A group of lifetime friends met at Bingo Café in Noord over delicious lunch to celebrate a national distinction bestowed on hotelier Gerrit Griffith. Last week The Minister of Tourism, Transportation and Labour and the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association presented the Shoco National Tourism Awards of Excellence 2011, decorating Griffith with the SHOCO Lifetime Achievement.
The Shoco, considered Aruba’s national bird, is a small Borrowing Owl, a symbol of wisdom, resourcefulness, focus, vision and a keen sense of direction, a description which fits Gerrit Griffith very well!
There to celebrate the Shoco, hotelier Astrid Muller, retired Hotelier and active entrepreneur Paul Maduro, his wife Maria, and John Fun, a food & beverage professional among the hospital executive, also the motor behind Duna Un Man Pa Cria Nos Muchanan, the volunteer network catering 650 breakfasts for underprivileged school children on the island. Griffith, Astrid and Paul were school mates, preparing for a future in hospitality on Aruba at the Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration almost four decades ago, and have since remained closely-knit friends with Celeste Berkel and Rona Coster, having worked together for Divi Resorts for an extended period of time.
Gerrit Griffith has enjoyed a more than 35-year-career with Divi Resorts and is today the General Manager of Divi Village and Dutch Village.