Joy Ragunath welcomed friends and business associates to a festive Saturday brunch at the Marriott Aruba Resort grand ballroom.Â
The entertainment for the annual event hosted by her family business, the New India Assurance Company, with a cultural theme, was entrusted to a local dance group choreographed by Lisbell Pop, to the Pan Jazz musical ensemble under the direction of Lee Connor and to the Twelve Tribes brass band.
The Marriott Aruba Resort culinary team catered delicious brunch for 125 guests, which was enjoyed by all.
The annual elegant event serves to launch the new calendar presented as a surprise to clients and community leaders featuring famous local personalities. And the presentation program was created and conceived this year by Caress Issing in a most artistic style.
On this year’s calendar pages, the late Percy Irausquin, a fashion designer, represented at the event by his sister; Pedro “Bito” Wilson, 73, leader of a local brass band, also directing the Twelve Tribe band, celebrating 42 years as a brass band musician; Audrey Lacle, of Adopt an Addict Foundation, represented by her daughter Shamila; Ernesto Rosenstand, Author/Actor/Director; Faisal Barrosso, mountain climber whose next challenge is to climb the Aconcagua in Argentina, America’s highest peak with 22.840 ft to the summit, heading to Mount Everest in 2010; Giovanni Arends, Body Builder, a veteran of 17 years of competitions, the first professional Aruban bodybuilder; Ivan Quandus, professional musician/ owner of a recording studio; Ivo Tonk, producer, represented by contemporary artist Elvis Lopez, who is his teacher; Activist John Fun of the “Ban Uni Un Man Pa Cria Nos Muchanan” foundation dedicated to feeding over 500 kids breakfast each morning; Gilliene Albertz, Beauty Queen, she represented Aruba in the Miss World Pageant in the Bahamas, last May; Nieya van Nie, writer/poet , daughter of artist/author Rene van Nie, she has published her first book of poems in English, at the age of 12; Dr Richard Visser, healer and health crusader.
The portraits on the calendar were mixed media of photography and computer manipulations executed by Caress Issing and each of the calendar subjects got his own image as a framed souvenir.Â
Invitees also received gifts, a great big coffee mug and the calendar, naturally.
Several generous donations were made by New India Assurance Company among them to Adopt an Addict Foundation and to Ban Uni Un Man Pa Cria Nos Muchanan.
