By Michael Reckord, ContributorTHE ANNUAL fund-raising event staged by the Friends of the St Andrew Parish Church Sunday Schools takes months of planning. So early in September, Miss Lorna Cover and members of her Planning Committee started on the latest one, an Evening of Elegance at the Church Hall.
As time went by, the emcee, Ed Gallimore, and the performers were contacted, agreements made, hundreds of tickets printed and sold. During last week, the meals and refreshment were prepared. On Saturday morning, the chairs were placed on the lawn and the stage prepared for an open air party. But that afternoon, the month-long drought broke and rain came down in torrents. An occasion for dismay? No, just for 'Plan B' to trip in: everything was to be shifted indoors.
The move caused a delay of more than an hour, but by 6 p.m. more than 300 people were in the attractively laid out hall listening to the band of the evening, Harold Davis and Friends.
Around them were colourful tables laden with wine and cheese, grapes and cakes, fruit drinks and rolls, chicken, ham and fish.
SOARING SOPRANO
While the beverages were being drunk and the food eaten, the main performances started. First up was Beverly Dexter who, accompanied by her husband, Noel, on keyboard, sang in her soaring soprano The Lord is My Help and My Salvation and You'll Never Walk Alone. "The singing was delightful and the applause deserved, but if the audience wanted more, they were disappointed. As the emcee informed them, Mrs Dexter had to dash off to Ward Theatre where, within the hour, she was to appear in Louis Marriott's production of Bedward.
Mr Dexter stayed on, however, and accompanied the next singer, John McFarlane. His songs included Bizet's La Donna Imobile, ("Woman is Fickle") and "I Believe Our Children Are Our Future," ending on an applause-evoking extended high note.
Then a jazzy interlude with Harold Davis and Friends segued into an appearance by Pam Hall. Introduced by the emcee as a successful singer with eight albums, and one in the making with in tandem with guitarist Ernie Ranglin, Hall started off with a jazz standard, Loving You is Easy Cause You're Beautiful.
Showing her versatility, she then performed a well-received medley of Dennis Brown hits before moving back to jazz and ending with the popular Nina Simone number My Baby Just Cares For Me. Her set earned her enthusiastic applause.
Questioned about the success of the evening, Planning Committee Chairperson Cover said of her members, "We all worked hard as a team and we had fun working for we believe in the cause nurturing the Sunday School children. We were committed."
Proceeds of the evening are for three Sunday Schools Majestic Gardens, St Thomas Mission and St Andrew Parish Church. Funds go toward helping some 300 children with the purchase of tables, chairs, blackboards and other materials and also toward sending some youngsters to summer camp.
