Caribbean Christmas
at City Hall

n the evening of December 13^th, the familiar sounds of Christmas wafted from City Hall – but with a definite difference. "Caribbean Christmas," as the festivity was called, featured, for example, a sing-a-long of classic Christmas carols, led by Wendy Mitchell, to a calypso beat. Handel’s "Hallelujah Chorus" from the Messiah was performed by the award winning steel pan orchestra CASYM. The whole thing was phenomenal!

The evening began with Council Members Yvette Clarke and Kendall Stewart extending a warm welcome to everyone who braved the frigid temperatures to attend the celebration. Joining them were Majority Whip Leroy Comrie, a self-identified "Jamarican" because of his Jamaican American roots, and Council Member David Weprin, who also claimed Caribbean heritage by way of his mother, born in Cuba.

On hand as well was Council Member Charles Barron, who spoke passionately about the meaning of God having had his only son Jesus born to a peasant woman in a lowly manger. "That sends a message to the City Council that we must take care of the poor," he declared.

From the beginning Stewart made it clear that the program was not for speeches, but for celebration and entertainment. Clarke and he did, however, pause for a moment in the revelry to surprise the program’s producer, the multi-talented singer and CEO of Coral Reef Entertainment, Angela Cooper, with a City Council Citation.

As the citation stated, after migrating to New York City from Tobago, Cooper put herself through Brooklyn College, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. She went on to earn her Master's in Public Health Administration and then began her career at the Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a Service Aid in the Food and Nutrition Department. She is now the Director of Volunteer Services.

"Angela Cooper’s effervescent, charming and magnetic personality makes her a delight to know and to be with," the citation concludes. "She enriches the lives of everyone whose life she touches."

Cooper responded by bringing down the house with a gorgeous rendition of "He’ll Do It Again."

The entire evening, which was narrated by the extremely funny Janice Forde and E. Wayne McDonald, was a treat for both the eye and the ear. There was the very colorful "Belle Dance" sung by Michael Manswell and danced by Nydia Byron, three-times national limbo champion of Trinidad and Tobago and sister of the late Cheryl Byron, founder of Something Positive.

The very youthful Karyn and Mark Samuel took the stage to perform a carol, as did their father, the golden voiced Hilton Samuel. Sherlene George also favored the audience with a song.

One of the most moving enactments of the evening was the Nativity Scene, with the exceedingly well-behaved infant Jordan Neil Dove as the Christ child. Depicting Joseph was Samuel Clarke, who sang "What Child Is This?" magnificently.

Comic relief was provided as well by comedienne Susan Olton Kennedy in the role of Granny who, among other things, insisted on reading "The Night Before Christmas." Her version began: "It was the night before Christmas / When all through the house / Ham was bunning, bread was bunning / and the smell kill a mouse."

This very enjoyable evening concluded with sumptuous Christmas-style Caribbean food served in the Rotunda.