Ezzard Miller hosts dinner for seniors
Ezzard Miller serves homemade rolls, with jam made by Olympian Ronald Forbes, to guests (Photo by Brian Watler)
(CNS Local Life): North Side MLA and Leader of the Opposition Ezzard Miller hosted a joint Celebrate Cayman and Cayman Thanksgiving dinner for seniors on Saturday, 1 December, telling those gathered that the most influential of all social media was people “breaking bread” together. About 50 people attended the dinner at the district’s Craddock Ebanks Civic Centre.
The Celebrate Cayman initiative marks the 60th anniversary of the unveiling of the Islands’ first national symbol, the Coat of Arms. Community dining and discussion experiences, dubbed “Beloved Table Dinners”, are being held across the three islands to enable residents to consider their collective vision for the future of the Cayman Islands, stated a press release.
The Cayman Thanksgiving observance, a weekend-long national celebration designed to honour Caymanian heritage, culture and way of life, culminates on the first Sunday in December each year. Saturday’s North Side Cayman Thanksgiving also served to recognise the Islands’ safe passage through another hurricane season.
Speaking as the host for the evening, Miller observed that “food surpasses technology in connecting us at all levels of society – certainly in the most meaningful way,” mirroring the words of Alex Atala, the renowned Brazilian chef, who said that as a social medium food surpasses the Internet and Facebook, the release said.
Miller told the guest, “So your generation got it right: Dining together, as you seniors instinctively know, is the most meaningful way of connecting people.” The MLA added that sitting around the dining table remains the best medium for the exchange of ideas and passing on of values, beginning with the most far-reaching building block of society – the family.
Among ideas shared at the dinner was that youth are the greatest “untapped opportunity,” for the Cayman Islands. Seniors called for greater attention to education, jobs, and more appropriate ways of responding to the needs of the youth sector, especially for the growing at-risk and offending members. They recommended greater emphasis on parenting training seminars, the press release said.
In addition to employment and education, the range of ideas at the dinner extended to issues such as drugs, the spiralling traffic problems and the need for more effective public transportation, and the preservation of the environment.
Miller said he try to host more of these types of meetings featuring other population segments, including youth, and encouraged district churches, associations and neighbourhoods to host similar events.
At the end of the meeting, each attendee was presented with a Celebrate Cayman tool kit for hosting Beloved Table Dinners.
Detailed feedback on Saturday evening’s discussions has been forwarded to the Celebrate Cayman steering committee for incorporation into the national pool of ideas generated by the Beloved Table Dinners across the Cayman Islands.
Also at the dinner were eight Edna Moyle Primary School year six students chaperoned by teacher Kelcey Huggins.The students, who sang the Cayman National Song and a Christmas carol, each sat at a different table with the adults and helped serve dessert at the end of the evening.
Category: Community
