Dinner-Dance

The dinner-dance Saturday evening at the Biltmore Hotel was the highlight of our 50-year reunion.

Classmates in attendance:

Eloica Tillett Smith; Francisca Pook, née Sutherland; Iva Pook-Jones; Juanita Beeke, née Rudon; Juanita Williams, née Rodríguez; Judith Bodden, née Usher; Linda McCarthy-Remkes; Manuela Scott, née Hernández; Marie Banner, née Coleman; Marjorie Rivers, née Bernard; Olga Barber, née McFadzen; Sandra Clare; Shirley Card, née Waller; Therese Casey, née Engelton; Ulrica Vásquez, née Romero; Vincent Neal, née Gill.

Antonieta Cardona Martínez; Camila Valencia, née Espejo; Carli Scott; Christine Heusner Robinson; Elena van Leer, née Mendoza; Ester Heusner, née Hernández; Jenny Lizama, née Castillo; Ivy Leslie-Blease; Joy Tatum-Haylock; Joyce Perdomo, née Gough; Lydia Balderamos Loskot; Margaret Carrillo; María Scott, née Villanueva; Marta Woods, née Ordóñez; Patricia Coburn, née Reid; Rita Stuart, née Young; Rosilia Ordóñez, née Vega; Ruby Vásquez; Veronica Jones, née Usher; Ysela Sharp, née Castillo.

Adrian Roe, Andrew Hulse, Francis Gegg, Francisco Allen, Gary González, Glenn Blease, Gustavo Dubois, Hugo Vásquez, Israel González, Jaime Heredia, Jay Cruz, Jim Waight, José Perera, Louis Robateau, Mike Tewes, Raúl Castillo, Stanislaus Martínez, Wayne Espat.

Classmates and their guests started arriving at 6:00PM, ready to celebrate. Friends greeted and embraced each other enthusiastically. The mood was happily exhuberant; you could almost feel elation in the air. Each chatting pair of classmates shared a sense of warmth, connection, and camaraderie—whether they had known each other since school days, become friends at earlier reunions, or met for the first time at this reunion.

Marie had made commemorative pins (corsages/boutonnières) for all classmates attending the dinner-dance: green for PHS, pale blue for SCA, and navy for SJC. When Marie arrived, she gave out the pins as best as she could as members of the Class of 1969 mingled, chatted, and strolled around to see who was there. She then gave the remaining pins to volunteers from each school to hand out. Finally, a pin of the appropriate color was placed next to each name tag that had not yet been picked up from the table outside the hall.

Judith, Andrew, and Ruby delivered souvenir packets to arriving classmates from their respective schools. Newcomers were torn between perusing these goodies and making the rounds to catch up with friends.

Dinner, which was scheduled for 7:00PM was delayed a bit, but when the miscommunication between organizers and the serving staff was cleared up, the dinner line moved quickly and all enjoyed their meal of Belizean delicacies.

Stanislaus was the MC for the post-dinner programme. Jay spoke on behalf of SJC; Judith for PHS; and Christine for SCA. Vincent then thanked the organizers and all those who worked behind the scenes to make the reunion a success.

The Highlights Band with Ernest Meighan and Sam Hamilton provided our musical entertainment. The band struck up after dinner. Everyone enjoyed the music and many danced—most of the time, the women on the dance floor vastly outnumbered the men.

The banner and the photo booth were popular throughout the evening as couples, small groups, and entire school groups took their turns posing for photos. A few times those waiting cheerily scolded those in front of the banner that they’d been at it too long and they needed to let others take their place.

Due to some last-minute cancellations, enough food was left over to provide a late-night snack to those who had worked up an appetite on the dance floor.

At the end of the evening, those sitting at each table decided who had the honor of taking home their centerpiece. All bid friends farewell and left in high spirits after a wonderful evening