Photos: Smith’s Parish Council Seniors Tea
The Smith’s Parish Council hosted a Seniors Tea on Saturday [Feb 13] at St. Mark’s Anglican Church Hall, Smith’s Parish. Committee members along with a host of helpers served approximately 60 seniors a choice of three soups, sandwiches, cookies, cake, tea, coffee and other light refreshments.
The event, starting at 2pm, was opened in prayer by Dennis Wainwright, Committee member. Miss Bermuda Alyssa Rose, who represented Smith’s Parish before winning the crown, greeted seniors as they arrived and spent time at each table. Governor George Ferguson, Premier Michael Dunkley and Cole Simons, responded to invitations and mixed and mingled with the seniors.
Both the Premier and Miss Bermuda joined the Council in serving the seniors food and drink. There were three ladies in attendance aged 93 and due to their seniority, they were served tea first. Entertainment included a brief history of Smith’s Parish from Denny Richardson, two songs from Olney Bean, steel pan play from Paul Smith, piano play by Derrick Musson and music by DJ Carlos Durrant.
In addition to light refreshments, the seniors enjoyed opportunities to win prizes by playing several Bingo games and answering trivia questions throughout the event asked by Miss Bermuda. Each table was decorated with a beautiful fresh centerpiece courtesy of the Bermuda Rose Society and a lucky senior at each table won it as a parting gift. The event is hosted at no cost to the seniors.
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When planning the event, the Smiths Parish Council was surprised to discover there are over 1,000 seniors in Smith’s Parish which is made up of constituencies 7-11. Realizing that it would be impossible to send out individual invitations, word of mouth, social media, emails to churches island wide and listing in Nothing to Do In Bermuda was used to get the word out.
Council member Shari-Lynn Pringle said, “We had about 25 more seniors than we had during our last Tea in 2014 and we expect it to continue to grow in popularity. It is always good to spend time with our Seniors and Saturday’s event was obviously as enjoyable for them as it was for the Council.”
Chair of the Smith’s Parish Council Akilah Beckles stated “We are very pleased with the turnout. We were uncertain if the weather would cooperate,” she said, “but as the event started the wind died down and the sun came out.”
The next community event to be hosted by the Smith’s Parish Council will be an Easter Egg Hunt at John Smith’s Bay on Saturday, March 26. Anyone wishing to donate their time, prizes or services to the event should contact Secretary@SmithsParishCouncil.bm.
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