~ Annual Christmas Gala in The Hague a big success ~
THE HAGUE--The annual Christmas Gala in The Hague on Saturday, organised by the Unified St. Maarten Connection (USC), was again well attended by students and young professionals from St. Maarten. The message was one of unity in the Christmas spirit, but there was also news: USC will be extending to St. Maarten next year to help prepare newcomers.
USC President Melissa Gumbs announced in the festive atmosphere at the Hilton Hotel among some 200 persons from St. Maarten and friends of the island that the USC would be establishing a St. Maarten chapter in 2016 with the main objective of preparing future students for their move to the Netherlands.
USC’s St. Maarten chapter will assist in arming the new St. Maarten students with actual facts and valuable knowledge about their academic journeys in the Netherlands. “We believe in giving them a strong start to try and secure an even stronger finish, and it’s time that this begins at home, before they actually board the KLM or Air France,” said Gumbs.
Gumbs called on everyone present to join what she called “this next step of USC’s evolution.” She urged the audience, many of whom attended the Christmas Gala for the first time, to be part of the new class, the new way of working.
“The most dangerous thing we can continue to say, on St. Maarten and within this Kingdom, is that ‘we’ve always done it this way.’ We only move forward together and we only move forward with positive change,” said Gumbs.
The new class of which Gumbs spoke about, in her opinion, comprised people, whether individuals or organisations, redefining the way of working together in order to foster stronger ties and to build a stronger country, a stronger Kingdom.
“How do we build a country? We build our people. How do we build a people? We stop talking about raising the bar and we actually raise it. How do we raise the bar? We make smart choices about everything we control. We share knowledge with our countrymen and women because if they succeed, we succeed. Because if we excel as a people, if we actively work together to improve our lives, our profiles and our country, it will be difficult for anyone to say that St. Maarten is not better off,” said Gumbs, who received a very loud applause.
Recently resigned Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, and father of Melissa Gumbs, also addressed the gathering. He praised USC, which he called a “fantastic organisation,” for its enthusiasm and dedication in carrying out its work on behalf of young St. Maarteners in the Netherlands. He said it gave him a good feeling to see everyone get together, and urged the young people to work hard and come back to St. Maarten to help build the country.
Special guest speaker Andy Samuel shared a message of perseverance. He called on the audience not to allow anyone to put them down, but to keep striving to make dreams come true. Samuel, a very active member of the Toastmasters Club in Amsterdam and a participant in several public speaking competitions, said that he felt very proud to stand before friends and peers.
Asking everyone to stand, he said that it was important to hold on to oneself and to keep the bigger picture in mind. “We have faced hardships by coming to the Netherlands, but we are still standing. If we don’t hold fast, we will quickly fall.”
This year’s Christmas Gala drew a crowd of 180 persons, which was more than the 150 of last year. Also this year, USC was able to attract a corporate sponsor, the law offices Van Eps, Kunneman and VanDoorne. The corporate sponsor was profusely thanked.
USC Board Member Cyriel Pfennings said the intention was to hold the Christmas Gala every year. “We want to continue this on an annual basis. It offers our people an opportunity to see each other during the holiday season, and it gives them a homey feeling, of togetherness which is especially important for those that cannot go to St. Maarten for the holidays,” he said.
MC Donellis Browne correctly pointed out that this year’s event was held in a historic location, in the same conference room of the first Kingdom Conference in 2011. “Next year the Kingdom Conference will be held in St. Maarten. We have come full circle.” Last year the Christmas Gala was also held at the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in Amsterdam. USC hopes to organise next year’s Christmas Gala at the Hilton Hotel in Rotterdam.
Instead of numbering the tables at Saturday’s event USC opted to give each table the name of a cultural icon, district or monumental/instrumental building to show how St. Maarten has developed over several decades, to show the old and the new.
Some of the names on the table included the Court House, Princess Juliana International Airport SXM, the causeway, the boardwalk, the Flamboyant tree, Front Street, Emilio Wilson Estate, the St. Maarten flag, yellow sage, Ruby Bute, and Tanny and the Boys.
The event started off with the singing of the national anthems of the Netherlands and St. Maarten by Aldiner Laurent. Patrick Grayham performed two of his songs at the start of the dancing part of the evening. DJ SPY was in charge of the music.
Guest speakers Governor Eugene Holiday and Minister Plenipotentiary Henrietta Doran-York were unable to attend due to urgent government business. A video of the event will be posted on the website www.uscfoundation.com and on the organisation’s FaceBook page.
