Sports
BASRA - Freeport Fundraising kicks off with a “bikini” bash!
Aug 8, 2007 - 10:27:44 PM


It’s time once again for that popular annual event, the 37th Annual Bernie Butler BASRA Swim Marathon and Beach Party. Each year, the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association seeks to raise funds in two fun ways - with the Swim Marathon and a beach party that follows, plus a beautiful bikini calendar you can purchase to take home with you!

The Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association is a dedicated non-profit voluntary organization committed to saving the lives of distressed seamen or airmen in the Bahamas. They are supported only by private donations and therefore require your support through their fundraising projects. Aside from the costs of their daily operations and rescue efforts, they are seeking to purchase modern lifesaving equipment like defibrillators. In addition, they are looking to the future where they can have a permanent waterfront base of operations with their own building, on Grand Bahama.

    The Swim Marathon is two miles long and encourages fitness enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels to come out and swim from Our Lucaya to Coral Beach. The kids get involved with a one mile and _ mile swim. This is always an exciting event, with the fastest swimmers taking thirty minutes to finish, to the last hardy competitors completing in about two hours. Right after this epic event is the famous beach party on Coral Beach. The general public is invited to attend and take part in the biggest beach party of the season. There will be food, games, beverages, and it’s fun to meet up with people you haven’t seen in a while. Of course, since it’s a beach party, it’s also the place for the girls to show off their figures in the latest styles of bikinis.

    BASRA is using this to their advantage with their fundraising calendar this year. Their annual calendar goes full colour with a bikini theme. Each month is sponsored by a different business in town and the photo layout for each month features bikini-clad models promoting the sponsor’s business. It is a fun and unique way for businesses to support BASRA. The eye-popping pictures of each month will ensure that everyone wants to buy the calendar, which will not be on sale until the BASRA event on Saturday, August 18.

    The bikini calender theme was the brainchild of Barefoot Marketing, who coordinated the entire project. Sarah Kirkby, President of Barefoot Marketing, and Leigh Termath worked closely with Erik Russell of Keeni Media, who photographed the entire project. Keeni Media provided the models from their extensive portfolio, all models are local - so you will be sure to recognize the beautiful young talent on each page.

    Locations were all over town, many were beach shots and some were taken on-site at the various sponsors. Each business or their signature product will be featured prominently. Those sponsors are Bristol Wines and Spirits, Bahamas Wholesale Agencies, Frecon, Lanelle Phillips, Callenders & Co, Grand Bahama Brewery, Grand Bahama Yacht Club, Ginn Company, Butler’s Specialty, Top Notch, GWS and the Container Port. In addition, other businesses generously donated funds toward BASRA and are highlighted on each month. They are Pelican Bay Hotel and Resort, FOCOL, Freeport Jetwash, West Atlantic, and Cafferata & Co.

    The lovely models posed on trucks, on boats, in the water and on the sand, and they wore the latest bikinis very kindly donated by Unexso. The stunning models, combined with beautiful settings and the professional expertise of Erik Russell of Keeni Media Ltd., ensured that each shot was high quality, like a magazine layout. It was the first “professional” job for several of the models who endured blazing heat, mosquitos and long waits, all to get the perfect shot for each page.

    Erik Russell said that he was pleased with the caliber of of modelling talent for the BASRA swimsuit calendar.“Even though all of the models volunteered their time for this project, every one of them was professional and dedicated to making sure the finished product was excellent” Russell said.

Russell explained that there was no compromise in the quality of work that went into the BASRA swimsuit calendar. “Not only are all of the models beautiful, but they really put every effort into making sure the concepts worked and that the sponsors got great value from their participation in the calendar. We had a lot of fun developing the ideas and then making them work on camera” Mr. Russell explained.

“From working on an actual construction site, to the airport tarmac, and of course several beaches around Grand Bahama, we had quite an adventure along the way.”

Mr. Russell also noted that there will be a website with free downloadable desktop wallpaper featuring the models and a behind the ‘scenes’ video is planned.

    The first promotion of the BASRA 2007-2008 calendar will be on Wednesday, August 15th, with a flotilla parade through the streets of Freeport. Look out in the afternoon for a parade of boats and jet-skis, with models on for the ride, handing out flyers promoting the BASRA swim event.

    Then join the models and all of your friends for a fun beach event on Saturday August 18 at Coral Beach, where you can purchase the BASRA calender for the first time. In addition, in your support of this association’s worthy rescue efforts, you can purchase all sorts of BASRA merchandise, such as polo and t-shirts, tank tops, Koozies, bottle openers, bumper stickers and much more.