Governor General Sir Arthur Alexander Foulkes will be in Grand Bahama Friday morning for a massive One Bahamas Celebrations, planned for the Independence Park in Freeport.
Sir Arthur will be making his second consecutive visit to Grand Bahama for the celebrations, which is celebrated nationwide during the month of November. He will be the featured speaker at the Flag Raising Ceremony which gets underway at 10:00am.
Also travelling to Grand Bahama for the Celebrations will be Sir Orville Turnquest, the country’s fifth Governor General and Co-Chairman of the One Bahamas Foundation.
Likewise, sailing legend Sir Durward Knowles, also Co-Chairman of the One Bahamas Foundation, will be in attendance.
Deputy Director Education and former Chairman of the One Bahamas Grand Bahama Committee, Cecil Thompson, said Monday that hundreds of school children from every corner and settlement on Grand Bahama will assemble at the Independence Park for the celebrations.
He pointed out that as this will mark the second consecutive year that the Governor General will be participating in One Bahamas’ Annual Flag-Raising Ceremony in The Grand Bahama District, that school principals have been asked to make “an extra special effort to ensure that their respective schools are represented at this historic event, by large numbers of students, who are smartly dressed in their school’s uniform.
“It should be noted that because of the creative, passionate and extraordinary participation of the schools in this District in the One Bahamas Programmes, during the past 16 years, Grand Bahama has maintained her reputation as our country’s undisputed capital on One Bahamas Celebrations,” he said.
The One Bahamas concept came about in November 1992, when the then Minister for Youth Sports and Culture, the Honourable Algernon S.P.B. Allen, sought to bring this nation together in love and unity.
Many recall that the country had gone through a tough election process which saw a change in power for the first time in 25 years.
Mr. Allen felt it was time for national healing, pointing out that in the nation there are too many things that tend to divide the Bahamian people, and he spoke about the things that should unite us.
And for the past 18 years the country has been celebrating One Bahamas under the banner: One God, One People, One Bahamas.
The Grand Bahama Committee has selected as their theme for the 2011 celebrations: Building a Bridge Through Culture which they feel speaks volumes of the keen desire to spread the message of one family in this one nation in traditional fashion.
They pointed out that outside of the country’s independence celebration, no other event brings the people together as does One Bahamas.
“It was this oneness and love of country that caused me and other committee members to be a part of this One Bahamas Celebrations. We believe deep in our hearts that a united and loving people is what is best for this nation, and with some 350,000 persons scattered around this archipelagic nation this is a goal we can achieve,” said committee co-chairman Terrance Gape.
The Grand Bahama Committee agrees that as Mr. Allen pointed out in 1992, “there are too many things that divide us as a people, be it in politics, religion, race or whatever.”
These celebrations, they stated, are designed to showcase what it means to be Bahamian.
“It allows us to participate and understand the things that bind us together as a people, whether in our dance, music, songs, food, clothing, sports or whatever. We are talking about things that are unique to The Bahamas and things that we should celebrate.
“And of course, these celebrations allow us to focus on one common interest we all share as Bahamians, that being our National Flag and Coat-of-Arms.
“We use these celebrations to bring focus to our national symbols and explain their design. You know many of us see the flag and do not understand what the colours and the triangle stands for, nor do we fully comprehend the design of the Coat-of-Arms,” the Committee stated.
“In this vain, over the years we have spent much time and energy talking to our young people in the schools about the One Bahamas concept, and explaining our symbols, and the need to work together and love each other as one big family, regardless of where your roots are, which political organisation you belong to, rich or poor, black or white, Baptist, Anglican, Catholic or whatever.
“And so we have already begun spreading that message in our schools. We can also advise that while the month of November has traditionally been set aside as One Bahamas Month, that over the past three weeks, Committee members have been visiting schools in East and West Grand Bahama drumming up excitement for the celebrations.”
The first major event organised by the Grand Bahama Committee was a church service which was held Nov. 13 at Community Holiness Church in Eight Mile Rock.
The highpoint of the celebrations will be Flag Day and T-Shirt Day which is set for Nov. 18, when students from throughout Grand Bahama will assemble at the Independence Park.
Also, on Nov. 18 all local radio stations at 10:00am will be invited to play the National Anthem and invite residents to take a break from their normal duties and appreciate what it means to be Bahamian through the singing of the National Anthem.
Another major event on the calendar for the One Bahamas Grand Bahama Committee is the Fun/Run/Walk and Health Screen scheduled for Nov. 19, beginning at the Government Complex in Freeport.
By SIMON LEWIS
Bahamas Information Services
