Virgoans bow out

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

My darlings, it was a very good Virgo cycle with the chic partying hard everywhere, and then some. Alas, the sign is coming to an end and so we salute Virgoans celebrating this week by wishing them the very best.

We say happy birthday wishes to Dr Kemel Gajraj; businessman Patrick Brady, of Risky Business in Negril; Pulse model Kadyan Salmon; the lovely Cameika Palmer; and the lovely Christine Kaluza, now in Bonn, Germany, who all celebrate their birthday today.

Celebrating tomorrow will be Cindy Breakspeare's mom, the very charming Marguerite Spence, who marks her 80th; the enterprising Peter Couch; the beautiful Jackie Forrester; the lovely Jane Cates, in Athens, Texas; junior minister Michael Stern, and the fab Anushka Sara in London, England.

On Sunday, September 18, Virgoans celebrating will include: actress and TV Personality the fab Audrey Reid; north coast socialite the fabulous Fenella Kennedy-Holland; the fab TV personality Christina Benjamin; the lovely Yvonne Hanson; the charmingly beautiful Kay Meneide-Barlatier; the lovely Jacqueline Clarke, in St John's in Antigua and Barbuda; north coast habitué Alejandra Barcas, from Miami, Florida; and former radio personality Roger Hamilton, now in London, England.

Celebrating on Monday the 19th are hotelier and community tourism advocate Diana McIntire-Pyke, in Mandeville; radio Jock Richard 'Richie B' Burgess; the fabulous Sandra Gayle; entertainer Solomon MacKeehan; the lovely Melissa Golden; and Michael Lennon Davis.

Come Tuesday the 20th, among the birthday celebrants will be Reginald Crutchley; the brand marketing expert Safia Cooper; entertainer Hemsley 'Benzly Hype' Morris; Dwight Ramsay; Ralston Barrett, in Negril; and daughter of former German Ambassador Adolf Ederer, the lovely Karin Delitz-Ederer, now in Panama.

Come next Wednesday the 21st, the lovely Jacqueline DaCosta; model Sashana Gray and the lovely Tameka Bradshaw will all share the same birthday.

And seeing out the sign of Virgo, next Thursday the 22nd will be media doyenne R. Christine King; chef extraordinaire and restaurateur Mario Machado; commentator Lance Robinson; the beautiful Natalie Bravo; the Reverend Joan Porteous in the United States; the charming Nadia Taylor, in Toronto, Canada; Craig-Anthony Scott, formerly of Ocho Rios, now in Japan, and Leonel Rodrequez, north coast habitué, now in Kurdistan.

Belated birthday wishes to Ambassador Maxine Roberts, who celebrated on September 1; Dean Moriah, in Negril, who celebrated on September 8; Virginia Burke Brooks, who celebrated on Monday the 12th, and attorney Christian Tavares-Finson, who celebrated yesterday.

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

Congratulations

And speaking of the beautiful people, congratulations to former Jamaican top male model Lyle Edwards, who tied the marital knot in mid-August to his lovely bride, the beautiful Katie Iver, in a very intimate wedding ceremony attended by immediate family and very close friends.

And international consultant Cezley Samson has left Malawi (and just in time, too, as the ghastly riots broke out shortly after his departure) and is now settled in Nigeria.

And my dears, Jamaica and Jamaicans continue to make the international news, and then some, as currently running on HBO is a fab docu-tainment titled Rock-Steady: The Roots of Reggae, and dears it's a must-see, as it is a history lesson documenting the roots of reggae as well as the contribution of a number of artistes whose contribution is little known, let alone acknowledged.

Dears, we are talking a simple but effective narrative that speaks to the influence of the church, social conditions, politics, the existing network of theatres, as well as the aspirations of the inner-city youths, on the content, development and evolution of the music.

But for this scribe, perhaps the single most important message from the HBO show is a clip of the legendary Ken Boothe, in which he laments the state of Jamaican music today, saying the major difference is the fact that the music of yesterday was primarily uplifting and inspirational, as against that which obtains today!

Dears, Rock-Steady: The Roots of Reggae, is not only worth seeing, it's a collector's item!

Rum Fire Race Day

And for those given to following the sport of kings, there's no doubt that the Husseys are Jamaica's first family of horse racing, led by the late and indomitable Laurie Hussey and his wife, the elegant Ruth Hussey.

Well, my dears, over the years the Husseys have expanded their influence from the horse racing industry to include a number of business interests, one being the acquisition of the historic Long Pond and Hampden sugar estates in Trelawny, with an offshoot of the acquisition being the family's venture into the production of its own brand of rum.

Well, enter Rum Fire, a fabulously party-friendly smooth white rum that goes down well mixed or on the rocks. And with Rum Fire, the Husseys have decided on combining both their first professional love - horse racing - and their Rum Fire brand to promote what promises to be an exciting day at the races, over at Caymanas Park, the Caribbean premier race track.

So come September 24, it will be all about the Caymanas Park and staging of the inaugural Rum Fire Race Day, which will see punters, jockeys, and their wards all lining up for one racing bonanza that will see patrons and participants all participating in an all-day event that carries prizes and surprises in the value of some two million smackeroos.

Dears, it promises to be a fab-fest as at Mondays' launch (See the full details in Sunday's Outlook) the Hussey family, led by matriarch Ruth, and the hierarchy of the racing industry, leading owners, trainers, jockeys and grooms were out in full force at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel for the launch of the event, and luvs, how!

Dears, suffice it to say that the fabulous Christelle Harris (Ruth's granddaughter), the marketing manager of Everglades Farms (owners of Long Pond and Hampden estates, the latter being the bottlers of Rum Fire), along with Camile Buchanan - CEO of Caymanas Track Limited; as well as Denzil Miller Jr, CTL racing secretary, were fulsome in their outline of the expected delivery and content of the upcoming event. If it all holds to form, then it is true to say happy race days are here again!

And so, pumpkins, saddle up, picnic baskets and see y'all at the track on September 24.

This weekend, however, the preferred getaway is definitely Ocho Rios, as that north coast town is all set to sizzle.

And back in the nation's capital, it will be all about the orange hype, but more anon!