02242023 WEEKEND

Social media show ‘Faces’ highlights the extraordinary among us

By JEFFARAH GIBSON | Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net

The hit social media series ‘Faces’ is returning with more tales of inspiration and encouragement to offer its viewers.

Produced and hosted by Samita Ferguson, CEO of the Chosen, Honored, Motivated, Positive Sisters (CHAMPS) group, the show trains a spotlight on extraordinary people who share stories of their trials and triumphs to spread hope.

Samita initially planned for the show in 2014, however, several setbacks resulted in a years-long delay. But two and half years ago, as the world was struggling with the effects of a global pandemic, the time finally came for her to launch this uplifting show.

“With the rise of the pandemic and then my mother’s death, the urgency to continue the journey was sparked. I was able to capitalise on utilising social media to spread stories of hope, love, faith and victory. I knew that storytelling was a means to bring healing to many individuals who were going through daunting times and also a reminder for those who no doubt could resonate with the ‘pathway to healing’,” she told Tribune Weekend.

The series features individuals who have experienced difficult situations in their lives, and the stories of how they were able to overcome. The stories can range from people celebrating a new business venture or a business anniversary to merely celebrating life’s victories.

“Topics such as overcoming near death experiences, overcoming cancer, overcoming the loss of a loved one…we can’t leave out having conversations with new entrepreneurs, and business owners who are celebrating victories of running a successful business. Topics such as health and wellness are also discussed during the series. Additionally, topics surrounding celebrating momentous occasions or milestones, art and music therapy will be addressed throughout the course of the series,” said Samita.

The series kicks off on March 4 and will be streamed live on the Samita Ferguson Facebook page. Her first interviewee of the season will be Ruth Bowe, who is expected to open up about her personal health challenges and how she came out on the other end triumphantly to start a coaching business.

“This series will help the audience realise the importance of a good family support system, and that one should never give up on faith and hope, also love, which are steps towards healing, but most important, never give up on God who is the

ultimate healer. Lastly, (it shows that) purpose can be born out of a painful experience,” said Samita. Ultimately, Samita said the goal of the show is to bring transformation and hope to all who tune in.

“The goal is to encourage persons to pivot into their purpose-driven life by not allowing obstacles to deter them on their pathway towards success, whether personal or holistic. Eventually, (the goal is also) to increase the reach of participants on the show. I’ve had persons from as far as Africa and the Caribbean appear as guests,” she said.

“Messages of hope are timely no matter which continent or country one resides in. Ultimately, ‘Faces’ will create a YouTube channel so that persons who do not have access to Facebook will have the opportunity to view the inspirational series via that channel”.

SAMITA Ferguson strives to shine a spotlight on people who have overcome extraordinary circumstances.

The Heart Ball returns with goal to raise funds for four children to undergo surgery

By JEFFARAH GIBSON | Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net

Put on your dancing shoes!

The Heart Ball is back with a fantastic night of fine dining and fun, all for a worthy cause.

Tomorrow night the tunes of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Band will be heard streaming out of the Baha Mar Convention Centre as guests celebrate the return of the biggest fundraising initiative of the Sir Victor Sassoon (Bahamas) Heart Foundation.

The foundation promises it will be an evening of fantastic food and great entertainment.

“We are looking forward to the ball,” said RE Barnes, chairman of the organisation.

“I know a lot of folks are looking forward to the event. We are hoping the ball will help us regenerate funds that we not been getting in for the past two years. For the first time

ever, we were having to say no to children (in need of heart surgery) because we did not have the funds.”

Currently, there are four children in need of surgery, but the organisation only has enough to fund two of the procedures.

All proceeds from tomorrow night’s ball will go towards helping these children received the treatment they desperately need.

“The heart ball committee has been working to put on a great event,” said Mr Barnes.

There will entertainment provided by the Soulful Groovers and DJ Gary Super Johnson, a silent auction, a room raffle, as well as table prizes.

“We will try not to have any long speeches or anything,” he said.

The winner of the Golden Heart Award will also be named during the ball.

The award is given to the individual who has given of themselves selflessly of over the years to positively impact the lives of others.

Mr Barnes is encouraging Bahamians who may not be able to attend the ball to still donate, and “no amount is too small”.

“If every Bahamian gives one dollar, we would probably have enough to take care of ourselves for the whole year. If you are a family of five, then that would be five dollars from your house hold,” he said.

Of every dollar the foundation raises, 97 cent goes towards paying for surgeries.

The Sir Victor Sassoon (Bahamas) Heart Foundation was established as a living tribute by Lady Sassoon following the death of her husband, Sir Victor Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, GBE, in 1961 to assist Bahamians with heart disease.

Lady Sassoon had asked that instead of sending flowers to honour her husband, people could send a donation to the local heart fund. A few weeks later, the hospital called to tell her that a substantial amount of money had been donated in her husband’s memory, but that there was no local heart fund. So, she took it upon herself to create one and a great idea was born.

Through the Foundation’s fundraising efforts and the steady leadership of Lady Sassoon, more than 4,000 children have been afforded quality medical care. The Foundation has held car raffles, concerts and movie premiers as part of its fundraising initiatives.

During the past 49 years, the Heart Foundation, through the generosity of friends of the Foundation, has been able to assist children to be able to live their lives to the fullest.

The major fundraising activity of the Foundation is the annual Heart Ball, held on the Saturday nearest to Valentine’s Day.

Since 1968, the highlight of the ball has been the presentation of the prestigious Golden Heart Award.

In memory of Lady Sassoon, who passed away in 1997, the Foundation renamed it the Lady Sassoon Golden Heart Award.

For more information, call (242) 327-0806.

Gardner Stewart

This composer and musician returned to the Bahamas to help build and expand the local music scene. Armed with his beloved saxophone, he tells Cara Hunt about how he has found success at home.

Gardner Stewart considers himself an architect – but not one who designs buildings, but rather a designer of music.

The path towards becoming a musician and composer was one that he seemed destined to follow, considering his childhood was filled with music.

“My father was the late pastor Timothy Stewart of Bethel Baptist Church, and so growing up, particularly in a Black Baptist church, music was always a part of my life,” he told Tribune Weekend.

Gardner originally got started on the piano, listening to other family members play and then teaching himself to mimic the notes and learning to play by ear.

Later, he joined his church’s band and played the trumpet. He also took extensive music lessons to hone his skills.

“My cousin and I were both in the band, and he played saxophone and I played trumpet. One day, my cousin needed to borrow my trumpet to do some music and we had the idea to just swap instruments, and I fell in love with the saxophone and stuck with it,” he said.

“I love the tone of the saxophone; it is very warm yet bright. It is the voice that I don’t have and so I can sing through the saxophone. It’s very smooth.”

Gardner studied music both in high school and at the University of the Bahamas, although it was not his original major.

“I majored in Religion and Philosophy, but I spent a lot of time in the music block every day,” he said.

It was around that time when he was attending college, in 2011/12, that he partnered with several other musical friends to start the Sapphire Band

They got together and performed at Arawak Cay, near the Frankie Gone Bananas restaurant.

“One day Pat Paul (a store owner on Paradise Island) came over and suggested that we should audition at Atlantis,” he said.

They landed the gig and played at the night club Dragons, at the Bimini Road restaurant in Marina Village, and at several other spots around the resort.

It was quite the achievement for a group of young local musicians.

“We were pretty successful and I think it gave all of us a taste of what a musical career could look like,” he said.

It did, however, also show them that they wanted to pursue separate interests.

For Gardner that meant heading to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, where he completed a degree in Music Composition.

“I fell in love with the idea of composing, because I have always been able to listen to music and when I hear it, I think about what I could do to change it and make it better or recreate it. It is like being an architect and building with musical note,” he explained.

“I remember at a talent show at UB; I reharmonised ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ to a more classical version and did something similar with the song ‘Heart and Soul’; I jazzed it up. It takes a lot of musical knowledge to be able to do that,” he said.

After college, Gardner stayed in Indiana to work and gain experience at the Sweetwater Sound Studios, the Midwest’s premier recording studio.

“It was a great experience and I was fully present in that moment, but I wanted to come home,” he said.

His rationale was that while the local music scene had its issues, he wanted to be a part of building it from the ground up, rather than returning home years later and not having a stake in its expansion.

“I wanted to come home and make my own lane.”

Gardner’s lane has turned out to be fast-moving, with almost constant gigs and bookings.

He recently had a dream come true when he played several gigs with a band that he and his fellow Sapphire band members always admired: Willis and the Illest.

He has also had steady work at local restaurants and resorts as a wedding saxophonist and DJ saxophonist, as well as bookings on private yachts and travel gigs to the Family Islands.

However, he said he wouldn’t want people to get a wrong impression that pursuing career in this industry is easy.

A lot of his success is based on referrals and connections, and

weekend in history

February 24

• In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII announces the use of the New Style (Gregorian) calendar, which is still the most widely used calendar in the world today. It replaced the Julian Calendar, which was introduced in 46 BC and remained the dominant calendar of the Western world for more than 1,600 years.

Although they are both solar calendars based on the 365 days of year, the principal change was to space leap years differently to make the

being able to provide a professional product to the client.

“You are really an entrepreneur and your music is your product,” he said.

Gardner’s advice to other budding musicians is to reach out directly to the source.

“Talk to wedding planners about performing at their clients’ weddings, or if there is a restaurant or venue that you really want to play at, go and talk to them directly,” he said.

Gardner said there is a misconception that local musicians do make enough money to sustain them. However, he said that in many cases, a music performance can earn you in two to three hours what some people make in a week.

What he particularly loves about his job is the reaction of the audience.

“I love to feel the energy from my audience. I try to feed off their response to tailor my performance,” he said.

calendar more accurate.

• In 1797, the last invasion of mainland Britain comes to an end. One of the armies of the invading force, Revolutionary France, was forced into unconditional surrender near the coastal town of Fishguard in the County of Pembrokeshire. The leader of this invading force, IrishAmerican commander Colonel William Tate, faced a brief stint in prison before being returned to France in a prisoner exchange in 1798, along with most of his 1,400-strong army.

February 25

• In 1836, American inventor Samuel Colt patents the first multi-shot revolving-cylinder revolver, enabling the firearm to be fired multiple times without reloading. After several financial disappointments, his business affairs improve drastically after

1847 when the Texas Rangers order 1,000 revolvers during the American war with Mexico.

• In 1964, American boxer 22-year-old Muhammad Ali, known at the time as Cassius Clay, becomes the world heavyweight champion by knocking out and dethroning Sonny Liston in a seventhround technical knockout.

February 26

• In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. The previous year, in 1814, had been forced to abdicate as French emperor. Gathering support en route to Paris after his escape, he retook power on March 20, ushering in the Hundred Days; the re-conquest of France.

• In 1924, the trial against Adolf Hitler for treason in the “Beer Hall Putsch” – a failed coup d’état by the Nazi Party against Germany’s Weimar Republic –begins in Munich. Although he could have been deported to Austria, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in the German Landsberg Prison – where he dictated “Mein Kampf” to fellow prisoners. He was released after serving only nine months.

SAMUEL Colt (1814-1862)

(Photos/Gabriel Turnquest)

down: Tapestry, Wash, Piano, Payload, Qualms, Twain, Ersatz, Smacks, Dower, Accept, Tearful, Oxide, Asks, Adherent.

tV croSSword

GRAIN

MuddlESoME

Dial M for Murder Strangers on a Train Stage Fright

7x5=35, 3x4=12, 4x9=36

SMall croSSword

27 Mad to have called indeed (8)

28 Celestial object showing remote deviation (6)

21 Stopped poet being heard (6)

22 Wild boars following one line of pressure (6)

24 Join during emergency (5)

Best described as a number crossword, the task in Kakuro is to fill all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so the sum of each horizontal block equals the number to its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the number on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro increases from Monday to Sunday.

across: 5 Carr, 7 Havers, 8 Alexa, 11 Oprah, 12 Ian Beale, 13 Half, 15 Menu, 16 Cynthia, 17 Luke, 18 Shayne, 21 Dawn, 22 Mike. down: 1 Damp, 2 Graham, 3 Alun, 4 Mayall, 5 Capaldi, 6 Ralf, 9 Didn’t Know, 10 Lenny, 14 Patsy, 17 Lord, 19 Him, 20 Nye.

tV show: I Hate You

clock-wiSE

Mona, NASA, Sago, Goof, Offa, Faro

QuiZ of thE wEEk

across: 1 Reykjavik, 7 Once, 8 Miami, 10 Cul, 11 Trench, 13 Earthworm, 14 Reduce, 16 Duo, 18 Azure, 19 Lair, 20 Masculine.

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

1 Large windproof hooded jacket, 2 Manhattan, 3 Small Faces, 4 1930s, 5 10, 6 Heavyweight, 7 Blur, 8 Jamaica, 9 Ghostbusters, 10 Scotland.

down: 1 Rotterdam, 2 Entrap, 3 Keen, 4 Aim, 5 Vacuous, 6 Kilometre, 8 Machete, 9 Serious, 12 Urchin, 15 Dill, 17 Arc.

croSS douBt across: LONER down: IONIC

CRYPTIC PUZZLE

Yesterday’s Easy Solution

Across

1 Russian capitalists (10)

6 Returned tender token of love (4)

10 The land transformed by Ali (5)

11 Eternal pursuit of the happy ending (4,5)

12 Location for Hamlet relies on fashion (8)

13 Clergyman takes time out to see father (5)

15 Mountain woman who was tempted to take things easy (7)

17 Fresh suet not exported (4,3)

19 A number possibly listen to the pulse (7)

21 Indisposition of one in mental breakdown (7)

22 Hooded killer (5)

24 Global degree of freedom (8)

27 Unemployed crew with mischievous potentialities (4,5)

28 Partly submerged by waves from a passing vessel (5)

29 Awkward ones voting negatively (4)

30 One who helps France to be given a face-lift (10)

Down

1 Spot a traitor (4)

2 Young officer is awkward but learns (9)

3 A wild animal. But it’s all right; a quiet one (5)

4 A craft designed to beat the freeze (7)

5 Teams of seven put out by the Spanish (7)

7 Estimated trade turnover (5)

8 A miserable and penitent condition (5,5)

9 Prime minister? (8)

14 Study the echo (10)

16 Not the happiest inscriptions - yet they could be (8)

18 With which one suffers a lack of balance (9)

20 The peace subsequently includes the French (7)

21 Its rate has to be adjusted for an entertainer (7)

23 Rubbish found in the ship’s bottom (5)

25 Capital jewellery (5)

26 Deity in authority (4)

Across

Across: 1 Monarch, 5 Ruche, 8 Put on airs, 9 Tip, 10 Each, 12 Sheraton, 14 Remote, 15 Devise, 17 Djakarta, 18 Deal, 21 Add, 22 Get wind of, 24 Trout, 25 Slavery.

Down: 1 Maple, 2 Net, 3 Rant, 4 Height, 5 Reserved, 6 Cut it fine, 7 Expanse, 11 Come and go, 13 Straight, 14 Radiant, 16 Status, 19 Lofty, 20 Riga, 23 Doe.

Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution

Across: 1 Wearing, 5 Salon, 8 Derringer, 9 Opt, 10 Need, 12 Sea water, 14 Amends, 15 Pummel, 17 Contents, 18 Grub, 21 Ell, 22 Emaciated, 24 Tryst, 25 Notates.

Down: 1 Widen, 2 Air, 3 Ibis, 4 Gagged, 5 Screws up, 6 Lion tamer, 7 Natural, 11 Eternally, 13 Adherent, 14 Ancient, 16 Strain, 19 Bides, 20 Lift, 23 Tot.

EASY PUZZLE

1 Regarded as permanent (4,2,4)

6 Resound (4)

10 Answer (5)

11 Large North Atlantic island (9)

12 Young person (8)

13 Tall wading bird (5)

15 Clowning (7)

17 Falter in speaking (7)

19 Severely simple (7)

21 Burnt sugar for flavouring (7)

22 A hard-wearing cotton twill (5)

24 Piece of storage furniture (8)

27 Extreme (9)

28 Subsequently (5)

29 Team (4)

30 Property in land and buildings (4,6)

Down

1 Unfeeling (4)

2 Ecstatic (9)

3 A culinary herb (5)

4 To mean (7)

5 Eternal (7)

7 Professorship (5)

8 As a rule (10)

9 Making a broadcast (2,3,3)

14 Restrictive objections (3,3,4)

16 To the end of time (8)

18 Notes for future use (9)

20 Surround with a wall (7)

21 Metropolis (7)

23 Well known (5)

25 Fertile area in desert (5)

26 Give up possession of (4)

Quick croSSword

across: 1 Inescapable, 9 Raw, 10 Variegate, 11 Prior, 13 Prophet, 14 Detect, 16 Reform, 18 Terrace, 19 Clean, 20 Operation, 21 Sea, 22 Testimonial. down: 2 New, 3 Sever, 4 Abrupt, 5 Awesome, 6 Loathsome, 7 Trepidation, 8 Sentimental, 12 Interfere, 15 Clamant, 17 Medium, 19 Canon, 21 Spa.

D P e c l o D K A

HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals. Verb forms ending in s permitted. TODAY’S TARGET Good 29; very good 44; excellent 58 (or more). Solution tomorrow

TARGET BATTLESHIPS

call 0907 181 2585 for today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

Yesterday’s Sudoku Answer

FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden in the grid. The numbers to the right of and below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or parts of ships. The ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some squares have been filled in to start you off.

targEt

MudhoppEr

cAn you crack the Alphabeater? each grid number represents a letter – or black square. As in Alphapuzzle, every letter of the alphabet is used. But you have to complete the grid too! use the given letters and black squares below the grid to start. the grid is ‘rotationally symmetrical’ – in other words, it looks the same if you turn the page upside down. Solution tomorrow

demo demur doer dome dope dorm dorp dour drop drum drupe dump dumper dupe herd hoed homed hoped hopped horde hued humped mode moped mopped MUDHOPPER pored poured prod proud prude pumped redo rode romped roped rude rued upped

Yesterday’s Kakuro Answer

● Alternatively, for six Extra Letter clues to your mobile, text DXBEAT to 64343. Texts cost £1 plus your usual operator

WORD BUILDER

Answer the clues so that each word contains the same letters as the previous word, plus or minus one.

The Weekend Fashion Report

With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt

HIT Angela Basset

Karin says: “First of all, I love the lavender colour. She looks lovely in it. At first I hated the giant balloon sleeves, but they’ve grown on me. What I’m not totally convinced by is the halter-neck silhouette with the cutout shoulders. It makes her look like she’s got sloped shoulders.”

Cara says: “She just never disappoints. She looks amazing. I really love this shade on her. It’s a colour that we don’t see that often on the red carpet. I love the sleeves and the neckline; it’s just very different, yet fab. And the straight hair is the perfect choice to finish off the look.”

HIT Anya Taylor-Joy

Karin says: “A lot of critics hated this velvet Schiaparelli ensemble which is designed to invoke the Renaissance with its hooded cloak. But I actually love it. It’s so unusual, the champagne coloured cloak with the mini dress, and it just makes a huge statement. I love the drama of it.”

Cara says: “Look at Little Gold Riding Hood! I like it; it’s very dramatic, yet it’s somehow simple and tasteful at the same time. It’s a red carpet moment for sure. The subtle hair and make-up complete the look perfectly.”

HIT Michelle Yeoh

Karin says: “This blushcoloured Dior suit with the cape is the epitome of class and elegance. Yes, it may be a tiny bit staid for a red carpet, but it does look very sophisticated. And I’m happy Michelle wanted to switch up all the gowns she’s be wearing this awards season with a pantsuit.”

Cara says: “I absolutely love this pantsuit. It’s so sophisticated and glam and looks fabulous on her. My only small complaint is that I don’t think it’s dramatic enough for the red carpet. But that does not really take away from how beautiful she looks.”

FAIL Nicola Coughlan

Karin says: “I love her on ‘Derry Girls’ and ‘Bridgerton’, and I’m so happy she was able to wear this gown directly off the couture runway (something usually reserved for sizes 0-2), so it pains me to say that I don’t like it. The top half of this Jackie O-inspired design us all right, but the way the skirt is draped just makes it look like a big floral bedspread.”

Cara says: “This dress is giving cheap upholstery fabric rather than couture glam. The shape of the dress is lovely, but yes, I don’t like that big print. I wonder if it translated better in person than in pictures.”

FAIL Ariana DeBose

Karin says: “Poor Ariana is being made fun of all over the internet for her cringey showopening rap, but unfortunately her appearance also deserves some criticism. What is this unflattering soccer mom/Kate Gosselin hair-do? The dress with the body suit with the sheer beaded cover-up is fine, if a bit blah.”

Cara says: “This look does nothing for her. The colour is so bland and the overdress is so boring. I know she was aiming for sexy, but this is just giving a long beach cover-up. The hair is also not helping… at all. However, I still feel a little sorry for her, since she’s still being dragged for her little rap and has deleted her Twitter.”

Local celebrity chef takes Bahamian flavours to the US

Not only has celebrity Chef Simeon Hall Jr carved out an impressive career as a culinary artisan and is one of the most recognisable faces on the local culinary scene, but as a cultural ambassador he is dedicated to placing Bahamian cuisine on menus and tables all over the world.

Chef Hall, a self-proclaimed “culinary griot (storyteller)”, is set to be featured among a diasporic line-up of guest chefs as part of a monthly dinner series at the Louisianabased Senegalese restaurant, Dakar NOLA.

Dakar NOLA, though recently launched in November 2022, has already garnered buzz from top US

publications like The New York Times.

The professional foodie will kickoff the highly-anticipated series this Sunday with an already sold-out inaugural meal.

The tasting menu dinner will feature five courses mingling the unique flavours of both Senegal and the Bahamas, and guests can expect to sample Bahamian-inspired menu items like conch and plantain cake; okra, corn and pigeon peas fritters; johnnycake biscuits and benne seed rum cake, alongside delicious West African fare.

Chef Hall explained that he scored the culinary gig when he struck up a friendship with the owner of Dakar NOLA and two-time James Beard award-nominated chef, Chef Serigne Mbaye, when they worked as sous chefs at the 2022 Charleston Food and Wine Festival.

“He and I were the only ones on the bus shuttle at the time and so, for the entire ride, we talked food,” he recalled.

Chef Hall added: “When people are on similar paths, it doesn’t take much for them to connect. Because he is so inundated with telling his story of his Senegalese food culture and I am doing the same in terms of Bahamian food culture, I guess we connected on the difficulties, the triumphs, and the movements of that experience.

“We also talked about the fact that he was going to take some time off before he went back to New Orleans to open his new restaurant to travel and get a sense of the Caribbean impact in terms of the relatability in food as it pertains to our African background.”

Chef Hall further recounted that upon learning of Chef Mbaye’s Caribbean travel plans, he invited him to come to the Bahamas as part of his culinary quest, which he accepted.

“When he was here, we cooked together; he made joloff rice and

gave me the story behind it. I got to work with him and taste his food and he got to work with me and taste my food,” he said.

“We spoke about his dream to have his restaurant feature chefs from the diaspora and him being a man of his word, he invited me to participate in the inaugural launch of this diaspora dinner series.”

Speaking on the significance of the culinary collaboration, Chef Hall made mention of the West African influences found in Bahamian cuisine.

“One of the things that I love is connecting with people who are in the root, or the motherland, per se, of our cuisine,” he said.

“It helps when you can find people who are rooted in the mother sauce - the original - and that’s what I’m so excited about this collaboration for,” expressed the Bahamian food historian.

He added: “Jollof rice, which comes from (Chef Mbaye’s) area where he was born, is the mother of peas n’ rice, and we all know how important peas n’ rice is to the Bahamas.

“I could ‘google’ jollof rice. I could think about what jollof rice is, but to have somebody who knows and understands the origin like I would understand the origin of boiled fish is next-to-none.”

This latest event joins a growing list of international, high-brow collaborations for the in-demand chef. In November 2021, Chef Hall had the honour of being featured in the internationally-acclaimed Bon Appétit magazine, where he highlighted a slew of Bahamian food and beverage joints, and most recently, he became the first Bahamian guest chef to curate a menu for the renowned roving restaurant, Outstanding in The Field.

Though having accomplished a lot in his 20-year career, he continues to keep busy with international gigs on his plate. After his turn at Dakar NOLA, Chef Hall along with three of his protegés are scheduled to return to his and Chef Mbaye’s meeting place, the Charleston Food and Wine Festival, to cook for the two events: ‘Word of Cue’ and ‘Island Time’.

At this event, Chef Hall and his all-Bahamian culinary team will treat festival-goers to Bahamian-inspired dishes like conch sausage dogs, ‘Muddasick Sauce’, pigeon peas slaw and Sunday boneless BBQ ribs.

RENOWNED Senagalese Chef Serigne Mbaye

CHEF Simeon Hall Jr

New Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival receives expert support

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

Lee Brian Schrager, the American businessman known for his creation of both the Food Network South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festivals, will be bringing his expertise to the Bahamas as he partners with the Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival taking place March 15–March 19.

The five-day festival will showcase world-renowned top chefs, master sommeliers, mixologists, and notable TV personalities, including Tony Abou-Ganim, Alex Guarnaschelli, JJ Johnson, Aarón Sánchez, Alon Shaya, Michael White and Andrew Zimmern, plus a performance by Grammy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated rapper Wyclef Jean at Jerk Jam on March 18.

After Atlantis’ successful Taste of Paradise Food and Wine Festival, the newly named Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival will be expanded to include local and regional chefs and restaurants, music performances, exclusive dinners, beachside parties, culinary demos and family-friendly activities hosted throughout the resort.

Last week, Mr Schrager flew into the country to host a breakfast meet and greet with a number of the local chefs and media, including Corey Small of the Da Bush Cook, Volanda Crawley of The Boutique Cake, Frederick Lightbourne of The Poop Deck, Kendrick Delaney of The New Duff, and others.

In an interview with Tribune Weekend, Mr Schrager said next month, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival will be celebrating 22 years and he couldn’t be more excited to be collaborating with a beautiful property like Atlantis and promoting an amazing industry right here at Paradise Island.

“I think it is important to be inclusive, and one of the things we spoke about from the beginning is the fact that the hotel has great names here like José Andrés and Michael White, but it was important for me and the property to make sure we are inclusive and include everyone. The hotel is a great partner, this is their event, but it was important again to be inclusive. To be successful, you have to be inclusive,” he said.

“People coming here want to have that local flair and talent. I want to hear people saying, ‘We’ll see you next year’. Nothing is perfect, and 22 years later of South Beach we still hear feedback, but it helps you continue to grow and fix things.”

Mr Schrager said he is looking forward to many years of the Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival, with hopes of turning it into one of the greatest culinary events in the Caribbean.

“At this event there is something for everyone. I think not only do we have the big names that are here at the hotel, but the guest chefs that we are bringing in are important. I think one of the greatest things we can

do is profile the great diversity of this island,” he said.

Corey Small, owner of the Da Bush Cook, said when he initially got the call to be a part of the festival, he and his wife thought it was someone pulling a prank. Soon afterwards, however, he received a call from an employee at Atlantis about the recommendation to be a part of the festival.

“They saw what we were doing and wanted us to be a part of the festival. We were astonished by it because we are small and being a part of such a big event like this is a great opportunity. I always wanted

to attend the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, so I love this,” said Mr Small.

At the festival, he said, they will be offering tacos.

“It is actually one of our signature tacos. It is going to be different and tasty; I can assure you of that. Just come out and look for Da Bush Cook,” he said.

Volanda Crawley, owner of The Boutique Cake, is also excited to join the team.

“I am just excited to be able to interact with locals as well as international guests and really let them experience what our culture has to offer. I am really looking forward to being a part of an event that interacts with children. I am creating a fun dessert for children; something they can partake in and break apart as they experience it,” said Ms Crawley.

“I feel like it is going to create even more younger chefs that are inspired to go on bigger platforms and be able to carry their cuisine all over the world.”

Alan Orreal, Vice President of Culinary Operations at Atlantis Paradise Island, said what the resort really wants to do is make sure guests enjoy the flavour of the Bahamas.

He spoke of the various events taking place over the course of the five days of the festival; events like Taste of Paradise, Celebrity Chef Wine Lunches and Dinners, the Ice Cream Social, Jerk Jam, Sparkles At Sunset, Sugar and Spice, and Tacos and Cocktails.

“I am really looking forward to seeing the local chefs be showcased, and for them to get the accolades they truly deserve, because food here in Nassau is amazing. We want them to be able to mix, rub shoulders with, and learn from some of these great international chefs that we are bringing to the resort,” said Mr Orreal. He said it was difficult choosing and narrowing down the list of participating chefs.

“We cast a wide net and asked folks to come and join us. Of course, the first thing they asked, ’Is it all about Atlantis?’ And the answer is no. We really want to promote food and beverage in general, and hospitality at large in the Bahamas and at Paradise Island. We are talking to a lot of people who have obviously worked here over the years. It is great to see that talent coming back and for them to be blossoming in Nassau,” said Mr Orreal.

LEE Brian Schrager talks to participating chefs about the upcoming festival

LEE Brian Schrager

Literary lives - Queen Latifah

Hail to the queen

Sir Christopher Ondaatje marvels at the achievements of the American rapper, actress, and singer – noted for her work in music, film and television. She has received a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and been nominated for an Academy Award.

Queen Latifah was born Dana Elaine Owens in Newark, New Jersey on March 18, 1970. She is the daughter of Rita Lamae and Lancelot Amos Owens, a police officer. Her parents divorced when she was ten. She was raised a Baptist but went to a Catholic school in Newark, New Jersey and graduated from Irvington High School. She found her stage name, Latifah, meaning “delicate”, in a book of Arabic names when she was eight years old and used it immediately.

She was always tall (5 feet 10 inches) and was a power forward on the high school basketball team.

When she was in her teens, producer DJ King Gemini made a demo recording of Latifah’s rap Princess of the Posse and gave it to Fab 5 Freddy, who immediately signed her to a contract. She has a distinctive contralto voice. Her first single, Wrath of My Madness, was issued in 1989. She had the ability to rap and to sing and had a powerful two-octave vocal range. She made her first album, All Hail to the Queen, that same year and the title stuck to her name. She has used it ever since.

She appeared as referee on the UK label “Music of Life” album – The Hustlers Convention, and received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1992. The single Ladies First featuring Monie Love became the first collaborative track by two female rappers.

In 1993, she released Black Reign which certified Gold in the United States, and produced the Grammy Award-winning song U.N.I.T.Y. She released her fourth hip-hop album, Order in Court, in 1998 which was released by Motown Records. She was the first rapper to perform in the 1998 Super Bowl XXXII halftime show.

After the Order in Court album, Queen Latifah got some good advice and switched to singing the more popular and marketable soul music and jazz standards. This was successful. She changed her image which led to a start in her film career and supporting roles in House Party 2, Juice and Jungle Fever. She guest starred in the NBC hit The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and as herself on Hangin’ with Mr Cooper in 1993. After that she had a starring role on Living Single from 1993 to 1998. It was very popular among Black audiences. Her mother Rita played her mother on-screen.

She had a supporting role in the Holly Hunter film Living Out Loud (1998) and played Thelma in the 1999 movie The Bone Collector with Denzel Washington. She also had her own show, The Queen Latifah Show from 1999 to 2001, and again in 2003, but cancelled in 2004. She got her big break when she got the part of Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago (2002) which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. She herself received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress but lost out to her co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In 2003, she starred with Steve Martin in Bringing Down the House – a major success at the box office, and had various supporting roles in Scary Movie 3, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Taxi, and Hairspray. In 2006 she appeared in Last Holiday of which Richard Roeper said:

“This is the Queen Latifah performance I’ve been waiting for ever since she broke into movies.”

– Richard Roeper Film Critic

Before the movie came out, she released the soul-jazz standard The Dana Owens Album. She was popular and continued new arrangements including California Dreaming, and an album Trav’lin Light (2007) with other artists including Stevie Wonder. It was nominated for a Grammy Award but didn’t win. Invited to return to HipHop she made All Hail the Queen II, and sang a duet with Tony Bennett in his Duets 2 album. She appeared with Dolly Parton on 106 & Park to promote Joyful Noise.

The 2007 film The Perfect Holiday was produced by Queen Latifah and she appeared in the crime-comedy opposite Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes. She played in The Secret Life of Bees in 2008, and was a presenter at the 81st Academy Award in 2009, and spoke at Michael Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles. That same year she hosted The People’s Choice Awards, and sang America the Beautiful at the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. She hosted the BET Awards in 2010 and starred with Dolly Parton in 2012 in Joyful Noise. One year later she

again hosted her own daytime television show, The Queen Latifah Show. Not above criticism, she controversially officiated at the weddings of 33 same-sex and opposite-sex couples at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

In 2015, she starred in the leading role as Bessie Smith in Bessie – an HBO film and one of her finest performances. The film earned a total of twelve Emmy nominations. She cites Bessie Smith as being one of her main singing influences. She had the vocal range to be able to sing Smith’s songs in the film – an incredible achievement.

On April 26, 2017, MTV announced that Latifah would be an executive producer for the TV series Scream. The TV series premiered on 8 July 2019. Latifah played the sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid Live! The Hollywood Reporter called her performance “the best moment of the evening.”

CBS has also announced her new TV series, The Equalizer, starring Latifah, in 2021.

Quite early in her career Queen Latifah’s lyrics were described as Afrocentric because she dressed in Afrocentric attire in public performances

– which became her trademark, but she was described as:

“Politically sophisticated … and worlds apart from the adolescent, buffoonish sex orientation of most rap.”

Her strong intelligent no-nonsense persona made her arguably the first rapper who could properly be described as feminist. However, Latifah specifically stated that she did not identify as a feminist, and that her music was not exclusively for the female audience.

“Black female rappers likely did not identify with feminism during that time because it was perceived as a movement that focused primarily on white women’s issues.”

- Tricia Rose Author

Queen Latifah is a celebrity spokeswoman for Cover Girl cosmetics and Curvation women’s underwear. She has her own line of cosmetics for women of colour called Cover Girl Queen Collection. She has also launched a perfume called Queen, and Queen of Hearts. She has written a book on confidence called Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman.

Queen Latifah has long been a resident of Colts Neck, New Jersey; Rumson, New Jersey; and Beverly Hills, California. She has refused to discuss speculation about her sexuality and personal life.

“I didn’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not.”

Queen Latifah The New York Times

In the January 2020, episode of Finding Your Roots Latifah learned that she was descended from a line of freed slaves, as her ancestors were listed by name in the US pre-civil war census of

1860. The exact date her ancestors became free was October 1, 1792.

Several media publications have referred to Latifah as the Queen of Rap – including New York magazine. She achieved groundbreaking success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was by far the most recognisable female rapper.

“She was certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bonafide star.”

– Steve Huey All Music

“She was rap’s first feminist and one of the few women to make a mark in the male-dominated field of rap music.”

In her music career Queen Latifah has sold over two million albums in the United States. She has rightly been cited as a major influence on R&B, soul, and hip-hop music. She is the first hiphop recording star to be nominated for an Oscar, Chicago (2002), and the first to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is the recipient of a Grammy Award from six nominations, a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards from five nominations, two NAACP Image Awards from thirteen nominations, one Primetime Emmy Award from three nominations, and an Academy Award nomination.

She received a Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Rutgers University in 2018.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia.

– Michelle Wallace

The New York Times

–

LATIFAH in her Oscar-nominated performance as Mama Morton in ‘Chicago’.

THE “Godfather of Gangsta Rap” Eazy-E & Queen Latifah in 1994

LATIFAH in the hit sitcom ‘90s ‘Living Single’

New Providence circa 1700

Today, I offer my fourth article taken from Goerge Burbank Shattuck’s 1905 book ‘The Bahama Islands’. I have added a map of New Providence of the period covered.

“The colony at New Providence did not attract large numbers of settlers. It had a small force of defenders, generally less than fifty in number, and was consequently a prey for the spoiler.

It was taken from the Spaniards in June 1666, and Major Samuel Smith was sent from Jamaica, with a small force, to hold and govern it, in the name of King Charles II.

The Spaniards assailed it again, but without success. and it continued in the hands of the English. Sir James Modyford, a brother of the Governor of Jamaica, was commissioned as Governor of the Bahamas in 1666.

The efforts to colonise these Islands had, thus far, had meagre results. Little had been done to secure peace and safety. A more dignified effort was authorized by

Charles II, in 1670, when he granted the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas a charter for the establishment of a government in the Bahamas and charged them to give these Islands the same kind of government as the Carolinas.

Captain John Wentworth was made Governor in 1671, with instructions to choose a Council, which should propose bills to the local parliament, for passage. He was further instructed to permit no person either to cut braziletto wood without licence except on his own estate, or to coast for ambergris or wrecks, or fish for whales without license. In the following year the new Governor complained to the Governor of Jamaica that his colony of five hundred souls had been left without the means of protection, and that the Proprietors had issued no commands to him about it. He also asked for supplies from Jamaica.

The need of more adequate defences was shown in January 1684, when a number of Spanish ships from Havana, under Juan de Larco,

captured and plundered the town of Nassau.

It would seem that the Spanish were not without provocation for this descent upon Nassau, for one Robert Clarke, who was Governor at the time, acting without authority from London, had issued commissions to privateers to prey on Spanish commerce. As soon as this insubordination was discovered in London, a successor was sent out with instructions to arrest Clarke and send him back to England for trial. But England was too late. Lilburne the new Governor, was attempting to cheek the evils resulting from the conduct of his predecessor when the Spanish appeared and sacked the town. The Spanish were now thoroughly angered. To their minds there were two reasons why Englishmen might be preyed upon: first, they were despised as heretics, and second, they had no rights in these seas and territories that had been granted to Spain, by the Pope.

Under such conditions trading became hazardous in the Bahamas and no Englishman could venture near them, without a convoy. Protests were of no avail. The Spanish Governor-General at Havana only sent back defiant messages, whenever appeals were made to him, to put an end to the depredations. But the Spanish were not long to enjoy the possession of New Providence. The English Governor was soon restored, and, with his return to Nassau, a new period of piracy was ushered in.

Buccaneering was indulged in freely by the inhabitants of the place. For brief periods, to be sure, during the next thirty years attempts were made to preserve law and order, but without avail, as so large a number of the population was engaged in piracy or, at least, in sympathy with it, that it was not possible for the government, with the force at its command, to stamp it out. A law-and-order governor was intolerable to the rovers. If he would not join in, or at least connive at, their conduct, he would be taken prisoner and held by the pirates.

In l703-4, when a combined French and Spanish expedition took the settlement by surprise and carried away the principal inhabitants to Havana, the pirates reigned with a freer hand than ever before.

Piracy, with this settlement as a base, became such, a menace to the commerce passing through these waters that merchants in Great Britain pressed upon George I to put a stop to it. The Lords Proprietors, who had so poorly succeeded in their enterprise, surrendered their control of the civil government to the Crown, and in 1718 Captain Woodes Rogers, a hardy and fearless seaman, became Governor of Nassau. He restored order, punished or drove out the buccaneers, and made the place a respectable one, in which to live. He was supported with forces sufficient to establish his control, and with funds to make fortifications, for security against invaders. The Colony prospered from this time, attracting numerous settlers, among whom was a company of German Protestants from the Palatinate. More extensive fortifications were undertaken in 1738, under the direction of Peter Henry Bruce, of the engineer corps of the Royal Navy. He has left an interesting account of his work here in his memoirs.”

• For questions and comments, please send an e-mail to islandairman@ gmail.com

Misconceptions regarding animals

By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters

When the Bahamas Humane Society was established 99 years ago, it was predominantly to care for and protect horses and donkeys used to pull carts and heavy loads. Not surprisingly, these animals were not treated well, frequently underfed and subjected to abuse. Not much has changed with how we treat our animals in the Bahamas except that, with the exception of the surrey horse, the emphasis has moved from horses and donkeys to domesticated animals such as dogs and cats.

The general neglect of dogs and cats is mystifying and distressing. The average person appears to show little or no compassion towards any animal, they react as if animals have no feelings, and need no consideration. How is it possible for us to have reached 2023 and still have these archaic misconceptions?

Somebody recently told me that she was talking to a man in the islands and in one sentence he expressed two whopping inaccuracies. He said he wanted a potcake from Nassau because they are so much better than potcakes in the islands and that he wanted a potcake because you do not have to feed them.

Oh wow! Where do you start with dispelling that kind of nonsense?

Of course, there is no difference between the potcake here or there, except that the dogs at the Bahamas Humane Society are well fed and cared for so they will appear “better”, especially if you work on the assumption that potcakes do not need feeding.

Now just stop a minute here and understand that this man was not joking; he was not being facetious, he was being dead serious.

The potcake comes from a long line of scavengers through necessity, not choice. They upend garbage cans, graze through dumps, pick up trash from the side of the road, and somehow fill their bellies. This, as we well know, does not mean that he does not need to be fed.

But that gentleman honestly believed that his potcake would be self-feeding (one step away from the self-cleaning oven). Those of us who own potcakes and treat them properly know how very dependent they are on human companionship and our care. However, the dump puppy is never too far from the surface; you leave your trash in a vulnerable position or a meatloaf on the edge of the counter in the kitchen and you will pay the price.

Then, there is the person who looks at you pointblank and assures you that animals do not feel pain. Not all animals express pain as we do. When somebody is bludgeoning a turtle or shark, they do not yell and scream the way we do, but I assure you, they feel it. Just see them try and get away.

Animals fear just as we do and they feel pain too, but they do not necessarily react in the same way as we do. There is a group who only believe it if they see a reaction they can personally relate to. They, strangely enough, tend to be the same group of people who want their animal to experience motherhood. Hang on, you say that they can’t feel pain, don’t need to be fed, but

pet of the week

A young pup at the start of his adventure

By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY

Seven-month-old Naruto has been at the Bahamas Humane Society since he was just a wee young thing. His sister’s been adopted and he’s hoping that the residual magic in the air from Valentine’s Day will help him find an adopter, too.

Naruto, presumably named after the famous manga and anime of the same name, is good with other dogs and doesn’t seem to mind having

you now credit them with the very human desire to experience having a family… Talk about mixed ideas!

The men protect their male dog from being fixed as they loudly protest as if the surgery was destined for them not Fido.

When you lay out all the beliefs and misconceptions, you see that they are totally unconnected and contain no logic but err to the side of “convenience” for the human spewing out this nonsense without a second thought. All at the cost of animal suffering.

So, now our biggest challenge is to get rid of the misconceptions of pet ownership and our role in their lives.

Dogs and cats are companion animals. They have evolved in the presence of humans and coexisted with humans for so many centuries that there is, indeed, a strong connection and codependency between

us. Dogs and cats should be considered sentient beings.

A sentient being is one who perceives and responds to sensations of whatever kind - sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell. We need to move this nation into recognising our animals as sentient beings with basic rights.

How do we right the wrongs, how do we reach people and make them understand that they are misinformed?

How do we reeducate and replace notions long ingrained into people’s minds?

How do we replace disregard and disrespect for animals with compassion and concern. We have a huge challenge to turn things around and I believe that if we can make people embrace kindness and understanding towards all creatures, they will in turn be kinder and nicer to each other…but oh my goodness, where to start?

cats about. He’s quite friendly and is hoping to be included in the volunteer dog walks soon (if he’s not yet adopted, that is).

Will you help Naruto become a leader in your house? Come meet him at the BHS or call 325-6742 for more information. Naruto looks forward to meeting you!

• Looking for some exercise?

Want to help socialise some of the adoption dogs? Then come and join the weekly dog walks; Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10am. For more information, check out the volunteering/fostering for Bahamas Humane Society page at Facebook. It’s a fun way to help the dogs experience some ‘out of cage’ time!

(Photo by Linda Gill-Aranha)

An interactive community market for the 21st century

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

The new I Discover - The Village is more than just a craft and food market.

It is a unique one-of-a-kind immersive experience, featuring crafts, food and culturally rich experiences.

“We have a motto: visitors don’t just see this market, they do it. And we say ‘Don’t just visit, discover’,” said founder Tehranique Miller-Darrell.

“We have 16 vendors selling a unique array of Bahamian products. No two vendors are selling the same thing. We were very strategic about that, because we didn’t want there to have to be any competition between two vendors selling the same items that may have led to haggling,” she explained.

They also offer several unique features not often seen at other local markets.

For a small fee, guests can sign up for a workshop where they will learn how to make the souvenir they are interested in purchasing.

“How often can you do that where you can actually meet the person who is making the product that you want to buy and have them teach you how to make it?”

Additionally, they have a children’s area where kids can enjoy their own craft session, leaving parents a chance to shop alone,

“I have kids and so I understand what it is like to be trying to shop with kids, and this way they have a clean and safe space inside with AC where they get can stay while parents enjoy the village,” said Tehranique.

The farmers market offers special curated produce boxes featuring seasonal and fresh produce. Customers can also purchase fish bags and seedlings (to encourage backyard farming)

“We also have food and drinks vendors as well,” Tehranique added.

“We offer cooking classes where you can learn to make some of the food that is offered. We cater to all skill levels, so it can be as simple as making a guava pancake to more complex items like lobster thermidor.”

The village concept of the market also seeks to minimise wastage and create synergy between vendors.

“So, for example, we have one vendor who may sell coconut water, while another uses the husk to make something else. We have a vendor who cooks the conch and then the shell is used for something else, and so we close the loop and utilise as many parts as much as possible,” said Tehranique.

There are also a number of eco tours available for students as well as nature walks to identify

invasive and non-invasive species and other insects and plants.

Other excursions include ‘Yoga in the Bush’, a ‘Retreat and Eat’ meditative walk and yoga session in the forest, and ‘Tea in the Trees’, a guided walk with a Bahamian tea sampling.

“This market was three years in the making due to surveying and funding, and then of course COVID made us pivot. I had to leave my job so I

could devote myself to getting this up and running,” said Tehranique.

I Discover - The Village opened three weeks ago at its site on St Albans Drive and is open to the public every Saturday and Sunday .

If there is demand, Tehranique said they may open on additional days.

“So far the feedback has been really good and we are looking to further engage the local community,” she added.