INDEPENDENCE OBSERVANCE in MARYLAND -by Francis Quamina Farrier
Ms Marina Patricia White
“Clap him. “Clap her”. That was the repeated exhortation to the Guyanese audience by Jamaica-based Guyanese Educator, Ms Marina Patricia White, the Principal Speaker, as she listed the names of many great Guyanese. They included Sir Shridath Ramphal and Baroness Valerie Amos. The event was a pre-Independence Day Celebration at the St. Mark’s Episcopal/Anglican Church in Maryland in the USA, on Sunday May 25, 2014.
The annual Guyana Independence Day celebrations at the St. Marks church in Maryland, is conducted in two segments. The first is a Service in the church at which prayers are said for Guyana and the Guyanese people, both at home and abroad. Priest-in-Charge, The Reverend Canon Daniel Darko, who is from Ghana, extended best wishes to Guyana on this their 48th Independence anniversary. Patriotic songs of Guyana were sung at the Service as well as the Guyana National Anthem.
Guyanese celebrate Independence anniversary at St. Marks Church in Maryland
At the Reception which followed, many of Guyana’s national dishes and drinks were served. Background music was also entirely Guyanese; the music of Dave Martins being quite popular with the audience. The live Cultural segment included the singing of songs as well as the performance of poems. Some of the poems were by Guyana’s celebrated poet, the late AJ Seymour. They were performed in recognation for this the 100th year of his birth.
Worthy of mention is the prompt dismantling of the decorations in the church hall and its cleaning up by the Guyanese organizers. The hall was spic and span, and all completed in less than an hour. While driving from the venue with one of the organizers, Howard Knights, he would, from time to time blurt out, “Clap him. Clap her.” as we both relived the exhortation of Principal Speaker, Ms Marina Patricia White. Every one of us know Guyanese who have made sterling contributions to the development of our “Dear Land of Guyana”, and have made us proud on the International stage. So we can all say their names and add loudly, “Clap him. Clap her”.
