Gil Figaro, Sr., the Trinidadian-born chairman and founding father of the Teaneck, NJ-based SUNSHINE Awards Organization, expressed profound satisfaction with the celebrated thirty sixth Annual SUNSHINE Awards Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 19 on the Robert Deal with Lodge on Park Place in Newark, NJ.
“I’m very happy with my group,” Figaro informed Caribbean Life on Tuesday. “We executed a flawless program Saturday night. All programs had been in sync, and the friends had a beautiful time.
“My because of our sponsors and all those that contributed to the success of the thirty sixth Annual SUNSHINE Awards,” he added.
Through the well-executed and attended occasion, the ladies’s part of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Band, famend for its distinctive and electrifying reside performances, made its extremely anticipated debut in the US.
“This efficiency is thought to be a milestone, because the band continues to develop its international attain,” mentioned Figaro, including that the band’s efficiency ensured “an unforgettable expertise for our friends.”
Performing Superintendent of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Wayne Guerra, who introduced Figaro with a shock award, mentioned he was “actually elated that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Band, extra so the feminine officers in our division, have been acknowledged on this capability.
“It has turn into commonplace that the feminine officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service have been occupying numerous ranges inside the rank and file,” he mentioned. “We take this chance to showcase the brilliance and energy of our feminine counterparts.
“We’re experiencing a more-than-welcomed paradigm shift, because it pertains to the feminine roles inside the workforce and the numerous contributions that they make,” added Guerra, stating that the band seized “this chance to advertise our musical abilities, each to the regional and worldwide panorama.”
Figaro mentioned the SUNSHINE Awards, hosted by Trinidadian comedians Errol Fabien and Nikki Crosby, honored a number of artists and cultural figures.
They comprised: Cultural icon and musical ambassador Samraj “Rikki Jai” Jaimungal (Trinidad & Tobago), who obtained the 2024 Sundar Popo SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to the performing arts; Matthew Whitaker (United States), who obtained the primary Vincent A. Huggins SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to the performing arts; and Heman Bekele (Ethiopia) – a younger innovator whose ardour for biology, chemistry analysis and science helped to facilitate his outstanding invention of a cleaning soap designed to battle pores and skin most cancers –obtained the 2024 SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to science and analysis.
Different awardees had been: Edwin Yearwood (Barbados), natural-born entertainer affectionately generally known as “The Normal” and sometimes described because the undisputed “King of the Groove,” who obtained the 2024 Lord Kitchener SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to the performing arts; Jallim Eudovic (St. Lucia), a sculptor, goodwill ambassador, and Caribbean laureate, who obtained the 2024 SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to the visible arts; Kettly Mars (Haiti), a self-taught mental, cultural activist and creator of a substantial physique of labor, who obtained the 2024 SUNSHINE Award for her contribution to the humanities; and Edson “Ajamu” Mitchell (Grenada), one of many Caribbean’s prime entertainers, who obtained the 2024 Dr. Slinger Francisco, (the Mighty Sparrow) SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to the performing arts.
The opposite honorees had been: Carl Fraser (Guyana), who was instrumental in 2006 in establishing Dem Village, Inc. and the Fanoko Singers, a Queh Queh band that performs at Queh Queh ceremonies, who obtained the 2024 Dr. Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool SUNSHINE Award for his contribution to the performing arts; Donric “Lord Humorous” Williamson (Trinidad and Tobago), a celebrated calypsonian, who was inducted into the 2024 SUNSHINE Awards Corridor of Fame; Rhonda Maingot & Rose Jackman (Trinidad and Tobago), founders of the Residing Water Neighborhood, a Catholic Ecclesial Neighborhood, who obtained the 2024 Dr. Dom Basil Matthews SUNSHINE Award for his or her contribution to humanity; and Carlene Davis (Jamaica), a world-renowned gospel recording artist with a profession spanning over 4 a long time, who obtained the 2024 SUNSHINE Award for her contribution to the performing arts.
“I’m so honored to obtain the Vincent A. Huggins Award,” Whitaker mentioned. “I’m very grateful to the SUNSHINE.”
Mars devoted the award to her “mother, who’s gone,” including: “I dedicate this award to my household and to Haiti.”
Rikki Jai mentioned he was “completely happy to be the primary artist to obtain the Sundar Popo Award.”
Figaro mentioned he based the SUNSHINE Awards Program 36 years in the past “to acknowledge excellence and accomplishments within the performing arts, schooling, science, humanity, and sports activities of the varied Caribbean international locations.”
Through the years, he mentioned this system has expanded “in depth and breadth with a world view,” together with the US and international locations from Africa, South America, Central America, Europe, and Asia.
In 1994, Figaro mentioned the Nationwide Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, chargeable for the Annual GRAMMY Awards, endorsed the SUNSHINE Awards. He mentioned the United Nations additionally gave its international endorsement in 1998.
Figaro mentioned the SUNSHINE Awards Group has additionally obtained many proclamations from numerous ranges of the US Authorities.
