Organizers and participants of the first Caribbean Tourism Summit (ACTS) will tackle a behemoth and critical topic - the economic future of the Caribbean region - at their gathering in Washington June 21 through June 24 at the International Trade Center at the Ronald Reagan Building.
Organized by the Caribbean Tourism Development Co., a marketing and business development company owned by the Caribbean Hotel Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the event will attract high-ranking officials from the tourism, investment and government sectors.
Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be the keynote speaker and consultant Auliana Poon, managing director and senior partner of Tourism Intelligence International, and Myles Munroe, founder and senior pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, also will speak. The summit will include an exhibition, conferences, and a gala awards dinner and ball.
“This conference is a rare opportunity to take a close look at the key issues and solutions that will grow tourism and investment revenue in the region,” said Peter Odle, co-chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Development Co. For information, visit www.actsdc.com.
3-1-1 picks up new languages
The city is expanding its 3-1-1 Customer Service Center, and the public will get the message in Haitian Creole and six other languages.
Mayor Bloomberg announced last week that the city’s 3-1-1 staff would include specially trained operators to handle requests for social service information, such as immigration and naturalization help, domestic violence counseling and senior services, starting this month.
An outreach campaign for the program will spread the 3-1-1 message - “Your city. Your needs. Your number.” - through advertisements in Haitian Creole, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and English.
Boost your computer skills
Are you computer-challenged? Take advantage of the free classes in basic computer skills offered at the Caribbean American Center of New York, 195 Cadman Plaza West (near Tillary St.) in downtown Brooklyn. The sessions take place Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Space is limited. Call 718-625-1515 or send e-mail to jpa3697@aol.com.
Young blood joins show for Mom
This year’s Mother’s Day Caribbean Festival is not the same old Mother’s Day show, according the head of Afro-Caribbean Entertainment, producers of the long-running, two-day concert.
Soca superstars Patrice Roberts and Nadia Batson and the hot rapso trio 3 Canal will be part of the new, young blood joining a lineup of tried-and-true Caribbean music veterans at the 2008 edition of the festival on Saturday and next Sunday at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn College.
Featured will be Edwin Yearwood of Barbados, Jamesy P of St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago‘s 2008 Calypso Monarch Sugar Aloes and popular veterans Crazy, Scrunter, Black Stalin and Lord Nelson, former Byron Lee orchestra vocalist Lima Calbio, Dominica soca stars Dice and Hunter, the Cheryl Byron and Something Positive dance ensemble and host Sprangalang.
Showtimes are 8 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $40, $50 and $60. Call the Brooklyn Center box office at 718-951-4500 and call 718-771-1128 and 917-447-2323 for neighborhood ticket outlets.
Reggae superstars at MSG
Music stars Super Cat, Barrington Levy and Buju Banton will star in the CaribbeanFever.com presentation “Icons,” a concert taking place Saturday at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Showtime is 8 p.m.
Special guest star Kayla Bliss rounds out the lineup for the big show. Ticket prices range from $74 to $150. For tickets and information, call 212-629-1893 or visit CaribbeanFever.com or Ticketmaster.com.
Caribbean community symposium
“Renaissance to Evolution, Sustaining the Caribbean-American Community” will be the focus of the Carlos Lezama Archives and Caribbean Cultural Center’s third annual symposium, which will be held Saturday at Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.
Panelists will discuss how to maintain and improve upon successes by Caribbean-Americans in areas such as education, health, economic development and politics.
There also will be three scholarships available for eligible high school and college students who present a written synopsis of the event’s discussion.
For information and criteria for the scholarship competition, visit www.claccc.org.
Ruby Weston Manor turns 10
Residents and staff at the Ruby Weston Manor, the East New York, Brooklyn, long-term care and rehabilitation facility on Linden Blvd., will celebrate the institution’s 10th anniversary this year.
With events taking place on the 10th day of each month in 2008, the facility’s “10 for 10 on the 10th” celebration kicked off in March with a lecture on elder care, health care proxies and other topics.
Upcoming events include an art exhibition, a health fair, a Coney Island outing and a dinner dance. All events are open to the public. Visit www.rwmanor.com for more information.
This column is reprinted from the May 4 Sunday editions of The New York Daily News. If you have any items suitable for this column please e-mail them to jmccallister@nydailynews.com.
