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2004 DINNER DANCE REPORT!.

The Excelsior Alumni Association is known for putting on a good show, but it will be hard pressed to top its recent Fundraising Dinner/Dance and Awards function. Alumni from Jamaica, Canada, the New York Metropolitan area and many points in between came out in droves to celebrate with the Association and its honor roll of eminent Excelsiorians who have brought to their alma mater. Saturday October 9, 2004 was a night to remember as hundreds of alumni and friends descended on the Ramada Plaza at JFK in New York to mark the occasion.

Guests gathered in the Hotel's Ballroom in knots of wos and threes laughing, chatting, backslapping, catching up on old times, like excited expected euphoric children on the first day back at school. Many had turned out to see jamaica's Cultural Ambassador and distinguished alumnus Dr. The Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, who heded the lit of illustrious honorees including Actress/Broadcaster Leonie Forbes and Jamaican national footballer Leonard Mason. Miss Lou, who was represented by noted actress Denise Jones, was honored in absentia, as she was unable to make the trip from her Toronto home due to illness. In her videotaped message, Miss Lou lauded her fellow honorees, thanked and congratulated the Alumni Association on its thirty-fifth anniversary celebrations. Despite the disappointment of not seeing the Jamaican cultural icon "in the flesh," many of the high-spirited revelers took the time for a trek down memory lane.

"I was in such a state of euphoria at seeing classmates after 24 years, and I was so overwhelmed by the myriad and variety of discussions," Jacqueline Hinds (class of '80) gushed amid a throng of festive classmates.

The tone for the night was set by MC and Excelsior alumnus Owen "Blacka" Ellis, who kept the audience in stitches with a series of one-liners and jokes that mined his Excelsior experience with amusing anecdotes.

As Blacka led the throng in the familiar rhythmic chant of "clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-Age!", it seemed to strike a responsive chord, as school pride engulfed the ballroom. Many were transported on a wave of nostalgia, as the cheer reached a crescendo and echoed across the ballroom. As he did a roll call of alumni by decades, it seemed a cross section of alumni from the 1940s to the 1990s was represented.

In his address, The President Tyrone Smith brought the gathering up to date on the assistance the Association continues to give to the alma mater, including funding for scholarships and other programs at the school. He also congratulated the champion Manning Cup football team, and exhorted alumni to continue lending support to the organization and the school.

With formalities out of the way, alumni, friends and supporters danced to music provided by DJ and Excelsior alumnus Hugh Nash and his Ecology Force Disco.

After the event, one alumna remarked, "Kudos to the planning committee!, the MC was divine, the event was so well-attended; so much so that some folks had no place to sit! This was my first time attending, and I know subsequent attendances will never be able to top this".

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