Haitian Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue, BTC CEO Leon Williams, and BTC Chief Marketing Officer Janet Brown rally the crowd at the Haitian Flag Day Celebration.
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Committee and BTC put on ‘Best Flag Day Yet’
Nassau, N.P. - Intermittent showers didn’t
deter Haitians, Haitian-Bahamians, and culture enthusiasts from showing
up in droves at the Botanical Gardens, Nassau, for the BTC Haitian Flag
Day celebrations. Nearly 6,000 supporters clad in the red, blue, and
white of the Haitian Flag, came to enjoy the party with entertainment,
regional food choices and chances to win a variety of prizes.
The
event was an ode to the blend of Haitian and Bahamian culture within
the country’s ethnically Haitian communities. Classical Haitian dishes
like the fried pork griot and the mackerel-stuffed dumplings called
patae, could be found side-by-side with local favourites such as conch
fritters and Bahamian baked macaroni. The DJ seamlessly moved from rake
'n' scrape to Kompas beats and the MC's rallied the crowd in both Kreyol
and Bahamian dialect.
Janet Brown, BTC’s Chief Marketing
Officer also addressed the crowd, giving a well-received rousing speech
in Kreyol. As the title sponsor of the event, BTC gave prizes and
discounts on phones and phone cards, BTC t-shirts, bottles, lunchboxes
and other branded items. BTC also sponsored a health and wellness tent
for free screenings and information.
BTC’s neighbourhood stores -
independent locally-owned franchises - were also invited to
participate. The franchise owner at the bi-lingual Cowpen Road store,
Christian Dean, set up shop at the party and gave good discounts on the
Alcatel Pop S3 and Samsung Galaxy J1 smartphones and usefully, with data
packages too.
BTC’s CEO Leon Williams said that the company’s
participation reflected its active mandate to bring community service,
not just mobile service, to its valued customers. –more-
“With over 200,000 BTC subscribers, most of the persons in the crowd
today are customers. It is extremely important for BTC to support
community events that resonate, such as this. Recently, we were the lead
sponsor for the CARIFTA teams, the IAAF/BTC World Relays, and the
inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival and we will continue to support
meaningful community initiatives, large and small.”
The event’s
MC Louby Georges, renowned radio personality and prominent
Haitian-Bahamian community leader, said that he was ecstatic to see the
numbers of persons that came out and the level of support received from
BTC and other sponsors.
“The turn-out and the sponsorship are
great! We have BTC here in full force, one of the country’s oldest
corporations, and I think that says a lot. We can really feel the unity
out here, we can see a lot of Haitians and a lot of Bahamians out in the
crowd, and that is the highlight for me.”
Event organizer, Harry Dolce, thanked BTC for their support and for being instrumental in the success of the event.
“BTC
was the presenting sponsor of the event for the first time. I can say
that without BTC’s support the event probably couldn’t have been the
success that it was. They didn’t just sponsor the event, Carole Barnett,
BTC Manager of Events and Sponsorship and La’Shawn Cartwright, BTC
sponsorship lead, and their team worked along with our team to set up
and make sure the event space was organised and beautiful. We have never
gotten that level of support from past sponsors.”
He continued,
saying that the support translated to an excellent turnout and a quality
event. “There was a far greater turnout than previous years. It was
also the first time we ever had the four major local bands - Elite
Christ Stars, Fresh Number 1, Fresh Music Revolution, and New Stars –
performing at one event. This may well be the best Haitian Flag Day in
the 16 years of the event.”
BTC CEO Leon Williams and Chief Marketing Officer Janet Brown all ready to celebrate at Haitian Flag Day. BTC was the title sponsor of the celebratory event.
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Representatives from BTC Cow Pen Road Neighbourhood store enjoy Haitian Flag Day.
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