Chester Francis-Jackson, Gleaner Writer
DOVECAKES, THERE were supposed to be three weddings (no funerals) this weekend in picturesque Ocho Rios, but the word is there will now be only two.
Pastor Howard Francis will be celebrating his birthday with his Ocho Rios congregation tomorrow, however, as he gives thanks for another year of life.
On Monday, businessman Oliver Magnus turned 50. His was a quiet celebration in Kingston though, with dinner at restaurant Japan, at the Hilton Kingston Hotel with his Lady Love.
Also celebrating a birthday this week is Anthony Watson whose day is Saturday; but will be a special guest at a do at his home tomorrow at what is expected to be a smasheroni of an affair. Now dears, with the dress code being billed as Glitz, and with Anthony and the charmingly lovely Jeanne Watson known for their absolutely fabulous doos, y'all know, this one is going to be another haute-society humdinger and then some!
Next Saturday, the charity organisation 'Friends Who Care', established to assist the very many children who suffer form any of the multi-disabilities and debilitating neurological maladies that affect some 50,000 kids between the ages one and 19, will be staging their first annual fund-raiser, to assist with the educational needs of these kids. The affair, billed as 'An Easy Evening of Jazz and Cocktails', will take place at 1 Durie Drive, under the auspices of the Chair of Friends Who Care - Attorney-at-law, the lovely Tracey Hamilton.
SOCIALLY WELL-HEELED
After some nearly four-plus years as his country's representative to Jamaica, HE Ambassador Fernando Pardo of Chile, and his beautiful wife, Alix Pardo, are all set to return to Santiago de Chile. But the news is, not just yet!
Ambassador Pardo and his elegant wife have been one of the more charming couples, on the diplomatic scene, their style and grace, celebrated not only among their colleagues and or peers but also along the hallways and boulevards of the officialdom and most certainly among the socially well-heeled!
Jamaicans have long since had an affinity with the people of Chile, an affinity and kinship that was kindled from the heady days of Michael Manley's socialist ideology that set him on a path that stoked an international brotherhood of like-minded political ideas, which led him to sharing a political friendship with the late Salvador Allende, that was shared by many Jamaicans, and survived the assassination of Allende.
It was, however, with the posting of Ambassador and Alix Pardo, that bilateral and trade relations between both countries came to a fore, with Chile enjoying a more high-profile presence here, as the Pardos, quietly went about the task of forging greater ties and areas of co-operation between not just the governments of both countries, but also business and trade interests.
FABULOUS AS FABULOUS
And so, last Monday the Ambassador and his wife invited their many friends and colleagues to join them for libations and felicitations, as they threw open the portals to their official residence, a right royal stately home over there in the upscale Millsborough, neighbourhood of fashionable Barbican, for a reception many thought would have been a farewell one. They were scheduled to return to Chile, just before Christmas. Farewell do, or not, the affair was as fabulous as fabulous does and proved a fabulous lesson in the grand-style of elegant entertaining and pure snobissimo!
The affair was a social humdinger and then some! There were no sad faces here, as this was a gathering of powerbrokers, the social elite and the diplomatic and consular corps out to enjoy the society of each other, and, (they thought) to bid farewell to colleagues and friends, in the personages of Ambassador and Alix Pardo, over libations and felicitations. It was somber, but not sad! Festive, but not celebratory!
Among those out sharing the occasion were: Development Minister Dr. Paul Robertson; Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Delano Franklyn; MP and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative OT Williams; MP Delroy Chuck; Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe; Ambassador Peter Black of the Foreign Affairs Ministry; American Ambassador HE Sue Cobb; British High Commissioner HE Peter Mathers, his lovely wife Elisabeth Mathers and their daughter Phillipa Mathers; French Ambassador HE Pierre-Antoine Berniard; German Ambassador HE Dr. Christian Hausmann and wife Mrs. Harriett Huber; Spanish Ambassador HE Rafael Jover and his elegant wife Maria Delores; Japanese Ambassador HE Hiroshi Sakurai and his charming wife Kinuko Sakurai; Indian High Commissioner HE Inder Chopra and his wife Nanita Chopra; Canadian High Commissioner HE Claudio Valle; Venezuelan Ambassador HE Rocio Manerio; High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago HE Dennis Francis; Cuban Ambassador HE Jose Piedra Rencurrell and his wife Mercedes Piedra; Colombian Ambassador HE Dr. Kent Francis; the new non-resident Israeli Ambassador HE Yoav Bar-On; UNESCO Regional Director the elegant Helene-Marie Gosselin; Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Arnold Foote; Honorary Consul of Korea Yvon Desulme and his fabulous wife Cynthia Desulme; Honorary Swiss Consul Peter Bangerter and wife Fay Bangerter; Capt. Michael Lyn and his wife Social Empress Thalia Lyn, now the Honorary Consul of Thailand; Honorary Consul of Ecuador, the fabulous Clelia de Barretto Hunter; the Hon. Dennis Lalor; Kenny Benjamin; Chris Bovell and his fashionably elegant wife Michelle Bovell; Texan power-brokers and millionaires Dennis and Jane Joslin; Pokar Chandiram and his elegant wife Sati Chandiram; Jose and Maria Pinchin; Charlie Johnston and his fab wife Lisa McGreggor; Oliver Jones; Ainsley Henriques; Ron and Barbara Sasso; the elegant Jennifer Lim; Drs. Dhiru and Laura Tanna; noted Attorney George Fatta; Anthony Chang; Dr. Bernard Benjamin and wife Attorney Andrea Benjamin; and Carman Hudson plus others.
