Happy birthday, Virgoans!

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

Happy birthday wishes to the tres elegant style and etiquette doyenne Debbie Hamilton-Crooks; hotelier Lance Parrish; the fab Gail Deborah Bell; the lovely Charl Baker; the uncommonly gorgeous Rebecca Silvera; songbird, the fab Sulan Smith; and the lovely Juanita Sandiford, who all celebrate their birthdays today.

Celebrating Saturday the 10th are Matthew Sale; the fab Tania McDonald-Tomlinson; the beautiful Ren Chin-Johnson; the lovely Debby Watson, in Mandeville; the lovely Jackie Butler, 'Chirpy Chin' to friends of long standing, formerly of Linstead, St Catherine, now resident of Orlando, Florida; and Marc 'Sizzler' Upton, formerly of Hedonism II, now resident of San Francisco; who all share the same birthday.

Celebrating on Sunday the 11th will be the fabulous Natalie St Louis; the lovely Michelle Roache; north coast habitués, the exciting Angela Bonds, in Washington, DC; and the affable Cyrus Carter, from Fairfax, Virginia.

On Monday the 12th, Minister of the Public Service, Senator Arthur Williams, and Opposition MP, Dr Donald Rhodd, will share the same birthday.

The lovely Dawn Young, formerly of the OPM: the happening Jennifer Armond; Pulse model-turned-actress, the fab Nicole Grey; Peter-Oral Roberts; the charmingly lovely Taneisha Patten-Allen of Hedonism II in Negril; the lovely Jessica-Leigh Marzouca; the charming Charmaine Headley, in Florida, and Lytton Dayes, now in London, England; will also all make it a special day of celebration.

On Tuesday the 13th, the honorary consul of Iceland, Rotarian and advertising dynamo, 'A-Crowder' Robert MacMillan, celebrates another year of the fab life.

Also celebrating on Tuesday the 13th will be the affable Michael Capleton, and Mark Byles, in Toronto, Canada.

Come Wednesday the 14th, the fabulous Jodi Wohl; the affable Terrence Lawrence; the fab Comay Sewell; the lovely Daynia-Lee Wilson, in Ocho Rios; concert pianist Len Brown, of Couples Swept Away, Negril; will all make it a very special day of celebration.

Then on Thursday the 15th, former editor-in-chief of The Gleaner, the charming Wyvolyn Gager; the lovely Lorraine Kenlock; the fab Tasha Hussey, now in Atlanta, Georgia; the lovely Nadine Edwards in Queens, New York; and the charming Mary Self, in Maryland, are among Virgoans celebrating their very special birthdays.

And very special belated greetings to the absolutely stunning Fiona Machado, who celebrated her very special day on August the 27th.

Greetings to Chris Grant, who celebrated on the 27th, and former Russian ambassador, HE Edward Malayan, who celebrated his birthday on the third of September.

Many happy returns y'all, with champagne toasts and beluga treats!

Then, my darlings, it promises to be yet another culturally fabulously rich weekend, with the Jamaica Folk Singers in full bloom as they showcase their 2011 season, starting today, and running through the weekend at the Little Theatre on Tom Redcam Drive.

My dears, we are talking a treasure trove of music here, as the Jamaica Folk Singers are not only a national treasure, but are the guardians of a rich heritage in music and, each year, in their own folkloric style, not only replenish and buff this heritage, but also bequeath by teaching the artform to succeeding musical generations.

And, my darlings, wait for it, as author Joanne Simpson has finished penning her memoirs and it's all set to hit book stores soon, and if the advance copy is anything to go by - and y'all know the volume titled: The Tender Side Of Me - My Journey To The Comfort Zone - is nothing if not a best-seller and a fab read!

Dears, in an autobiographical blurb, the talented Simpson asserted, "When I write, I write with a purpose to teach, inform, enlighten, inspire and entertain." And she manages all that, and then some, in her memoirs, as she takes the reader along on the fab odyssey that has been her life's journey.

And with a publishing career that began in 1999 and includes such literary offerings as her landmark publication, The Jamaican Woman, Why Heritage, Only in Jamaica and Smooth Running, Simpson has been established as not only leading writer and publisher but arbiter and cultural doyenne. The subjects she explores embody the essence of the Jamaican social and cultural psyche.

My luvs, The Tender Side Of Me does make for very interesting reading, and with the Yuletide season literally just around the corner, it ranks high on this here scribe's list of fab gifts.