychiatry and after a hiatus which saw her taking a decade-long break, she completed her PhD in psychiatry and successfully presented her thesis, at an international conference, in Madrid, Spain, in March of this year. Her thesis, supervised by Dr Roger Gibson, explored issues specific to women with mental illnesses, and particularly, the neuroprotective role of oestrogen in the processes!

The accomplished Dr Longmore-Dropinski is no shrinking violet, and so the striking beauty, who hails from Clarendon, surprised many in 2000 when she took time off from her practice to enter the Miss Jamaica Universe beauty pageant and won.

Well, since the heady days of her reign, the lovely Dr Longmore-Dropinski, 'Saff', to her friends, has gone on to embrace and support many a charitable causes; embraced the love of her life, Alex Dropinski, in a fabulous storybook marriage, which saw a number of leading dignitaries, including Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in attendance and generally, been fulfilling her sense of duty to fellow man, while continuing to chart her own personal development and sphere of service!

Well, time flies, they say, when one is having fun. And while no one was really counting, it has been four years, since she retreated to the halls of academia, emerging now, armed with her PhD in psychiatry, to join the ranks of the critical shortlist of practitioners of this brand of medicine.

And so it was, that to laud her and celebrate her accomplishment, family friend and social mover and shaker, conglomateur Kenny Benjamin and companion, the fab Aloima Suarez, hosted Dr Longmore-Dropenski and her husband, former European Union diplomatic official, Alex Dropinski and a number of friends, to a charming dinner party. Held at his Stony Hill Estate on June 10, it was quite a charming outing.

Marvellous evening

Dears, the evening began with a cocktail prelude in the lush tropical botanical gardens of the estate, which saw friends gathering over libations, sharing felicitations and anecdotal reveries in commemorating the occasion!

Luvs, there's nothing to rival an evening spent in good company, punctuated by premium libations and a marvellous fare! And, if anything, as one of Kingston's leading hosts, Kenny Benjamin and his staff have perfected the art of fine entertaining. With the echoes of classical music and contemporary arias wafting through the gardens and the city of Kingston, its night lights blazing in the background, making for the picture-perfect backdrop, dears, it all made for a fabulously intimate do!

Dinner, a cross-cultural fare of Indian cuisine and Caribbean fusion, prepared and presented by Rainford Davey and Paulette Francis, made for another enriching culinary experience! And with Kingston's waiter to the rich and powerful, Richard Douglas, in attendance, being assisted by Frank Stewart, you know we are talking haute charm here and nothing but!

And, no ceremony and/or 'auspicious' speeches here either, only a brief acknowledgement of his wife's commitment and achievement by Alex Dropinski; and at the very end of a lovely and oh so lazy an evening, punctuated by
spirited conversations, the host, Kenny Benjamin, presented the lady of
the moment, Dr Longmore-Dropinski, with a gift - a unique Indian
carving done in rosewood - in saluting her achievement!

Among those out were Dad, Chapman Longmore Sr; Judge Glen Brown; Financial Secretary Dr Wesley Hughes; honorary consul of Iceland Robert MacMillan; Charles Hanna; Al Niazi; Professor Dr Freddie and Dr Hilary Hickling; Dr Winston De La Haye and wife Dr Gillian Lowe; Dr Sashi Nalapathi; Dr Roger Gibson; jurist Harold Brady; the very charming Sonja Sutherland Dumetz; Captain Rupert Bent and wife Cindy Breakspeare; R. Christene King; Rajiv Bakshi; Vinay and Sidjae Walia; Robert Haughton; and Weston Moses; plus a number of others.