Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

Former Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica Claudio Valle, and Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, in Osoppo, Italy, recently. - Contributed

My dears, the nouveau riche who were being aided and abetted by spurious investments schemes have now fallen on very hard times. Their penchant for conspicuous consumption and other in-your-face activities has come to a screeching halt, and then some, as the party is now definitely over. But not soon enough for those who had grown tired of smugness that had replaced industry and hard work.

While the party may be over for them, another is just beginning, as members of the old school are now getting ready to celebrate their shortfall. More anon. The theme for the first party planned for a Cherry Gardens locale is: 'My money is still in the bank, where's yours?'

NDTC Season

Then my dears, as some lament their new state of indebtedness, the culturally aware are all set to celebrate the National Dance Theatre Company's annual season of dance, which premieres its 46th season tonight, at the Little Theatre on Tom Redcam Avenue.

Dears, with the company's principal choreographer promising a mix of the old with a blend of the new, y'all know that this is the ultimate celebration and culmination of our heritage season, and thus is the only do in town this weekend.

And speaking of things cultural, word out of Italy is that our Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, was the toast of the recently concluded annual Reggae Festival in Osoppo, Italy, where she joined Canada's former High Commissioner to Jamaica, H.E. Claudio Valle (he being Italian by birth and maintains a summer house in his native land) and his fab wife Louise Valle, and thousands of music lovers to celebrate.

Luvs, the buzz is this was one mega festival, and Minister Grange, an excellent ambassador, her message of unity, hope and transformation of the world through music with reggae at the forefront of that change, went down particularly well and earned her rave reviews.

Music and heritage

And on the subject of music and heritage, my dears, word out of the Mexican Embassy here is that Her Excellency, Ambassador Leonora Rueda, is all set to jazz up this Mexican National Day celebration here, with a touch of authentic Mexican music and heritage, as plans are well advanced to fly in a Mexican Mariachi and dancers for her country's National Day celebration. Dears, more anon, so wait for it.

And speaking of celebrations, it was party time last Sunday, my dears, as Montego Bay's first lady of journalism, Janet Silvera, don her dancing shoes and party get-up, as she celebrated her birthday with the gusto and style for which she is much admired. The buzz is it was all that, and then some!

On Monday, however, it was another media darling, the fab Angela Patterson, who was blowing out the candles on her birthday cake to mark another year of the fab life.

And with only a year now to go for her very own sweet 16 birthday celebration, young Ashleigh Fernandez is all anticipation for the same time, this time next year, as she marks her 15th birthday tomorrow.

Happy birthday all around.

The fab Melanie Ghisays flew in quietly for some family time.

Fun in the sun

British hairstylist to European royalty, music and fashion stars, Paul Windle, arrives next week for some fun in the sun.

Then, my darlings, while some talk, others do.

Luvs, much has been said and written about the need to channel the creative and intellectual potential of our young men, before they fall into the subcultural machismo that not only glorifies violence, but sees it as the necessary means to an end. Precious few have taken concrete steps to stem the flow, or even implement measures to curtail the rush to decay.

One organisation not talking empty platitudes but actually making a difference is Generating Genius.

A registered charitable organisation with a mandate to establish and manage a science centre for young men and boys, who display the intellectual curiosity and or propensity, because of economic circumstance would normally fall short of making the grade, Generating Genius, represents an innovative approach to curbing the intellectual decay and thus social decline. The programme that had its genesis in a residential summer school for boys and young men at the University of the West Indies, is headed by businesswoman Muna Issa. It seeks to channel the energies of those identified, into the enterprising endeavours to be found in areas of science and technology, while teaching social skills to enable them to be better able to function overall.

With the stated objective of creating at least one science centre in each parish, the official launch of this new initiative will be this Sunday, at the presentation ceremony for this year's summer programme graduates at the UWI (Mona) Rex Nettleford multi-purpose hall, that will see the Hon. Barbara Gloudon, as guest speaker. This is a more than worthy programme, affording all the opportunity to contribute in an effort to arrest the decline and decay of our young men and society.

Patterson

Ghisays

Issa