Excellence above all

From police officers to a lecturer at the University of the West Indies the SOS Children’s Village Jamaica recognized success through their awards ceremony at Round Hill Resort and Villas.

“We are celebrating excellence. There are a number of individuals who grew up in the SOS family and despite early challenges in life; they have made a successful transition into independent living and making a meaningful contribution in society” the national director for the SOS Children’s Village Jamaica Gregory Wint, explained during the awards ceremony.

The SOS Children’s Village Jamaica honoured 17 individuals who have now moved on to be employed in the financial, education, security and hospitality sector.

According to Wint it is important to recognize their excellence in a bid to inspire other children in similar circumstances to do just as well.

“We have committed staffs that are really devoted to these children who see these children as their own and that is what we expect of the mothers and I think that the family- oriented model that we have is very unique” the national director for the SOS Children’s Village Jamaica explained when asked what is their recipe for success.

Michael Sutherland, an employee at the National Commercial Bank was once a child as SOS Children’s Village and gave a warm reflection of his life at the facility that he credits to his success today.

“The loved they showed and are still showing me is one to emulate. Some may beg to differ but being at the SOS Children’s Village Jamaica was a privilege and opportunity in disguise. Not many children in the society can attest what a family is even though we are not biological related I am blessed to have been there” Sutherland noted.

He added that over that he has learnt that being a leader is better than a follower and it was through the lessons that he learnt at the home that he applied in his daily life.

The SOS Children’s Village Jamaica was founded in 1970 by Dr. Harland Hastings, John Rollins and Heinz Simonitsch.

A Smirnoff Dream at Yush party

 

Sounds of the 90s were never as musically entertaining as it was at the Dream Weekend Yush beach party at Margaritaville in Negril over Emancipation weekend.

As one of the signature events of Dream Weekend the mega beach party was a haven for great entertainment and with five premium bars partygoers were able to get responsibly intoxicated by the delicious Smirnoff mix drinks available.

From as early as 10 p.m. ‘Dreamers’ began pouring into the venue to ensure that they had an opportunity to experience this ultra all-inclusive party event which did not disappoint on its bid to keep the crowd dancing until the last song stopped playing at minutes past 4 a.m. Sunday morning.

Every 30 minutes ZJ Liquid along with members of Renaissance and Coppershot sound system interchanged music of the 90s and current hits from dancehall and hip hop but it was the sounds from the 90s that had the crowd in constant frenzy and showed that music from that era is still relevant and appreciated.

Members of the dancehall fraternity showed that Yush was the place to be as Wayne Marshall and Bounty Killer enjoyed the musical spins by ZJ Liquid along with members of Renaissance and Coppershot from the high-level VIP area.

Following a successful performance at this year’s Reggae Sumfest dancehall artiste Aidonia made a special appearance at Yush and his presence was electrifying.

With tracks like Bad People and War Time Aidonia had the crowd rocking to his hits which required him to do several encore. However, was his song Uku Bit which sent the ladies in frenzy and had them gyrating until his 10 minute performance came to a close.

Dancer turned deejay Chi Ching Ching made everyone know that “we party everyday”. Nonetheless, he made some valid points about satisfying with whatever it is one has in life.

“If mi a drink Hennessy and yu a drink Heineken, drink wha yu have! If mi have Clarks and yu have on Nike Air, wear wha yu have!” the entertainer reiterated  in reference to satisfying with what or who you have to much applause from the audience.

ATI close in fine style

It was sounds of musical greatest from several local and international music selectors to bring ATI’s Stages to exhilarating end following days of non-stop partying along the Norman Boulevard strip in Negril.

From Black Chiney, Tony Matterhorn, DJ Karyzma to VJ Elite, Renaissance and Miami-based selector Renegade the ultra all inclusive Stages party delivered on the expectations to provide a variety of musical entertainment for patrons.

Absolute Entertainment, the promoter of the ATI series of parties transformed the lawns of Yaard Negril into a den of entertainment. VIP band holders had an opportunity to experience exclusivity at its best when the air-conditioned Red Bull-sponsored VIP was created to feel as if one was in a nightclub.

The usual pile up of traffic which created hours of traffic nightmare each year in Negril was absent as there were strictly enforce no parking along the roadway. In turn, this was excellent news for partygoers who were able to get to their respective parties in time with little or no hassle.

According to Alex Chin of Absolute Entertainment this year saw each party for ATI being hosted at different locations. This logic, he noted was “to offer patrons a different experience each night, so person did not have to come back to the same venue of each event. We wanted everyone to feel a different vibe every day”.

He further added that the line-up of music selectors was much more varied than in previous years. This he noted was to ensure that the events did not become monotonous when you have the same disc jockeys playing at every event.

“One of the complains that we had was that there was too much of the same music selection being played at each event, so we decided to change it up a bit this year and added others into the mix and it has worked well so far” Chin explained.

Dubbed the Pathway to Paris the final party Dolcè offered a fashionable close to four days of untamed entertainment.

ATI Photo Highlights

Well this young lady seem to know a lot about aerodynamics

Designer Ernesto and his models at ATI  in Negril

Elephant Man at ATI's Stages party in Negril

ATI beauties

Keeping it simple at ATI party in Negril

Naked Fun at ATI's Impy Skimpy

More party space, less clothes equated to a great vibe at the ATI’s Impy Skimpy kick-off party in Negril over the Emancipation weekend which set the pace for what was an excellent weekend of partying.

The usual pile up of traffic that almost became synonymous with the staging of the annual events in Negril was absent on Friday night as there were strictly enforce no parking along the roadway. In turn, this was excellent news for partygoers who were able to get to their respective parties in time with little or no hassle.

Not even the presence of Olympic and World champion track star Usain Bolt could have the party vibe ending quickly as Tony Matterhorn had the capacity filled Wavz Beach dancing to hits of his own along with Vybz Kartel and Beenie Man.

With more party space than was available last year to jump start the ATI party, loyal fans and newcomers to ATI took advantage of the open space that filled rapidly as music thudded through the speakers and the invitation of selectors encouraging persons to come in and share the vibe.

Among the list of ATI activities that are expected to offer an exhilarating experience over the July 30- August 2 weekend are Tempted Glow, Pretty in Pink, Wildsides, Stages and Dolce.

With Hyperlink selectors at the helm of earlier musical entertainment, female patrons were the epitome of bare as you dare as many skimpily clad ladies and their enthused male counterparts were given an opportunity to excite their entertainment crave.

 As avid party goers toss their shoes aside and massaged their toes in the sand DJ Kentucky took patrons back to basics with the classics of hip hop and dancehall favourites.

 

Now 10 years-old ATI has shown how much they have matured with the excellent production and quality of parties that the offer to their patrons and drawing thousands of Jamaicans and tourist to the town of Negril annually to participate is what is described as the best parties in one weekend.