- Photo by Janet Silvera
Dahlia Mattis (left), who is now a businesswoman in New York, cuts her 40th birthday cake with 18-year-old son Mark Anthony Morris during her party in Long Island, New York, last weekend.

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The invitation said: dress code - black and white, while birthday girl Dahlia Mattis surprised her guests and arrived in a fabulous lime green gown for her 40th celebration of life.

At 2:00 a.m. on Saturday the 16th, September, temperature in Long Island, New York, was a little nippy, but the heat that emanated from the woman who remained just as hot and sexy as when she was 20 warmed the atmosphere.

It was 2:00 a.m. when this party started to sizzle and the time allotted for the cutting of the cake. New Yorkers are accustomed to leaving home after midnight for merrymaking. This was extremely apparent as several guests arrived at the Long Island mansion in the early morning, ready to dance the hours away to selector 'Choppy State Side's' compilation of '70s, '80s and '90s hits.

Ready to party

By 3:30 a.m. the revellers were just ready to party, and an hour later when the selector drew for the crown prince of reggae Dennis Brown's 'Here I Come' and Gregory Isaac's 'Night Nurse' many felt compelled to return to the dance floor.

Dahlia Mattis, a former Jamaica Tourist Board employee had several of her friends with her, many who travelled from Jamaica, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut and the four boroughs of the Big Apple.

"She doesn't look a day older than 30," said her high school friend, Jackie Tomlinson Scott.

"Since the first day I met this girl 20 years ago, she has made an impact on my life. When you speak of loyalty, commitment and love, that's how much she gives," said Dollis Campbell Williams.

In response to the sentiments of her friends, Mattis, said, "You guys know how much I dislike the limelight," a statement which brought a great deal of laughter. A lover of jazz festivals, ever so often for the last 10 years Mattis and her travelling posse are easily identified at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival in Castries and the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay.

Those who attended included, Ann-Marie Smart, Errol Campbell, Ann-Marie Chambers, Anthony Lewis, Carl Thompson, Carlton and Glenise Evans, Earl, Donnavon McPherson, Errol Phillips, Earl Forbes, Errol Wilson, Hector Knox, Jean Cole, Janet Kerr, Jeanelle and Carl Robertson, Kawima, Lenny Haughton, Lewis Morrison, Marc Anthony Morris, Leonie Schloss, Marcia Boatwright, May Lewis, Cheryl Campbell, Michelle Davidson, Terry Clarkson, Patrick Scarlett, Minori Hashimoto, Margaret Bailey, Michael Feurtado and Earl Richards.