The event, touted as a grand family-fun day titled ‘Remembering Cheddi’, saw a slew of local artistes coming together on stage to pay homage to the great son of the soil in song and dance, among other cultural art forms.

It was the first such activity at the venue in the close to two or It was the first such activity at the venue in the close to two or more years since the fledgling Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, which was temporarily housed there, was relocated to its present locale at Main and Quamina Streets.

Appropriately setting the tone for the evening’s proceedings, which began shortly after the scheduled 18:00hrs, was the Sheriff Deputies with a stirring rendition of the catchy instrumental, ‘In the Mood’.

This was sharply followed by ‘President in Waiting’, Mr. Vivian Jordan, whose witty ‘Vote VJ fuh President’ saw him taking the coveted title of Calypso Monarch at this year’s Mashramani calypso finals.

Even President Bharrat Jagdeo, seated with First Lady Varshnie in the front row directly opposite the stage, couldn’t resist a chuckle every now and then as ‘The Mighty VJ’ delivered salvo after salvo of witticism.

Dressed in a manner befitting the station he aspires to one day hold - dark suit topped of by a royal blue shirt - he appealed to the audience: “…dis is de las’ dance…is time you give dis ‘Buckman’ a chance.”

He was later seen wending his way, in a rather portly manner, towards President Jagdeo, who received him graciously. Long after, they were still seen locked in earnest conversation, oblivious to what was taking place around them.

Among other memorable items on the programme was the reading of an excerpt taken from the children’s storybook, ‘When Grandpa Cheddi was a Boy’, written by former First Lady and President, Mrs. Janet Jagan, widow of the late Dr Jagan.

The narrator was host of the popular morning television programme, ‘Guyana Today’, Mr. Nazim Hussain, who chose as his piece, ‘Turtle and snake meet up’.

Young Aruni Singh, herself a budding poetess, rendered two poems, the first being David Dabydeen’s ‘Cane’, and the other titled, &#x2018Cheddi Lives in You and Me’, which was penned by Agriculture Minister, Mr. Navin Chandarpal.

One of the high points of the evening was a fashion sequence entitled ‘Land of Six Peoples’ which saw reigning Miss World Guyana, Olive Gopaul, and a bevy of young ladies doing justice to designer Derek Moore’s creativity in showing just what can be done with cotton milled at the Sanata Textile Mill.

There was also the ever-popular Couchman Family, whose act seems to be getting better and better with each passing day, and Courtney Noel, whose ‘Arrowhead’ is fast becoming a national anthem among the youths.

To close off the evening, the Sheriff Deputies’ ‘Golden Girls’ took everyone on a pleasant trip down memory lane, with renditions going as far back as the late 50s.