St. Lucy Ambassadors bring credit to their Parish again

St Lucy reigned supreme as they retained the title for Most Outstanding Parish Ambassadors 2022. Under the leadership of chairperson Anderson Rollock, the St. Lucy Parish Independence Committee set a high bar and their representatives Paul Cato and Chloe Collymore were up for the challenge. Saturday night’s Spirit of the Nation show signalled a return of the to the Sir Garfield Sobers Complex after a virtual event last year. Participants faced off before the judges in Public Speaking, Costume, Formal Wear and with their Parish Projects. 

The winning pair were strong throughout and when the points were tabulated the duo seemed poised for certain victory. Team St. Lucy was in winners’ row for several of the categories, even when they did not take first prize they were among the frontrunners. They took top honours in Public Speaking and Attendant of the Year was captured by their own Tony Pompey. He beat out Marsha Greenridge of St. Michael into second place and Janine White from St. Peter into third . White showed her dedication to the role on competition night stepping in to model their costume when their ambassador Sierra Hurley suffered an asthma attack just before she was set to appear. 

St. Lucy’s dominance continued with first place for Parish Project of the Year and the Productivity Award for their project called Entrepreneurship A Pathway for Growing a Stronger We. St. George placed second with Follow Our Lead Plant a Seed and St. Michael were third with Through Education and Entrepreneurship . Public Relations Officer Shemilia Scantlebury snagged third place for St. Lucy for Committee Member of the Year. Nicole Collymore of St. Peter and Michelle Shepherd of Christ Church came first and second in this category, respectively. 

Team St. Michael’s Tyrell Burnett and Samantha Greaves came second as Most Outstanding Ambassadors to the elation of their vocal supporters. Their designer Neil Stanley copped Best Costume for their eye-catching designs. 

St. Andrew’s Tremaine Trotman and Peta Watson was adjudged third amongst the Most Outstanding Ambassadors. This pair also walked away with the Designer’s Award for Best Formal Wear for their Lester Welch designed attire. Rounding out the top four for the coveted Outstanding Ambassadors was St. Philip with partners Simone Williams and Derek Anderson. They came second in the Public Speaking segment incorporating sign language into their presentation while St. James came third in that category. 

St. Thomas was the convincing winner in the Spirit of the Nation Show Parish Talent. Vocalist Shem White performed an outstanding rendition of Gabby’s Emmerton. His vocals were powerful, and his stage presence was commanding as he added notes of spouge to the song. It was no surprise that he was awarded Most Impactful. Second place went to St. Lucy’s Damien Bishop for his comedic dramatic piece the Old Pray. Lashawna Griffith gave Christ Church something to cheer about as she secured the Most Original Act and also third place in the talent segment for her spoken word piece The Belch of Racism Has a Pungent Odour. 

As patrons awaited the results they enjoyed a fantastic presentation by local band 2 Mile Hill. They opened their set with two of their original tracks titled Talk to Me and Big Love. They got the audience riled up with a dub segment that was followed by a singalong session of Barbadian folk songs Cocoa Tea , Milly Gone to Brazil and John Belly Mama. Keeping it local they played homage to superstar Rihanna with a medley of her hit songs. 

After the announcement chairperson Rollock was elated with the win and was moved to tears as he spoke with the media. For him it was about seeing the hard work and dedication pay off and he was thankful for the team effort. He noted: “Special mention must go to my project coordinators Janice Springer and Olivia Sobers, they really helped execute an excellent project and the entire team, the ambassadors , the attendant. We had no issues at all this year, they listened to what we said, they took our guidance, our advice and once you do what you have to do, you put in the work the results will come.” He assured that it was all done to make their parish proud. (STT)