ANSAR: Best ever Reunion hosted in St. Kitts

By Stanford Conway
Editor-in-Chief-SKNVibes.com

Jane Jones

ANSAR [The Anguilla, Nevis, St. Kitts Returning Nationals Association] has its genesis from an idea of Faustina France-Carbonneau and the executive body of the St. Kitts-Nevis and Anguilla Association of Montreal in 1983.

This idea was communicated to other nationals residing in the Federation and also abroad, and it had generated sufficient interest for the founder and the Association to launch the first reunion in Montreal in May, 1984.

The second reunion was held in New York and from 1986 to 1988 they were held in Toronto, Buffalo and St. Kitts respectively.

According to the records, the reunion was held annually but in 1988 the decision was made to hold them bi-annually. However, in 1996 to 1998 the Association had planned to have the reunion in the Virgin Islands, but the series of hurricanes experienced prevented the realisation of those plans.   

Since then, it was again held twice in Toronto, twice in Birmingham, twice in New York, once in Montreal and this year in St. Kitts, which many returning nationals and some who had attended previous reunions and now residing in the Federation claimed to be the best ever.

This year’s ANSAR began on Friday, June 20 and ended two days after with a number of activities that had seen over 600 tickets sold for the Saturday night Gala Ball, which was attended by Governor General Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, Acting Prime Minister Sam Condor, Nevis Premier Joseph Parry and Chief Minister of Anguilla Osbourne Fleming as well as a number of other Government officials and Diplomats.

According to Anthony Hodge of Frigate Bay whose first experience of ANSAR began while residing in London, he had tremendously enjoyed the message sent by Dr. Spencer Eugene Amory, who was the Keynote Speaker at Saturday morning’s General Session in the Grand Ballroom.   

Dr. Spencer, a Kittitian, is the José M Ferrer Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and has served on the faculty there for 19 years.

~~Adz:Left~~ “The Reunion really got started on Saturday; Friday was used for registration and welcoming of members of ANSAR. Everything went ‘hunky-dory’ on Saturday night, but I truly enjoyed when Dr. Amory took to the podium.

 He did a very good job. He sounds like a very humble man who had achieved great heights and has not forgotten his roots. He has an attitude of gratitude…there’s the good Lord and he is giving God the praise for giving him the ability to reach society in the medical profession. And what he was saying to us is that God has blessed us and so we must use the gift that we have, never look down on others but use it wisely to help your fellow man,” said Hodge.

He explained that Dr. Hodge’s message was termed under the umbrella of ‘An Attitude of Gratitude’ and “it has left a mark on me. His message signified that we have reached the heights and are not mindful of the man who is a diabetic and needs some help…and because we are the head of a big firm we get home and just put our feet up instead of going out there and make a contribution. He said we must make that contribution because we all are one”.

Commenting on the 13th ANSAR, Hodge said the event being celebrated in St. Kitts had the greatest impact when compared with past reunions. “Persons, especially Kittitians, have used this opportunity to touch base and to recognise the bonus of touching base at this particular moment where we have a chance not only to be part of ANSAR, but also to see the Australians and be part of the Music Festival. You don’t want a better time to come home! So persons who were reluctant and some who had waited for the last moment, just jumped on the plane and came without proper reservations because they knew they were coming to meet relatives and friends,” Hodge said.
Prior to the Gala Ball, ANSAR promoted a Teens Talent and Fashion Fusion hosted Unoma Allen and WINN FM’s GQ, which provided patrons with a glimpse of the Federation’s hidden talents and the showcasing of the local professional fashion designers’ products.

Sunday started with an Interdenominational Church Service followed by a Luncheon and Awards Ceremony, Raffle Draw and ended with a Cultural Grand Finale at the Marriott’s Grand Plaza.

Shortly after the Luncheon, Guest Speaker, Dr. Oluwakemi Linda Banks addressed the audience and termed her topic “Life is like an Onion”. She spoke extensively on what unpeeled and peeled onions symbolise.
She used the onions to demonstrate protectionism of Caribbean nationals of African heritage and explained that the outer layers of the onion block “our unity, cooperation and progress”.

Dr. Banks advised her listeners to examine themselves, “look for the real you on the inside and we should reclaim our spirituality”.

Dr. Banks, who was born in Anguilla to a Kittitian mother and Anguillian father, is a Clinic Psychologist and Human Resource Development Consultant as well as a Motivational Speaker.

The Sunday afternoon ended with the Cultural presentations hosted by Unoma Allen, where the returning nationals and guests were treated to a number of displays including presentations from the Federation’s number one steel band, Pantastik, the Honey Bees String Band, Masquerade and the drummers and dancers of Okolo Tegremantine.
A presentation was also made by Washington Archibald, who spoke about the Government-funded Project Strong and asked the members of ANSAR not to forget the venture, which has and continues to assist many youths in St. Kitts and Nevis.

In addition to the numerous events organised for the successful 13th ANSAR, its members were exposed to the Market Place where locally homemade products were on sale, including paintings, literature written by local authors, craft and jewellery made from seeds and plants, canvas bags and canvas craft, reggae and soca music discs.

The Association had also used the occasion to honour a number of its members who have made outstanding contributions to communities and to ANSAR.

The first to be honoured were Mr. and Mrs. Francis James who, according to Jane Jones, had contributed to nature building by providing a house for senior citizens of St. Kitts. “So we want to honour them with a gift to say thank you,” she added.

“The next person,” she said, “is Dr. Eustace Huggins who we want to give something to tell him how much we appreciate him. Whenever the returning national would have written asking for a donation or something, he would always give something to this group. So we just want to say thank you to him for his generosity.”

Jones informed that the Association’s Chairperson for 2008, Adina Payne, was also honoured for the hard work she did in bringing ANSAR to St. Kitts. “This period also marks her 50th wedding anniversary and the members of ANSAR have decided to congratulate both she and her husband with a gift,” she said.

“The next honouree is Violet Herbert, who is the returning nationals President. This lady is generous to a ‘T’; she is not here today because she has not been keeping in good health, but she remains our President and we want to acknowledge the hard work that she puts into the organisation. She is extremely generous…you ask for something and she is there. So we want to say thank you Violet for everything you have done for the returning nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis,” Jones said.

The aims and objectives of ANSAR are to:

• Establish and rekindle old alliances;
• Strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and friendship;
• Participate in various social activities, discuss matters of mutual interest, including issues of economic development;

• Remain connected by our communal heritage, our history and cultural legacy;
• Promote greater international awareness of Anguilla, Nevis and St. Kitts;
• Establish a Committee called the “ANSAR Secretariat” to ensure the community of reunions;
• Provide a cultural forum and contact point worldwide, reaching as many nationals as possible;
• Maintain the spirit of “Operation Home” to be as follows: Each Association/Group in the period between reunions will undertake a project which shall benefit the homeland, which will be announced at each general session; and
• Have the former host pronounce its contribution to each island.

The 14th ANSAR scheduled for 2010 will be held in Miami, USA.