“Destination Hanover,” a weeklong event-filled homecoming affair for residents and tourists, will be taking place August 3 in Jamaica’s Hanover parish.
Although Hanover is one of the island nation’s smallest parishes, its influence can be seen in its past and present. The parish is the birthplace of Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica’s first prime minister and a national hero; track star Merlene Ottey and former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
“Destination Hanover” - a homecoming for some and a Caribbean vacation treat for tourists - will feature a church service and choir performance, the Hanover Back-A-Yard Tour of the parish, Sports Day and Health Day, the Jamaican Independence Parade, the Hanover Investment Business Expo, an evening Lover’s Rock concert and The Birds of Paradise awards dinner.
Call Corysa Salmon at 876-350-1691, 876-956-5520 or send e-mail to hanoverhomecoming@gmail.com for information.
Diabetes awareness
Free foot screenings for diabetes - which hits the Caribbean, African-American and Latino communities disproportionately hard - will be held in the Bronx next month at Calvary Hospital.
The goal of the hospital program is to identify and treat adult diabetics and prevent serious foot-related problems before they occur. The screenings will be held on August 1, 15 and 25, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Calvary Hospital’s Center for Curative and Palliative Wound Care located at 1740 Eastchester Road. To register, call 718-518-2577 by July 28.
Fashion for a cause
Next Sunday, July 27 “Fashion for a Cause: The Art of Fashion,” a fashion and arts-filled event benefiting the Gaskov Clerge Foundation, a health organization in Haiti, will be held in Manhattan at Crash Mansion, at Bowery and Spring St., beginning at 7 p.m.
The fashion show, featuring the designs of Catou Couture, Duroseau Couture, Raif, Latent Apparel Enterprises and JSDI, will be complemented by live performers such as composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), GxArtStudio, and Markus Schwartz of the Jazz band Mozayik. The band DOLA will star in an after-party event.
Kalalou Kafe, Total Ambiance Productions (T.A.P.) and Technic Driving School are presenting the event. Admission is $20. For information, call 646-489-4120, 347-424-3159 or visit www.gaskov.org online.
Dance party featuring Kassav
The popular Haitian band Kassav is performing in New York Saturday, July 26 at Club Amazura, 91-12 144th Place in Jamaica, Queens, as part of S.O.B.’s Manhattan Haitian Dance Party series.
Hosted by John (Papa Jube) Altino, the show starts at 11 p.m. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $35 in advance. For information, call 212-243-4940 or visit www.sobs.com.
Prepping for Trinidad ball
Trinidadian organizations in the New York area are coming together to support the 46th Independence Anniversary Ball for the twin-island nation, which is scheduled for August 16 at Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn.
The deadline for advertisements and other submissions for the ball’s journal is August 1. For information on the ball or the journal, call Donna Charles at 646-229-4625 or Horace Morancie at 718-495-4977.
Anniversary concert in Central Park
Putumayo World Music is celebrating its 15th birthday by presenting a special anniversary show at the Central Park SummerStage series featuring reggae’s Skatalites, blues musician Taj Mahal and the South American ensemble Los Pinguos next Sunday, July 27, starting at 3 p.m.
“We are so pleased to be celebrating our 15th anniversary at such a great venue in our hometown of New York City. With three of our favorite groups and surrounded by so many of our friends, we couldn’t imagine a more ideal setting for a world party,” said company founder Dan Storper.
For information, call the Central Park SummerStage hotline at 212-360-2777 and visit www.putumayo.com.
Now a proud graduate
It seems like only yesterday when Brooklyn’s Latonia Melissa Coryatt finished her first year at Cornell University. But that was 2005, and the alumnus of Brooklyn’s Intermediate School 383 (Philippa Schuyler School) and the Bronx High School of Science is now a college graduate.
Her Trinidadian-born mother, Dianne Ishmael, said Latonia - who was inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars three years ago - recently graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development.
Banquet for outstanding students
Members of the African-American/Caribbean Education Association are preparing for their group’s inaugural Breakfast Scholarship Awards Banquet, which will be held in Queens on August 2 at the Crowne Plaza JFK Airport, 151-20 Baisley Boulevard near North Conduit Ave.
The event will feature the winners of academic competitions for middle school and high school students and scholarships awarded in the name of outstanding organization members. Visit the organization’s web site, www.aaceainc.com, or call 718-949-6733, or e-mail aaceainc@yahoo.com for information.
This column is reprinted from the July 20 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.
