Dining With The Saints, the popular food festival hosted annually by the St Mary's College Past Students' Union, is fast shaping up to be an "intercol" culinary competition of sorts this year. The event which comes off on June 25 at the famous "Big Yard" at CIC, has attracted representation from the past student organisations of most of the top secondary schools in North Trinidad, both male and female. It could be that the other past students are attempting to show the "Saints" past students that they can hold their own in an event that the Saints have indeed mastered and is now regarded as one of the best of its type in this country.
When most of these now past students were of school age, in all likelihood, they were bitter rivals on all fronts, ranging from academics to sport (remember the epic intercol battles in the Queen's Park Savannah?) to Music Festivals and other areas. Now, many of them are good friends and do not hesitate to help one another. In fact, when these schools hold their fund-raising cook-outs, they are well-supported by their former competitors as will occur at St Mary's on June 25. In recent times, Dining With The Saints and Fete With The Saints, the major fund-raising events organised annually by the St Mary's College Past Students' Union are advertised on QRC's billboard which is strategically located around the Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.
The past student organisations from Fatima, QRC, BELEX (formerly Belmont Boys' Intermediate), St Joseph's Convent, (POS) and Holy Name Convent will have representative cooks at CIC. This year, St Joseph's Convent (St Joseph) Past Pupils Association will be making its debut at the event. Who knows, perhaps Bishop Anstey's Hilarians may be on show at CIC next year. CIC alumni from different professions will be displaying their culinary skills at the event as they try to outdo one another not only in taste and presentation, but also in the names given to the dishes. In the banking field, Republic Bank is sending a strong team of executives headed by Executive Director Nigel Baptiste and including Derwin Howell, Ian De Souza and Dennis Kurbanali.
Scotiabank's Managing Director, Richard Young, leads his team of executives in which is included Martin De Gannes, Raymond Smith and Richard Hatt, while Michael Mansoor, First Caribbean International Bank's CEO, will be flying in from his Barbados headquarters to serve his dish. On the political front, some CIC past students who will be anxious to prove that they can indeed cook are Colm Imbert, ex-MP Gus Ramrekersingh and Senators Mariano Browne and Terrence Deyalsingh, the latter making his debut at the event. Vernon De Lima will take time off from the rigours of his present campaign to show his sweet hand, but Minister Vasant Bharath may not make it this year as he is likely to be out of the country on Government business.
The medical profession will be represented by Drs Anton Cumberbatch, Godfrey Araujo and Michael Amow while the business sector lists Gregory Aboud, George Janoura and Dominic Chatoor, along with newcomer Chike Farrell.
More info
Tickets cost $300 and are available from Sedley Joseph at the Past Students' office (624-8468);
Roberto Ramirez (788-8066);
Richard Joseph (681-5673);
and, in South T'dad from Felix Montenegro (684-5839)
and Jean Boucaud (475-5293).