Vincentians to converge on Long Island for inaugural Vincy Day picnic

Come Saturday, August 18, Vincentians in North America will converge on Heckscher State Park, in East Islip, New York (Long Island) for a day of togetherness, fun, fostering friendships and entertainment Vincy style, on the Inaugural Vincy Day – USA.{{more}}

The event is spearheaded by an executive chaired by the Consul General of St Vincent and the Grenadines in New York, Selmon Walters, who said that hype for the activity is great and expectations of meeting friends and relatives not seen for years are high.

“New York is arguably the home of one of the largest number of Vincentians living outside of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The state holds about thirty active Vincentians organisations. Other neighbouring states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have large settlements of Vincentians as well, but New York is seen as the hub, the meeting point for various ethnic groups,” Walters said.

“Every year thousands of Vincentians gather in Canada for the “Thousand Island” picnic. This is an impressive meeting of Vincentians from Canada and the USA. Those Vincentians in the USA, who for one reason or the other cannot go to the “Thousand Island”, have for years been calling for a similar activity in New York,” Walters explained as the reasons behind Vincy Day.

According to Consul General Walters, this year the call was answered with the coming of the inaugural VINCY DAY USA, which will take the form of a picnic.

Persons are encouraged to come prepared to be entertained, by an all-Vincy cast of North American and Vincy-based performers and entertainers.

There is also expected to be fun games, such as sack races, lime and spoon, needle and thread; then there is cricket, soccer, dominoes, cards and many other interesting events.

The Consul General also hopes that the day will make for a more involved diaspora, which will in turn result in furthering the development of the home nation and he is urging all Vincentians in the USA to attend the family day.

The Steering Committee behind this event is Chairman Selmon Walters, Deputy Chairman Lennox Daniel, Recording Secretary Des-Marie Greenaway, Assistant Secretary Rosalind Goodluck, PRO Junior Jones, Treasurer Cyril Thomas, Assistant Treasurer Gailene Windsor, Head of Security Arthur De Shong, Committee member Colin Liverpool.

Other members are Ainsley Primus, Celia Ross, Laverne Mc Dowald-Thompson, O’ Brien Simmons, Attie Biddy, Dr Herman Ambris and Maxwell Haywood.

It is the hope that Vincy Day USA will become an annual attraction, especially for Vincentians holidaying in the USA during August.

The strengthening of national pride and patriotism is also a key outcome of the occasion.