GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, September 14, 2018
‘Club Privilege’
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set for grand opening in Berbice
club seeks to set the tone for future events. The club complements the sports bar, restaurant, poolside bar and accommodation of the hotel where the proprietors want guests to have an all-inclusive experience. “Despite the name ‘Privilege’ we want the average person to be able to experience quality entertainment and services at a reasonable cost and we will be partnering with various distributors to ensure we maintain our low prices while providing you with quality service,” Phillips stressed. The pool at Leisure Inn
A view of the Sports bar
ALL roads lead to New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice – Corentyne) tomorrow night as Club Privilege officially opens with Naila Blackman and KI and the Band in the house. The club is located at the recently opened Leisure Inn Hotel on Main Street, New Amsterdam and is expected to provide international standard entertainment, comfort and ambience in the ancient county. According to Keisha Phillips, one of the proprietors, the idea is to afford patrons quality entertainment in a safe and comfortable setting. To this end, they have hired a New York-based company to set up the lighting and sounds. With the ‘Baila Mami’ and ‘Single Forever’ artistes in the house, patrons are expected to have a blast as the
Inviting atmosphere at the poolside bar
She continued that being Berbicians themselves, they are cognisant of the different cultural backgrounds of the population as well as the varying genres of music that are enjoyed in the countryside and they want to capture the essence of that experience and showcase it to the entire country. Since their opening of the $450 million Leisure Inn, there has been nothing but rave reviews of the quality and service of the experience in a county that is starved of quality entertainment. Today is also the official launch of the after-work lime at the poolside bar, which will see persons who want to unwind and simply want to have a good time from a long day of work, relaxing in and enjoying good music and vibes. The owners promise unlimited fun and fabulous deals.
Miss India Guyana Pageant to be revamped New franchise owners to add more cultural training for delegates “Promoting the Indian culture for decades is an active attribute of ours and with our track record in the pageant world we saw it fit to take on this mandate,” Hashim said in an exclusive interview with The Buzz. The co-founder of Nachle Designs, he is positive that he and his wife have what it takes to see the Miss India Guyana pageant take off to higher heights, otherwise they would’ve never gone through the tough process of acquiring the franchise. “The acquisition of the franchise was not a walk in the park. A lot of detailed conceptualising and strategising had to be done, and the level of commitment needed was taken into consideration. The Indian Festival Committee (IFC) of New York, owner of the Miss India Worldwide pagNew directors of the Miss India-Guyana franchise, Hashim Alli and Melicia Partab-Alli eant, has been very supportive in making the process very professional though,” he IT WAS a love and passion for their Inconveyed. dian culture that led Melicia and Hashim He stressed that they understand the big Alli to decide the time was right to take shoes they have to fill in upholding the stanover the Miss India Guyana franchise dard of the pageant, and taking the pageant when it went up for grabs earlier this year. from where it is to where they want it to be. Melicia and Hashim acquired the fran“The legacy of Miss India Worldwide chise in June and will be hosting the first Guyana has been a sterling one and we are Miss India Guyana pageant under their sure that with our attributes we will uphold directive next month. and improve this prestigious torch that we The pair already stands as franchise have now inherited,” he said. holders for the Miss Global International Under their stewardship, he hopes to see Guyana which has made many strides over the pageant open even more ways for the the years on the international scene, going delegates entering the pageant to connect as far as taking the international crown last with their cultural roots. They hope to see year. Now they’re hoping to do the same for this done by adding a number of cultural the Miss India Guyana pageant. aspects to the training period for the girls.
“One of our newest additions to the pageant will be the exposure to the Indian culture and heritage. This year all of the finalists will be awarded training in Hindi, kathak dance, Indian musical instrument playing, yoga, sari draping and Indian cooking classes, which will offer a closer connection to their rich culture and traditions,” Hashim explained. This, they hope, would work in their favour in improving the quality of the Guyanese queen as she prepares to represent her country at the international level. The 2018 M iss India Worldwide pageant is slated for December 9-14. “Locally we will be holding our Miss India Guyana pageant on October 27, giving the local Reigning Miss India Guyana Sangeeta Bahadur queen just under two months to prepare to make it on the at the pageant. international scene,” he said. But getting results is what Hashim and According to Hashim, the applications Melicia do. Working on the Miss Global have already been pouring in ever since they International pageant, they saw their put out the word that the search is on for a delegate finishing in the Top 10 the first new queen year they took over the franchise. They Guyana has seen incremental improve- continued to see incremental increases in ment at this international pageant over the the following years as the Guyanese girls years. The reigning queen, Sangeeta Baha- continued to do well, until last year’s dur, finished as second runner-up last year, delegate Cynthia Dookie won the interwhile in 2016 Guyana finished in the Top 10 national crown.