Santa Gloria Day was celebrated by the St. Ann’s Bay Improvement Committee in collaboration with the St. Ann Parish Library Network on Thursday, May 6. It is acknowledged the first Thursday of every May.
The event was held on the lawns of the St. Ann’s Bay Parish Library, Lawrence Park, St. Ann’s Bay, St. Ann. The patriotic song, ‘Jamaica Land of Beauty’, filled the grounds as the guests mingled.
The rally began at 10 am with Norma Walters leading the devotion. MC Seymour Green gave the chairman’s opening remarks. The mayor, Desmond Gilmore gave the welcome and greetings were done by custos of St. Ann, Norma Walters.
Items were given by schools, including Priory Primary and Infant School, Marcus Garvey Technical High School and Steer Town Primary and Junior High School.
Iva Walters Baker gave the introduction of guest speaker, Tony Rebel, known for hits ‘Sweet Jamaica’, ‘Fresh Vegetable’ and ‘Jah is by my side’. In his motivational speech he cautioned those present that “The emotion of anger is not a bad thing. It’s the way you control it”. He also went ahead to say “Anger is a natural Emotion, Violence is a behavior.”
Santa Gloria serves the purpose of celebrating the vibrant history of St. Ann’s Bay. According to Cynthia Graham, president of the St. Ann’s Bay Improvement Committee, Santa Gloria is the name given to St. Ann’s Bay by Christopher Columbus because he thought ‘It was the fairest land that his eyes had beheld.’
On the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus arrival in Jamaica, many refused to celebrate the occasion because they believed that Columbus did not discover Jamaica due to fact that it was already inhabited by the Tainos/ Arawaks which resulted in the name change to Santa Gloria.
The event closed off with musical impressions that lasted for two hours.
