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FAMILY NIGHT AT AQUASOL
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Memoirs of an attendee
This was "SCHOOL SPIRIT" night!
The reunion attendees met at the Voyager Sports Bar for dinner and drinks where we took over the people-dem place!. In the large dining and lounge area, we pulled tables together to make one long table.
Following the theme of School Spirit Night, Kathleen (Stirrat) Carvalho, graduate of '79, showed up in her high school gingham tunic which had been signed by her classmates of 1978 as that was the last year before the change to khaki for the girls. The rest of us who couldn't find nor fit into our old uniforms, wore yellow or green t-shirts and bought Reunion 2003 buttons which we displayed proudly.
The mood that night was very playful as we were all so much more relaxed and better acquainted. We ordered Conch soup, Jerk-chicken salad, Jerk-burger with fries, Oxtail and Curry goat. When the curry goat meal was served someone shouted, “Hey, remember that song, “Ram-goat liver good fi mek mannish water…?” and that started us off. We were without shame, singing loud and long, even when we didn't know the words!
Sunday gahn ah jump pan a minibus,
Mi really late but is not my fault,
<na-na-na-nahhh, na-na-nahhhh> by the terminous,
A feel di bus come tooo a hault!
Ram-goat lick dung by the roun'about,
<na-na-na-nahhh, something> not surprise.
<na-na-na-nahhh, na-na-nahhh> one bredda shout,
'Im shoulda dead mek wi buy one poun' a rice!
Chorus:
From there we moved on to “One dread, 2 dread, sat upon a CB200,…”, “Sammy plant piece-a cahn dung a gully, uh-hnm!” and then struggled to remember the words to “Long-haired, freaky people need not apply, Dohn' wahn' no old neyhga, nuh rastafari.” We had a good time with that!
Ram-goat liver good fi mek mannish water,
Billy-goat teet' mek di earring fi yuh dawta
Curry-goat lunch put di bite in yuh bark,
It mek yuh dawta (parra-wahrang, parra-wahrang), It mek yuh dawta walk an' talk.
DOWN AT THE TRACK
After more newcomers joined us, our songs sung and our bellies full, we descended on the go-kart race track. Kids and adults joined the fun. One 11-year old now has a suspended license even before getting her learner's. She was charged with not heeding traffic signals, reckless driving on the track, and leaving the scene of a spin-out! Now, suppose she had to drive stick???
One notable encounter was the race between Caroline (Cooke) Robinson, graduate of '81, and Leighton Thompson who left Belair after 7th grade in 1978. The race was exciting and the finish was close.
(From pre-race interviews):
Caroline prizes herself as a skilled driver who, in recent years, drove the Kingston back routes to avoid traffic lights and bottlenecks and cut minutes from travel time when moving her kids from school to dance or swimming during peak hours. Having studied Math and Physics at school and watched a few sports shows she knew that riding the inside lane would provide the shortest distance of travel, so this was her plan.
Leighton, an avid golfer and tennis player, cited his aptitude for rapid assessment of the basic competitive strategy as his winning edge – i.e. He'd watch his opponents for their weaknesses and use his strengths to conquer.
As the race began, Caroline protested unfair advantage since the starting line was 'ragged' and she was in the back car – but the race continued without a restart. In the second lap Leighton called 'foul' when he was bumped from behind by 10yr old Douglas (son of Cheryl (Douglas) Burke, 1982 graduate), which caused Leighton to spin out and his engine to stall – but no flags were waved and the race went on. Now, we all know that all is not fair in love and war and that's how the Tortoise beat the Hare. Buck yuh toe and yuh might slip . . . or slide! The race went on an' who fi win – WIN!!!
Caroline used Leighton's predicament to her advantage but the hairpin curves of the track made hugging the corners difficult and she found herself turned cyatta-corner (askew – if you don't speak patwa) when she hugged the curve too tightly, then on the next corner ended up thrown to the outer lanes when she let up too much. Since her recovery skills were pretty sharp, she was quickly back on the inside lane.
Leighton made up for lost time. A sneaky driver with calculated maneouvers, he used a cunning, signature move on the corners of the right-hand track to bring himself closer and closer to the frontrunners. He rode the inner lane right up to the corner, then banked left and cut back hard to the right, squeezing between the forward driver and the inside barrier, to cut the corner clean off and position himself directly into the inner lane. With this move Leighton caught up quickly despite being lapped two times during his spinout recovery.
Leighton and Caroline were neck and neck on the final corner when the red lights flashed and the checkered flag came down. We're all waiting on the finish-line photo to declare the winner.
