- WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Ecuadorian Consul Clelia Barreto de Hunter (left) has Candy DePass and Robert MacMillan in stitches with her antics. MacMillan, who is Jamaica's consul to Iceland, hosted a reception for the visiting Icelandic permanent representative to the United Nations and the Caribbean at his home on West King's House Road last Friday night.
Chester Francis-Jackson, Gleaner Writer
MY DEARS, it was the kind of a Friday night that lesser mortals would not only dread hosting a cocktail reception, precious few would indeed, even consider it! Fewer even, with the means to not only throw a do, but a fab one at that!
Now dears, y'all know that with the annual Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in full swing over there in Montego Bay, conventional wisdom was that Kingston would be pretty much a social ghost town, as indeed, the belief here is that the chic, fab, well-to-do and the social denizens would all be heading for the second city for some fine music and high-profiling.
Not so my dears as indeed, last Friday, Kingston was abuzz with the cache and lure of the well-to-do and the fabulous, as some of the first city's better-known hosts opted to eschew the rush of traffic and the crowd heading for Mon-tego Bay and jazz, for a number of intimately divine dinners and or receptions. And doves, it made for a simply marvellous Friday!
Dears, last Friday saw the ending of the annual 'Diplomatic Week' celebrations. Sweet-things, even though it rained buckets way into the afternoon and late evening, and Kingston emptied itself as many headed for the north coast mecca of Montego Bay, Kingston's finest snob-society was not about to let a little thing like cloud bursts, or even a fabulously happening like jazz festival with the likes of Julio Iglisias, Dionne Warrick, and other stars of the genre, rain on their social parades.
And so my dears, it was all systems go, and fabulously so, as St. Andrew 'A' Crowder, bon-vivant and raconteur, Robert MacMillan, the honorary consul general of the Kingdom of Iceland, threw open the portals to his faultlessly-appointed hacienda-styled St. Andrew residence, and hosted what proved a simply spotlessly faultless 'little' reception, in honour of the visiting Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations Ambassador Hjalmar Hannesson and his charming wife Anna Hannesson.
Doves, it was a hot and buzzing reception that not even the intermittent sprinkling of raindrops did anything to damper. Pumpkins, we are talking a definite tenner on the social Richter Scale as indeed, snob-society and the très-fab were all out and in fine spirits sharing each other's company over libations and a fabulous fare catered by the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, whose battery of staffers were on hand seeing to the every need of the numerous guests in attendance.
Luvs, hosted at the celebrated poolside of the famous house, the affair made for one august do, made that much more so by the absolute continental atmosphere that was de rigueur. This was truly an international gathering with guests speaking in 'tongues' and then some!
Those present included: MP Delroy Chuck; Ambassador Douglas Saunders and Angela Robertson; Dean of the Diplomatic Corp, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago Dennis Francis; The non-resident Finnish Ambassador to the Region Dr. Ora Meres-Wuori and wife Tulla; the non-resident Swiss Ambassador Bertrand Louis; Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of the Russian Federation Edward Malayan; German Ambassador Dr. Christian Hausmann and his lovely wife Harriett Huber; French Ambassador Francis Hurtut; Spanish Ambassador Rafael and Lola Jover; Deputy Chief of Mission Spanish Embassy, Jaume Segura Socias and his lovely wife Leonor Socias; Third Secretary of the British High Commission, Mark Waller and his betrothed Wendy McMinn; U.S. Embassy Military Attaché, Cdr. Martin Hundley; U.S. Peace Corp Director; Suchet Loois; Honorary Consul of Finland Andrew Issa; Honorary Consul of Ecuador Clelia Baretto de Hunter; Honorary Consul of Switzerland Peter Bangerter and wife Fay; Ambassador Dr. Matthew Beaubrun; the oh-so-lovely Judy-Ann MacMillan; Roy and Sylvia Collister; Chris and Michelle Bovell; the charmingly grand Jennifer Lim; Anthony Abrahams; Rosa Ramsay; Leicester and Belinda Levy; Harold Brady; John Burrows and companion Judy-Angel Markes; Stephen Facey; Tom and Rose Tavares Finson; David McNair; Brian Rosen; Candy DePass; Cleto Parkinson; James and Marina Gill; Geoff Brown; Glena Russell; Chris and Michelle Mitchell; Kimmy Lindo; Ron Bordeaux; Ken and Juliet Wilson; Owen Harry; Inell Atkinson plus several others.
Well pumpkins, it was like that; a fabulous night, plus quite the apropos note on which to end Diplomatic Week - a celebration of our international relations!
