ST PETER we come from and champions we going back!
That was the cheer at the Gymnasium of Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on Saturday night when Shakeea Boyce and Akeem Franklin captured the Parish Ambassadors title at the Spirit Of The Nation show.
Hundreds of supporters from St Peter, including recently nominated Barbados Labour Party candidate Colin Jordan, jumped and cheered when the winners were declared.
The stage was later turned into a dance floor as the champions were celebrated minutes after Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley handed over the trophy to the ambassadors.
Were the event a horse race, the punters would have made little profit as St Peter, second placed St Michael, third placed Christ Church and fourth St Lucy entered the “form sheet” in those positions. St Peter had garnered 74.64 points, St Michael 68.07, Christ Church 66.64 and St Lucy 62.16 in all of the preliminary activities leading up to the final night.
Boyce, a 23-year-old University of the West Indies graduate in accounting and finance, was overwhelmed by the experience which she described as an “exciting, adrenalin rush”.
“I was always confident that once we did our best we would win because we had a fantastic team behind us,” she said.
The team effort was also lauded by Franklin, 20, a politics and law student at the Barbados Community College.
“It is not just about Shakeea and me because our project and our success would not have been possible without the support and work behind the scenes by so many people.
“We have benefited from the experience of going into the community and hearing about the needs and dreams of the people in our community. This is a project that must be sustained where we were teaching the residents skills to become entrepreneurs to support themselves in future,” he added.
The St Peter team also copped the top prizes for their project as well as its presentation.
Christ Church won the Best Costume with a scene depicting the fishing industry and homage to legend Berinda “Baby Doots” Cox.
St Philip won the Formal Wear section which was very competitive, with all of the ambassadors bedecked in well-designed and imaginative outfits which could be worn outside of the competition.
The talent section saw Wayne Skillet Harewood of St Michael being judged The Most Impactful and capturing the Spirit Of The Nation Award with a dramatic presentation on how taking the wrong path landed him in a life of misery in prison.
Armed with a breadfruit and a coconut, the duet 6Footaz won Most Original Act with the song Spirit Of The Nation.
The talent section provided a mixed bag of song, drama and dance, moving between the religious and secular with featured artist Mistah Dale providing lots of dancing music at the end.
