Members and friends of the Anguilla Soroptimist Club on Friday August 16 enjoyed a dinner held at the Soroptimist Hall which was beautifully decorated for the occasion. Governor Christina Scott and Chief Minister Hubert Hughes were the guests of honour.
The evening started with cocktails in a relaxed setting outside the hall. After the excellent dinner, which was catered by Larry Brooks, several toasts were proposed. The Governor thanked the Soroptimists for inviting her and complimented them on the evening. She proposed a toast to Her Majesty the Queen. The Chief Minister said how pleased he was that the Governor was supporting the Club and congratulated members on the work they were doing. He proposed a toast to the island of Anguilla. Soroptimist Audrey Rogers proposed a toast to Soroptimist International noting the work done around the world by the members.
Dawn Hodge, daughter of Mollie Hodge, the Club’s first president, was very complimentary of the members’ work, especially the building of the Day Care Centre that has been operating since 1988. Soroptimist Josephine Gumbs proposed a toast to the guests and thanked them for supporting the Club.
President Donnette Richardson explained to guests that there were four federations and Anguilla belongs to the Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. She said that, worldwide, there are 90,000 members in 3,000 clubs in 123 countries. Our Federation has 355 clubs in 29 countries.
President of the National Council of Women, Ernie Hodge-Carty, presented certificates of recognition to Vera Richardson of the Anglican Mothers’ Union, Olive Hodge of the Soroptimist Club, and Ursil Webster of the Anguilla Civil Service Association. She congratulated them on the work that they were doing in the different organisations and in the community. Also recognized, but absent from the dinner, were Jillian Sheehy working with the St Vincent de Paul group of the Roman Catholic Church; Florence Harrigan of the Anglican Church Women’s Association and Civilla Kentish of the Lions Club.
The programme was chaired by Soroptimist Violet Berry and the vote of thanks was given by Soroptimist Alison Carty.
During the evening the music was supplied by DJ Albert Burton.
