10 months ago
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Kenneth ‘Paco’ Gordon’s dedication and love for his Pembroke Hall community is next level. A resident there since the early ‘60s, Gordon has had a ringside seat to the development of the residential area off Washington Boulevard in St Andrew and he knows every nook and cranny. He has watched people come and people go, and he is emphatic that they all share a bond which is hard to break.
In celebration of that loyalty, or “brotherly and sisterly love” as he labels it, Gordon and a group of like-minded individuals will be hosting the Pembroke Hall Reunion Culture Ball and Stage Show on August 1 at the high school’s playfield.
This is not the first time that this event will be held, as it was actually started 10 years ago in the US by some community faithfuls who had migrated, but kept the link.
“It started first in New York ... and it happened in Florida last year. But it’s the first time in Jamaica, and a lot of people fly in from all over for it already,” a truly excited Gordon stated.
He noted that the ball concept has more to do with the celebration of culture rather than a dress-up party.
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“That’s why we chose Emancipation Day. If you notice the line-up is mainly culture artistes ... we wanted the school band to back some of the artistes, but that didn’t work out. Maybe next year. But we want this event to be something that youngsters can attend and learn about reggae music which we in Jamaica created,” declared Gordon, who is himself an artiste, and will be performing on the concert.
He went down memory lane and spoke of Pembroke Hall back in the days when every corner had a football team and matches, simply named Corner League, were the order of the day.
“That’s how everyone get to know everyone else, and we even used to invite people from Marverly and Hughenden to come over. There was so much unity and that’s what we want to bring back in the community. And that unity is partly why we can get some support for this venture. People remember the good times,” Paco said.
Unfortunately, however, despite the commitment of those who are invested in the event, Paco despaired over the lack of sponsorship.
“From January we started planning it and Tony Rebel as a real Pembroke Hall man said ‘Don’t leave me out.’ So we were giving him time to clear up things from his annual Rebel Salute ... cause he is a great asset for a project such as this. But things didn’t work out as planned and Rebel haffi pull back a bit, however, his children are onboard and they grew up in Pembroke Hall ... so all is well,” Gordon shared.
He named a list of artistes, such as Junior Tucker and his sister Sheron, who hail from the community, but who had prior engagements and so will be unable to attend.
On the line-up at Fred Locks of Black Starliner fame; Billy Mystic; Sangie Davis; Mark Wonder; Jah Mel; Israel Voice; Davianour; Junior Cat; Marva Gillespie, Imeru Tafari and others.
Gordon and his team intend to make a donation to Pembroke Hall High School from the gate receipts.
English (US) ·