MUSICAL TREAT
Caribbean L 34 ife, NOVEMBER 5-11, 2021
to the woman who wants timeless,
quality fashion that is sultry,
stylish, elegant and slick.
For the home, customers are
offered an assortment of handmade
or custom décor items.
She said it is a divine collaboration
of two women whose
interest in sewing and fashion,
blossomed from watching their
mother’s artistically transform
pieces of fabric into stylish
unique outfits or beautiful drapery,
pillows, and linens.
The 24-hour shopping experiences
also offers upholstery,
drapery, pillows, seat cushions,
bed covers, table runners,
among many other items,
geared to the online shopper, as
well as persons who would like
a closer look at the items.
The primarily, online business,
that also offers in-person
sales events, had its softlaunched
in 2019, and had
planned a full launch for spring
2020, that was unfortunately,
sidelined due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
However, fortunately, for
the entrepreneur, this year, she
hosted two successful Pop Up
Shop events in NY and GA,
with another scheduled being
finalized for this month in New
York.
The offerings include Women’s
clothes purchased primarily
from Italy, VanTay Collection
of garments designed and
made by Donna VanTull, Van-
Tay Custom Collection — garments
made to order, home
goods of pillow cover, throws,
and curtains, made by Donna
Van Tull Home decorating, personal
service.
With a price point suitable to
every pocket, Taylor’s collection
of women’s clothes, from $25 –
$300, VanTay Collection cost,
$40 – $500, VanTay Custom
Collection – $75 and up, with a
variation of pricing, depending
on fabric and design.
She, however, ended the
business in 2005 after being
promoted to director of Customer
Contact Center, which
required her to relocate to
Charlotte. She ultimately
retired from that position and
corporate America in 2017.
The business was affected
by the pandemic. A soft launch
of the business was held in
November 2019 with plans for
in-person events in FL, GA,
NY and MD prior to the full
launch on the website in late
spring 2020. Registration was
completed to attend a Fashion
Sourcing Event in NY in February
2020 and another one
in Miami in October 2020, but
those plans never came to fruition.
Other sourcing options
were used to acquire existing
inventory, she explained.
situation with the pandemic,”
added Hurst, who performs
solo, with backing tracks, at
weddings, cocktails and Balls
in the US and Canada.
“I always enjoy and love performing
at these functions,”
he continued.
The sold-out ceremony —
organized by IUOM’s Resource
and Finance Commission,
chaired by Grenadian-born
Commissioner David Williams
— honored American-born
Sis. Ricci Maggette, a member
of Lily of the Morning Chapter
#4, under the jurisdiction
of Composite District Grand
Lodge #2; and the Venerable
Maurice F. King, former executive
grand secretary.
Other honorees were: Hon.
Roger Kirton, district grand
master of New England District
Grand Lodge #1; and Sister,
Jamaican-born, Hyacinth
Robinson-Goldson, community
liaison of the Order to
the Executive Committee of
Grand Council.
Williams told Caribbean
Life on Tuesday that Hurst
“played a very important role
for the moment because, seeing
we had so many people
to feed, the way he played the
music kept the people in a
composed situation.
“The music was on time,”
Williams said. “The music –
his type of music – was electrifying.
It took away the focus
on the food and put you in a
mode of celebration. It was
good.”
Robinson-Goldson said: “It
was quite obvious that the
guests were enjoying his musical
presentation.
“Quite frankly, for a
moment, they seemed to forget
that we were still in the
middle of a COVID pandemic,”
she said. “Although he is from
the Caribbean, his repertoire
is diverse; and so, everyone
was enjoying the presentation.
“In fact, one guest, an older
gentleman, commented that
‘he plays the saxophone quite
similar to the late Jamaican
trombonist, Don Drummond,’”
Robinson-Goldson added.
Continued from Page 33
Continued from Page 33
like molasses, yet smooth on
the tongue like a tang of white
rum,’” Dr. Bensen told Caribbean
Life on Friday.
He said the reading was
designed to showcase St. Lucian
poets in the post-Derek Walcott
era.“
The late Nobel Laureate
Sir Derek Walcott (KCSL OBE
OCC) put the Caribbean on the
map of world literature,” said
Dr. Bensen, who was also the
event organizer, “and opened
possibilities for future generations
of writers” through his
fusing English and Caribbean
traditions.
Walcott was a frequent visitor
to Oneonta from 1979 until
his death in 2017, Dr. Bensen
said.
Beyond exploring Walcott’s
influence, he said the Oct. 26
reading represented the Diaspora
from the Caribbean to the US
and Canada.
Dr. Bensen said Lee read from
his home in Castries, St. Lucia,
while Dublin was in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, and Lucien
joined from Brooklyn.
“The live-streamed reading
took the pandemic and turned
it into opportunity,” Bensn said.
“Enjoying each other’s work
and virtual company, the writers
renewed their acquaintance
and their bonds to their home
island.”
Dublin reflected that “it’s
amazing how the virtual world
brings you closer to home.
“Sitting under the sound
of Robert Lee’s and Vladimir
Lucien’s poetry, made me feel
less in exile than I’ve felt in a
long time,” she said. “It was not
just the familiarity of seeing
fellow St. Lucians, it was also
the way in which the common
themes of wonder, reckoning
and woundedness weaved in
and out of a common backdrop
of home. This event brought us
who live far apart together in a
virtual homecoming.”
For Lucien, “it was a way of
being home. To hear the voices,
to see the faces, even to feel the
affirmation of a sense of generations,
continuity, connection
across all kinds of borders and
chaos.
Continued from Page 33
Brooklyn-headquartered Grand Council of the Independent United Order of Mechanics’
(IUOM) Resource and Finance Commissioner, Grenadian David Williams giving vote-ofthanks.
Photo by Nelson A. King
Caribbean poetry comes to SUNY VanTayStyles, blending
St. Lucian poet Lisa Dublin.
SUNY Oreonta
Poet John Robert Lee. Marion
Nelson and Allen Sherman
Vladimir Lucien. SUNY
Oreonta