'Over the moon' support for Best Care Gala and Dinner

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

For over 20 years, the primary fund-raising event of the Best Care Foundation has been their annual Gala Dinner.

On Friday, the tradition continued with the upgraded format, a Gala Dinner and Cabaret. But apart from the occasion being held in the Golden Jubilee year, the affair turned out to be a joyous one for the foundation and those who were in attendance, but in an ironic way.

There was a delay between the scheduled Master of Ceremonies Michael Abrahams' opening remarks and the dinner. The reason was that more tables and chairs were needed for the converted ballroom of The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Ironically, the need for more furniture made chairman of the Best Care Foundation, Orville Johnson, happy. And, as he shared later in his welcome speech, "the night before he was fretting". Happily, too, for the guests the waiting was made less tedious by Abrahams, who performed two of his pieces including The Joys of Fatherhood.

Subsequently the serving of dinner got under way and Fab 5 provided live background music from different genres. However, after a stint of instrumental selections, band leader Frankie Campbell made it known that the absence of a vocalist from their act was not their preferred choice. And so before ending their first appearance on stage, the audience was treated to the lively Grub Cooper-penned mento sounding Jamaica 50 Not Out and the classic These Arms of Mine.

High-quality entertainment

After a sumptuous dinner, the semi-formal programme continued with high-quality entertainment from George Nooks, Keisha Patterson, and the Nexus Performing Arts Ensemble.

Nexus, wearing their customary costumes of black, green, and gold (for females) and black pants, white shirts and red ties (for males), began their powerful performance with a medley of patriotic songs such as I Saw My Land in the Morning. Then to further justify the group making appearances in the upcoming London Jamaica 50 events, they segued to a medley of reggae songs, including Tune in Till a Morning, No Woman No Cry, and more. The group concluded its unforgettable performance with the ska selection, Time Has Come to Have Some Fun.

Keisha Patterson entered from among the audience to give a thrilling rendition of Lola. The absence of the colour green from her attire of black and gold will hardly cause a controversy, but her reggae fusion of Fever and her final selection of Last will not be remembered.

George Nooks, in his unique style of traversing different genres of music in one act, was once again at his best. He, too, emerged from the audience, but opted to perform throughout, from the front of the stage. First, he got the audience singing along with Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Can't Stop Loving You, threw in Forty Leg before going to church with Broken Vessel. But unfortunately, a large number of guests were not around to Stand up and Tell Me If You Love My Jesus. The song was the beginning of Nooks' praise and worship segment - a medley of choruses. In concluding his lively act, he sang I am Still in Love with You.

The programme also comprised a 'silent' auction, some speeches and presentations of awards interspersed among the performances. The awards presentation included one for Employee of the Year. The recipient was Chantelle Gayle of Best Care School.

Among the speakers were Chairman Johnson, who explained that in spite of stringent measures, the Best Care family continued to face difficulties and needed pledges urgently. And of both political parties he said, "As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we want to stop the green and the orange from fighting ... and let us get together and get on with the job."

In his greetings, Brando Hayden, assistant general manager, treasury and investment, Jamaica National Building Society underscored the importance of giving to charities. "The quality of a society is reflected in how it takes care of its children and its elderly." He further reinforced the point saying, "The simple act of giving service to humanity is the best service of all."

However, the lengthy but gratifying occasion ended with the dance floor being opened and guests invited to dance to music from Fab 5, in the way they do it best - lovely uptempo Jamaican music.