Ernie Smith - File

IT WAS a night to acknowledge and celebrate the skilled and the talented. The medium was the Caribbean Development for the Arts, Sports and Culture Foundation's 10th Caribbean Hall of Fame 2009 ceremony, held last Friday at the Montego Bay and Negril Suite at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

The venue provided the perfect background for the glitz, glamour and fantastic performances from some of Jamaica's finest entertainers, but the evening belonged to the awardees (predominantly in the field of sports) who had "achieved eminence for work in their field of endeavour". Some of the inductees were Lorna Goodison - literary arts; Yvonne Brewster - theatre; and Beresford Hammond, Grub Cooper Ernie Smith and Pauline Forrest-Watson - music.

Much appreciated

Both Forest-Watson and Smith, the only two inductees present from the entertainment arm, felt good about their achievements. "I am honoured and humbled to be recipient of such an award," Forest-Watson said after the ceremony.

Smith, who also performed Tears on My Pillow and That's the Kind of People We Are, a satire written by him, Pluto Shervington and Mikey Bennett, said, "It always feels good to be recognised by my own countrymen." His wife, Janet Smith, added, "The latest will always be the best."

Sandwiched between segments of the presentations of awards, the programme was of a high standard. Children of the Drums gave two energetic presentations. Soul for Soul, a group of four vocalists, performed a medley of songs which included Oh Girl and Have You Seen Her. Jamaica's singing sensation, Kamilla 'Candy' Isaacs, received standing ovation for her rendition of At Last.

Great performances

Carlene Davis, a former inductee, gave a taste of her upcoming album when she performed the Pastor David Keane-penned Triumph. Ken Boothe, another former inductee, belied his age with many stylish twists and turns as he entertained with a medley of his hits such as The Train is Coming and Puppet on a String.

It was another passionate performance from vocalist and saxophonist Dwight Richards, with yet another medley of gospel choruses, including Do Lord Remember Me and I Am Under the Rock.

Winsome Benjamin completed the list of vocalists. Backing band was School Band and The Jamaica Constabulary Band provided instrumental music.

Unfortunately, the ceremony was marred by a late start and the absence of plaques for some awardees. Janet Smith believes, "It is a wonderful concept, but needed to be properly organised. The plaques are of a high quality. They need an event coordinator."

Unforeseen circumstances

But a rather pleased Garnett Reid, executive producer, explained that the problems were due to unforeseen circumstances. "Awardees did not meet the April 15 deadline for the submission of their bios. We received some two days before the function, so it did not give us enough time to make the necessary preparation, including the plaques," he said.

He added, "Another unforeseen circumstance was that government officials who, despite sending confirmation of their intentions to attend the ceremony, did not show up, and this resulted in the late start of the programme."

The rescheduling of the annual event, normally held in November but moved to June instead, was not ideal. This meant some persons, such as Yvonne Brewester, were not able to attend. Other unforeseen circumstances also led to the cancel-lation of the ceremony last year.

Mission Director of USAID, Dr Karen Hilliard, was the guest speaker. Her speech comprised many statistics and background information regarding the region's social ills contributed by the youths. "These are concerning trends and, indeed, the time to reverse them is now. We must strategically invest in programmes that support youth development," she said.

Dr Hilliard also highlighted three plans of her government's administration to help the "youths at risk" - The Caribbean Youth Empowerment Programme; A Regional Partnership Framework to Combat HIV/AIDS (to be launched this summer); and A New Caribbean Security Initiative.

The Caribbean Development for Arts, Sports and Culture Foundation, formerly the Caribbean Academy, was conceptualised in 1985 by Dr Roy Johnson, Hector Wynter, Clover Thompson and Garnett Reid.

Reid's ultimate dream is that the foundation will have a physical structure. He also plans to shift the ceremony to Barbados next year. Masters of ceremonies were Denise Hunt and Derek Wilks.

Carlene Davis gave the audience a taste of 'Triumph', a song written by Pastor David Keane.

Ken Boothe performing at the 10th Annual Caribbean Hall of Fame 2009, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, last Friday night. - Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Grub Cooper received an award for his contribution to music. - File