DIVALI PROGRAM AT NIA VALLEY, PRINCES TOWN On the evening of October 19th, 2022, the members of the Rotary Club of Princes Town held its Divali Celebrations at the Nia Valley Estate in Princes Town. It was a time of fellowship celebrating the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. The ceremony was appropriately commenced with a prayer by Pundit Surendra Maharaj of the Corinth Lakshmi Saraswati Mandir followed by the lighting of the first deya by President Rudy and subsequent lighting and laying out of deyas by the members. It was a lovely ceremony filled with entertainment by the renowned Pannist and music composer, Mr Amrit Samaroo opening with the national anthem and finishing with two beautiful Indian cultural renditions. The festivities continued with three Indian dance items done at various intervals by the talented young ladies belonging to the Krishna Kala Dance Academy. Certainly one of the treats for the evening was Mrs. Tricia Ramdhan Seepersad, who performed various melodious bhajans throughout the program. The feature address was brought by Pundit Maharaj, whose discourse focused on the meaning of Divali and the inclusivity of all Trinbagonians understanding the cultural as opposed to religious aspect. This message was well-received and appreciated by all. One of the major attractions also held was the Pick-a-Kalsa segment: the winners of which were Performer Tricia Ramdhan Seepersad, Rotarian Leeshel Harrison and Rotarian Justin Girdharrie in that order. Door prizes were also given out to one lucky attendee. Finally, before the closure, a mini fashion show was held to determine the Divali Raja and Rani (King and Queen). The 2022-2023 winners were Raja Villon Stanley and Rani Leeshel Harrison! Congratulations on your year long reign. A mouth-watering traditional Divali meal inclusive of paratha roti, channa and aloo, pumpkin, chataigne, mango amchar and mother-in-law was enjoyed by all patrons and the dessert was the most delectable sweet bag of kurma, gulab jamoon and barfi. Amazing! The Rotary Club of Princes Town acknowledges the support of the Princes Town Regional Corporation Chairman Mr. Gowrie Roopnarine, whose attendance at our events never goes unnoticed. We thank the persons who were instrumental in pulling off this successful event seamlessly, namely IPP Rishi Ramlogan and PIS Nadira, as well as President Rudranath Maraj and PIS Parbaty. We would like to wish you all a Shubh Divali 2022 from the members of the Rotary Club of Princes Town and may light overcome darkness in each of your lives. #rotaryserves #rotary #divali #program #celebrations #fellowship #district7030

Let’s welcome our newly inducted Rotarian Ms Leeshel Jan Harrison to the rotary Club of Princes Town. #rotarydistrict7030 #Imaginerotary #RotaryShares #ServiceAboveSelf #membership #induction #newmember

In recent years, the Rotary Club of Princes Town, in collaboration with other Rotary Clubs across the District 7030 dispora and worldwide have been working towards building and fostering a culture of peace through its various service initiatives and volunteer efforts. Our club particularly recognizes the significant resource gap for global peace and peace building particularly among our youths in today’s society. The Club foresees that it can fill that gap through peace programming and supporting initiatives such as peace education, which it views as the foundation for lasting peace and national cooperation. The Club believes that by providing our youths with access to the skills, attitudes and behaviors for building better relationships and transforming conflicts is key for lasting peace. In commemoration of International World Peace Day on the 21st September, 2022, and bearing in mind our Club’s goals of peacebuilding, our Club hosted its “2022 Youth Peace Day Symposium: “Making Schools Safe for Students through Peace Education” on Wednesday 21st September 2022 at the Tableland Secondary school, to educate and provide students with the knowledge to appreciate conflicts and strategies to resolve said conflicts. This peace seminar was conducted by inspirational and motivational speaker, Mr. Don La Foucade, who brought the message of peace and education on effective strategies and tools to resolve conflict and foster peace building among upper school students. Approximately 150 students and their teachers benefitted from this Inspirational, and highly interactive speaker. Mr Don reminded the students that “Someone's opinion of you does not determine your future.” His thoughts on the word PEACE? “Please End a Conflict Early.” Mr. La Foucade also spent some time speaking to students on a one-to-one basis afterwards. Thanks to Principal Mrs. Jackson, President Rudranath Maraj, Past President Jamir Ousman, Past President Capildeo Beharry, Director Justin Girdharrie and Rotarian Mark John. #rotarydistrict7030 #ServeToChangeLives #RotaryShares #ServiceAboveSelf #InternationalDayOfPeace

‘And a fabulous time was had by all’… as appropriately stated by Rotarian Patsy Chankersingh. Chokhafest 2022 took place on Saturday August 27th at the Pointe-a-Pierre Golf Club Ballroom for the second year running. The ambience was electric because for the first time in three years we were able to entertain our patrons and offer them the option for dine-in, with elegance. This year tickets were sponsored by TicketGateway- TG Digital Prints Ltd and for the first time we introduced the option of Online Ticketing, selling over 800 physical and online tickets combined. The Chokhas were exceptional! The Host was entertaining as ever! The entertainers kept the crowd going! The Raffle was pumping! The prizes were worth it! And a fabulous time was had by all. The event was hosted by Keevotv and Djs from Skinner Sound Company. Patrons were enticed by the food, the atmosphere and the icing on the cake- the FREE 360 Photobooth sponsored by 360 CapturemeTT. All Covid-19 protocols were still observed to ensure the safety of our volunteers and patrons alike. There was a choice of 10 scrumptious chokhas with sada roti and fried bake to choose from. Door prizes were given out every hour and at the end of the evening the Raffle was drawn. Everything went off without a hitch. Our Chokhafest Fundraiser which has been a sold-out event for the past two years, funds our Annual Scholarship Awards which provides financial relief to students enrolled in a Tertiary Institution who are in need and deserving of financial assistance with their educational pursuits. Over the years, this Club has donated over $900, 000.00 in Scholarships due to the ongoing and unwavering support from patrons just like you who believe our charitable efforts are far-reaching and worthy. We give our highest gratitude to our cherished sponsors and donors, a list which is too long to publish. This Club is deeply grateful for your enormous support this year, for which we cannot express enough. We look forward to working with all of you in the future. We end by mentioning all of our volunteers and workers for the event: Rotarians, potential Rotarians, PIS, children and friends of Rotary, the chefs, fellow represented Rotary Clubs, our heartfelt thanks go out to you. This could not have been done without each and every one of you!

#chokafest #fundraiser #scholarship #rotarydistrict7030 #ServeToChangeLives #RotaryShares #ServiceAboveSelf