By Chester Francis-Jackson, Gleaner Writer MY DEARS, hold your collective breaths before y'all exhale because this one is so precious, it is almost not to be believed!
Now, you all heard about the round of fabulous affairs around the island last week? If you have not, then pinch yourself and move along! Anyway, for one such event the pre-party buzz was so hot. With ladies shopping at couture establishments for new ensemble and all; their squires getting all done-up with visits to the barbers and all, you know it was all fabulous and then some around these parts!
But here's the gem: my dears, it seems that great crashers have found an 'all-new' and very interesting mode to crash a do without raising an eye-brow in the process! The vogue method is to call up a friend and or acquaintance that you know is invited, and solicit a ride from that individual, under the pretext that your own motor vehicle is giving you mechanical problems! Well my dears, this line was so often used over last weekend that some people got suspicious and before agreeing to give anyone a ride, called the hosts, to check the invitational bona fides of those 'begging' rides to the events in question!
NOT INVITED
Now, what do you know? The story is: it seems all those soliciting rides were actually trying to gate-crash events to which they were not invited!
Now, I put it to you? Can y'all imagine? Me, thinks not, especially when those would-be gatecrashers are those postulating the paragon of virtues; style and sophistication!
But think about it! Can you all imagine!
My dears, as my dear friend is wont to say: 'What, a cantata!'
And speaking of cantatas! My Dears, it seems that the email that has been causing quite a tizzy, could be nothing but another urban legend as indeed, finding the supposed victim is proving to be a juice of a thing and then some, as all the noise about her being fired from her job is nothing but horse manure as indeed, there is no record of her ever being an employee at the institution in question!
Can you all imagine all that righteous indignation and brouhaha for naught! Well, more anon as this one is indeed a gem!...(smile).
Then, My Dears, snob-society is all abuzz this week as Lady Colin Campbell is in town and how!
Doves, the buzz is that the British aristocrat, who was actually born here in Kingston, and whose parents actually thought he was a boy, so much so that he attended one of Kingston's prestigious all boys school as George Hanna, but later went on to do corrective surgery to become a functioning female and went on to marry Lord Colin Campbell and became a best selling author over the years as well as being an authority on the British blue bloods is in town for a few days as the house guest of her dear friend Nicola Croswell-Mair, to catch up on some R & R, before returning to her Chateau, near Toulouse, France, on the weekend!
Now, if you have not read her best selling autobiography, it's a must, as it explains why heads turn in her wake...
Then last Thursday, my dears, the city was in the throes of party fever and how! Luvs, the place was a-sizzling like a cauldron of fabulousness and then some! Dears, we are a-talking rollicking all-around here as it was like that! Now, it was just around five years or so, that Canadian multimillionaire financier Ron Kelly bought the then Wyndham Kingston Hotel, and then signed a management lease with the international Hilton chain that saw the arrival of hotelier Frank Roshouvel, in Kingston to manage the newly branded property!
FABULOUSLY WILD
Back then, Kingston was a city that was alive, vibrant and fabulously wild, with both Hilton Kingston and its neighbour, the Jamaica Pegasus, being major social arteries, as these properties were the only place to be seen! We are talking back in the days of four-hour power lunches, high-tea, jazz, and smart fashion shows and cocktail receptions here.
Back then however, the Hilton was generally regarded as its neighbour's poorer cousin and not really ready for prime time. Mind you, this was an image it inherited from an earlier era and was having a difficulty shaking.
But that was back then! In fact, way back then! Y'all have heard the phrase: You have come along way baby! Well Dears, the Hilton Kingston most definitely has, and how!
Dovecakes, the arrival of Frank Roshouvel at the helm of the Hilton Kingston, saw the property experiencing a kind of a renaissance that has placed it right there as a leading contender for the title role of Kingston's Leading Hotel, as since his settling in the property has taken on a new lease on chic and has become a major source of social activities along its hallowed halls, in banqueting, its pool area and its little nite-spot! In fact, the property has become like unto a playground for the fabulous as its gym and spa facilities have become a staple for the well-heeled! So, my dears, indeed, the Hilton Kingston, have lots to celebrate. And celebrating they are!
TRIUMPHANT LITTLE SHINDIG
Last Thursday, my dears, one of the fabulous parties in this here city was the triumphant little shindig the Hilton was throwing to celebrate their fifth anniversary here and how! Theirs my dears, has been a mullet-thronged celebrations that included a charity golf tournament; a fabulous ceramic exposition hosted a week earlier, and a mixology competition, for their regional bartenders; plus a number of other events.
But Doves, it was the simply charming power reception that GM Roshouvel and his wife Lorraine Roshouvel hosted last Thursday, to which they invited the world and his wife for an evening of tres fine food, fabulous wines in their grand ballroom done up in an island motif that took the cake! And it was simply as marvellously as it was a beautiful occasion!
Dovecakes, it was prime time and then some!
We are talking charming here and absolutely nothing but, as the ballroom was done-up into several food stations, each serving up their own specialty that is uniquely Jamaican in that there was Chinese, Japanese; Lebanese; Indian, West Indian; Vegetarian and of course a la grand mere! Yes, it was a feast of culinary hotness and then some!
ROLL CALL
Among those out, included: former Argentinean Ambassador Alfredo al Corta, who jetted in for the festivities: Hilton's President of the Americas Howard Friedman; VP Development (the Americas) Patrick Fitzgibbon; Brian Wilson, London; Security conglomateur Kenny Benjamin; Lee Issa; Joe Matalon and his companion the absolutely charmingly lovely Bernadette McKinley Morin; Roy and Sylvia Collister; Dennis and Jane Joslin; Senator Bruce and Lorna Golding; Tourism Minister and fabulous dresser Aloun Assamba; Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinaire of the Russian Federation HE Edward Malayan; HE Pierre-Antoine Berniard of the French Embassy, his stunning Spanish wife Luisa Berniard, looking as fabulous as only she does!; Peter Couch; Mr. and Mrs. William Telling; PetroJam's Winston Watson; Greg Christie; Carole Guntley-Brady; Tourism Director Paul Pennycoke; Yvon Desulme and his elegant wife Cynthia; Roy d'Cambre; Tony Chang; Daniel and Heidi Pepa of the Argentinean Embassy; the Pegasus's Nancy McLean; President of the Chaine des Rottisseurs Kermit Tucker and his charming wife Yvonne; the lovely Grace Silvera; President of the PAJ Desmond Richards and wife Yvonne; the charming Sheryl Ryman; Cheryl Neufville-Crooks; Mark Jospehs; plus all the Hilton GM's from the region; and a number of other dignitaries.
It was however, a fine way to celebrate being five!
