The Sunny Side News Bringing out the Best… Plus One – The Convention Edition
September 4, 2016
Fruits of Optimism celebrated in Negril By Maxine A. Francis
NEGRIL, August 28 – The sunset at West End, Negril is a distinctive sight to behold, surpassed only by scenes of daring cliff divers at Rick’s Café or walking portions of its famous seven mile stretch of white sand beaches. But on the weekend of August 26-28 the attention of folk in Negril, Westmoreland was drawn to Couples Swept Away (Great House) where some one hundred and thirty Optimists from across the Caribbean descended on the tourist town with a gardenfresh burst of golden sunshine. Caribbean Optimists were summoned to the ‘capital of casual’ by Governor Patrick Prendergast for a celebration of the ‘fruits of optimism’ at Convention 2016, the 23rd such annual confab to be held in the District, and what a response it was! With Friday night’s pool party and settling down at Coco La Palm out of the way, Saturday morning’s the official opening ceremony was a pacesetter. Sixth grader Malika from Little London Primary School delivered an outstanding cultural performance that gave Optimists
the weekend chant, ‘Mi Seeit’, which members from outside of Jamaica, including OI Representative Mark Weinsoff, quickly caught onto and often repeated with the right intonation to boot. She was followed by an inspiring story from keynote speaker, Hugh Graham who recounted his rise from store attendant to ownership of a company worth $2 Billion and listed on the Jamaican stock exchange. As Optimists we can all embrace Graham’s sentiment that “there is never a problem, only a challenge and there is always a solution”. Optimists were further inspired over the weekend by OI Rep. Mark who itemized the five elements of well-being as Optimism, Purpose, Engagement (with youth), Relationships and Achievement. With OPERA, he assured, Optimists can always give of their best as they bring out the best in children. The EC posses loomed large It was great to see so many members from the Eastern Caribbean. The Antiguan and Barbadian posses led by past Governor Barbara Arrindell and past IVP Lady Carol, respectively, made the journey to Jamaica and they certainly had a blast. (Turn to FRUITS on pg2)
GOVERNOR PATRICK SAYS
Thank You Caribbean Optimists!
T
ODAY THE CARIBBEAN is sitting at No. 4 on the leaderboard of Optimist International, thanks to you all.
Our goal and promise at October 1 was and still is, to make the Caribbean District #1 again, and I want to thank every single Caribbean Optimists for staying true to that promise. Can we do it? Yes, we can!
We
have all of glorious September to ensure that once again we are back on top. The momentum is great, the transition is strong, and after our awesome Negril Convention, the charge is definitely, full speed ahead!
Hitting #1 is about growing the movement and so I must extend a special thank you to the 210 new Optimists who have joined our Caribbean District since October 1, 2015. Welcome also to The Progressive Lights Optimist Club of Montego Bay, chartered just a week before our awesome Negril confab. Together we can!
I
tell you seriously, each time I think about the Negril Convention and the tremendous job done by the team, the overwhelmingly positive participation of the 130 delegates in attendance, and the highly favored reviews of the weekend, my Blessings cup truly runneth over. I am so privileged and proud to be your Governor at this time. Thank you all for an incredible experience. Now let’s finish stronger!
Folks, our main task at this time is to sustain the growth momentum, pay up our membership dues, submit those critical reports on time, and hold the team together stronger. Nuff Love and Respect – Gov. Patrick.
Plus One Sunny Side News | September 4, 2016 | Page 1