Linden Town Week a major success – organising committee

The Annual Linden Town Week, which commenced on April 24 and concluded on May 2, 2011, was deemed the biggest and most successful event ever hosted in the mining community. This activity saw Lindeners, coastlanders and tourists turning out in their numbers to participate in the celebrations.

They were treated to several fun- filled events, including the farmers’ exhibition, boxing, senior citizens’ luncheon, teachers in concert, and the Wismar Night, among other activities.

School children were not left out, since there were several activities planned with them in mind, such as the spelling B competition, the pictorial exhibition, and a number of sporting tournaments.

However, the highlight of the Linden Town Week was the highly-anticipated Miss Linden Town Week pageant.

This year, Live Wire Production Company was the promoter of that event, which was held under the theme “Dawning of Eve”. The pageant saw seven contestants competing for the coveted crown in a number of segments, including swimwear, intelligence, evening gown, and talent, among others.

Copping the title of Miss Linden Town Week was 18-year-old Tashana Allicock of Kara Kara; while 17-year-old Nikita McFarlane, who represented Watooka (ward), was adjudged the first runner-up.

Speaking with the Guyana Times International via telephone on Monday, May 2, Dawn Cains, a member of the organising committee, said the Linden Town Week was well executed. She praised the team, which worked extremely hard in putting together a program that made the week a reality and a success.

The highlight of the Linden Town Week, she opined, was that residents came out in their numbers to participate in the “Wismar Night”, which gave residents the opportunity to showcase their rich culture in the form of food, craft, clothing, games, and rituals.

She explained that the Wismar Night included a well-choreographed cultural shop, including dances, songs, skits and many other activities.

She expressed her appreciation to the residents of Amelia’s Ward, who have been supporting the event from inception of Linden Town Week, and that by itself is a major success.

Other wards, such as Constabulary and One Mile, were able to showcase their rich culture as well.

One major challenge that plagues the mining town is the proper disposal of garbage.

This issue seems to be a burning one that needs the entire community’s involvement to eliminate. Cains related that, after the celebrations, there are no mobile units to collect the garbage.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Police Force’s E & F Divisions at Linden came in for high praise from the planning committee, which said that the security forces did a very good job in maintaining the peace.

“The stability seen in the community is a good reason for persons note Linden as a place for fun-filled entertainment,” Cains said.

The diaspora also made a significant impact on the success of the Town Week. The Linden Fund USA (LFU) organized and executed a number of activities, including the distribution of snacks to several nursery schools and to children enrolled in the Adopt-a-Child programme executed by the Linden Care Foundation; treated senior citizens; organised a spelling bee competition; and arranged the teachers and administrators’ workshop.

The events saw close collaboration with their sister organization, the Linden Fund Guyana, operating in Linden.

Additionally, businesses reported being generally contented with the level of financial support demonstrated by members of the diaspora, and also chipped in to make the annual affair a success.

Since 2004, Linden Town Day/Week activities have been coordinated by the Mayor and Town Council of Linden. In 2006, activities were staged under a public/private partnership with Kashif and Shanghai/LFU and Hits and Jams Promotions.

An attempt was made in 2007 to continue the partnership, but the fee structure led to a dispute, and the management reverted to the Council, which then worked with the Region 10 Youth Parliament to bring off the event.

In 2006, the LFU made a gallant effort to organise charters, and this meant that activities had to be included to ensure that the visiting members of the Linden diaspora had enough entertainment.

The days were then expanded from three to ten, with many more events added.