‘Back in Time Christmas Grab and Go’
By Nelson A. King
The Brooklyn-based St. Vincent
and the Grenadines Nurses
Association of New York on
Saturday hosted its inaugural
“Back in Time Christmas Vincy
Style Grab and Go” at the
Friends of Crown Heights Educational
Center on Logan Street
in East New York, Brooklyn.
“The event was a great success,
and we do look forward
to planning similar ones in the
future,” Dionne Crichton-Bailey,
coordinator of the event,
told Caribbean Life, adding that
it’s customary for her group
to host a bi-annual Christmas
event as one of its fundraisers.
Crichton-Bailey, a former
president, who currently serves
as vice president, said her
group began, in September, to
brainstorm about “what we can
do this year in the midst of a
pandemic.
“I realized many organizations
were having ‘Grab and Go’
events, and thought it would be
nice to have a similar but different
event,” she said, disclosing
that she mentioned the
notion to her cousin, Candace
Beach, who is also a member of
the nursing group.
“And, right away, we started
reminiscing about the wonderful
times we enjoyed as kids at
Christmas season in Layou (a
town in Central Leeward in St.
Vincent and the Grenadines),
with our grandmother, siblings
and neighbors,” Crichton-Bailey
added.
“The preparation of food and
the overall excitement of taking
packages of food to neighbors
and the less fortunate are
somethings to remember,” she
continued. “It was such a spirit
of giving and sharing.”
Crichton-Bailey said the idea
HEATED OUTDOOR DINING • INDOOR DINING
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Caribbean Life, D 20 ecember 17-23, 2021
Members of SVG Nurses Association of New York with ‘Grab-and-Go’ Christmas gifts. Photo
was shared with other members
of the St. Vincent and the
Grenadines Nurses Association
of New York, “and everyone was
quite excited and enthusiastic
about having an event of this
nature.”
She said immediate preparation
began, with the menu
comprising homemade bread,
sweet bread, black cake, homecooked
ham, sorrel, ginger
beer “and an added surprise
of a small bottle of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines wine.
“Whistles and balloons,
which every kid back in the day
enjoyed at this season, were
also an added surprise,” said
Crichton-Bailey, adding that
the menu was “prepacked and
beautifully wrapped in a platter,
and delivered in a lovely
green or red Christmas bag.”
She said the venue was beautifully
decorated with Christmas
cards strung across the
walls.
Crichton-Bailey said the side
tables, with doilies, were decorated
with Christmas cards,
and that the Christmas tree
was “beautifully lit, with bits
of cotton wool representing
snow to show that ‘back-intime
look.’”
by Nelson A. King
Table with Christmas goodies.
Pamela Griffi n/SVG Nurses
Association of New York
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