Basil's big bash!

Well, he has done it again! Popular fisherman Basil Bennett brought together friends and relatives from near and far for his annual customer appreciation party.

It is the 10th consecutive year that this avid fisherman has sought to let everyone have a good time - catching and preparing 800 pounds of fish, 40 pounds conch, 30 pounds lobster, festival and bammy, and served it at his restaurant on the beach in Parottee, St Elizabeth, on Sunday, February 14.

On entering the premises, the popular
We're Having A Party Tonight
by Leroy Sibbles greeted guests, indicating that good times were ahead.

A few more songs from Sibbles were played, then it was time for an unbroken segment of the reggae crooner, Beres Hammond. Adults and parents felt at ease to indulge their children because over the years, Bennett's event has earned the reputation of being one for family with clean and cultural music throughout the day into late night.

Bennett says he goes fishing from midnight to dawn over a period and stores his catch for the party. "I used to do this while I was in Canada where I usually held a bottle party," he says.

Bennett has been a fisherman since 1972 and migrated to Canada in 1976 where he built canoes and sold them to hunters. After seven years, he returned home and resumed fishing - a trade he cherishes.

He started out on a small scale and, as time went by, it has grown beyond expectations.

Bennett's niece Pauline Higgins, a social worker based in Birmingham, England, returns to Jamaica three times a year, but religiously during February to celebrate with her uncle.

"I believe in the vision of Jamaicans prospering and I really admire what my uncle is doing. Most importantly, it is the unspoilt environment that keeps beckoning," says Higgins.