The fourth annual Vintage Reggaefest is coming to New York this week, and reggae shows rarely get this good.
Jamrock magazine is presenting the big show at Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan, on Saturday, December 6.
The lineup for the show includes Cocoa Tea, John Holt, U-Roy, Leroy Sibbles, Sugar Minott, Carlton Livingston, Nadine Sutherland, Brigadier Jerry and Anthony Cruz.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster by calling 212-307-7171, or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com online. Call 718-325-5555 for information and visit www.reggaefest.com or www.jamrockmagazine.com.
Helping the little ones
Thousands of needy children, including homeless youngsters, will get a taste of holiday spirit this month at the annual Caribbean American Center of New York’s holiday celebrations.
The gatherings, for children between 1 and 10 years of age, will be held on Friday at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street and on December 13 at the Maracas Lounge, 121-08 Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill, Queens. There will also be a Manhattan holiday celebration held in Harlem. The location will be announced soon.
Parents of kids experiencing hardships are asked to contact the Caribbean American Center before the events, so donations of clothing, toys and books can be matched to the recipients.
Donations are tax-deductible. CACNY is located at 195 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn. For information, call 718-625-1515 or send e-mail to: jpa3697@aol.com.
A new leader for labor
Fitz Reid, Jamaica-born labor leader and city Health Department worker, was recently elected president of Local 768, District Council 37, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), one of New York’s biggest unions.
Running as a reform candidate, Reid defeated incumbent Darryl Ramsey to take leadership of the 4,000-member local, which represents health services employees, ranging from anesthetists and social workers to speech pathologists and medical records librarians.
Taking care of business
The unveiling of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s annual list of Business Visionaries will be held on December 12 at the organization’s Christmas Business Networking Reception.
The event will be held at the Brooklyn Public Library‘s Central Branch at Grand Army Plaza, Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway, starting at 8 p.m.
And in this holiday season, the chamber is also cranking up its annual Toy Distribution Drive, which gives toys, books and other gifts to children ages 2 to 12 year-round. To purchase tickets for the Business Networking Reception or to contribute toys or other gifts, call CACCI at 718-834-4544. For more about CACCI’s programs and services, visit www.caribbeantradecenter.com or www.flatbushcatonmarket.com.
Road projects, jobs, come to Haiti
A pair of public works construction projects, financed by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, will give temporary jobs to more than 2,000 people, according to UN officials.
MINUSTAH (an acronym of the French translation for the force - Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Hati) - has provided $250,000 for the projects in the Central Plateau region of the country.
One project will rehabilitate a road linking the town of Marmont and Port-Au-Prince, the nation’s capital. The other undertaking will be the paving of a road in the city of Hinche, located near Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic.
Reggae rules 39 ways
For many reggae lovers, VP Records’ anticipated “Strictly the Best” compilations are better than all the rest. In addition, the most recent edition, No. 39, continues the tradition.
Mr. Evil and Sean Paul, Elephant Man, Mr. Vegas, Beres Hammond, Etana, Tessanne Chin, Tony Rebel and Busy Signal are some of the performers featured on the CD’s 17 tracks.
As usual VP dancehall tunes are banging, but there’s variety, too. Tunes such as “Love Created I (Marcus Teaching)” by Tarrus Riley, Etana’s “I Am Not Afraid” inject a solid dose of old-fashioned roots and culture, while “Just As I Am” by L.U.S.T, Hammond’s “Love You Like That” provide comforting sounds for lovers.
Visit www.vprecords.com for information.
Corrections
Last week’s Caribbeat item on the Children of Jamaica Outreach charity’s annual Scholarship Gala mistakenly stated that the event will benefit the Project Smiles AIDS program. This year’s fund-raiser, which will be held on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near LaGuardia Airport in Queens, will have Jamaica tourism minister Edmund Bartlett as keynote speaker. JetBlue, Half Moon, Ritz Carlton, Grand Bahia Principe, Sandals are among the supporters of the event. Call 888-275-0121 for tickets and visit www.cojokids.org for information.
This column is reprinted from the November 9 Sunday editions of The New York Daily News. If you have items suitable for this column please e-mail them to jmccallister@nydailynews.com.
