Fund Raiser for HACE and catering by Pascale Burrows

And so dear readers this week I am telling you about a fundraiser on Monday 20th March in aid of HACE – which as you should know is the Health Association for Central Eleuthera. This is the organization that runs the free ambulance service here on the island so it is very important to support and help maintain this vital service.

The fundraiser is the brainchild of the well known and loved Canadian Don Bouchat. Don has been coming to Eleuthera for 51 years now and sings and plays keyboards regularly at various places in central Eleuthera.

The fundraiser is being held at La Bougainvillea on Monday evening – starting at 6pm. Entrance is $50 per person on the door and all proceeds will go to HACE. There will be food and drinks available to purchase at La Bougainvillea – but that is a separate thing. The live music band is the mainstay of the event – Don has arranged for musicians to come in from Nassau and from the US,  plus our best local musicians as well.

There will be dancing by the pool on the large deck – however that is not compulsory ! Do please come out and support this brilliant organization which is tirelessly run by Jason Thompson and Neville Sands – it has been in existence for 36 years . Many of you will remember Chris and Alison Gosling and the many fundraisers they organized over the years. Of course they are no longer on island – they are back in the UK – but HACE and the ambulances go on.

Jason Thompson has told me that they are trying to raise $60,000 fo a new ambulance as one that they have is beyond repair – so all the support we can muster is very important.

Local artist and winter resident Donna Allen will be selling her artwork at La Bougainvillea along with Alex Mosher who will be selling jewelry and both have agreed to donate 50% of their sales to HACE. Donna is another fine example of someone who cares for this island – she is the one who has organized the coffee mornings at the Haynes Library – Tuesday 21st for those of you who want to attend.

One of the things about this island that I love is that it makes you take part in keeping vital services going – things that people take for granted in North America and Europe cannot be taken for granted here and it is up to individuals to step up to the plate and do their part…. So a huge thank you to Don Bouchat and his musicians and of course Jason and Neville who work so hard to keep the ambulance service going, for having this public spirit that is vital to the running of the island.

The bank account details for HACE are – CIBC First Caribbean Bank here in Governors Harbour. Account name is HACE – account number including branch code is – 09160 201632217. The first part is the branch code the second part is the account number.

Many thanks in advance – of course if you are going to attend the function you can make an additional donation there. Either cash or a cheque made out to HACE

I also want to tell you about a wonderful dinner we had cooked for us at Sprawling Towers by the great local chef Pascale Burrows. He came on Friday evening and cooked for the 6 of us – we had the best coconut shrimp ever as an appetizer, followed by a wonderful beet salad with goats cheese. Then linguine frutti di mare and finally molten chocolate cake with ice cream. And yes I was slightly over full but very very happy !

Not what you would call a light supper but let me tell you it was was absolutely top notch and even though I am not mad for dessert this was fabulous. The kitchen was immaculate when he and his server left – and he even sharpened my kitchen knives for me as an added bonus !! Contact Pascale by WhatsApp or by phone on 242 359 7755 for all your private catering needs…..

Our family left on Sunday afternoon after a wonderful time together – of course the beautiful Cece had so much attention and fuss made of her but I say make the most of it while you can. We all made some beautiful memories and will treasure the time we spent in each others company……

Now we look forward to my sister Jane coming out on Monday – counting down the days …..

You know I always try to finish with a little homily and this week is no different. So keep you eyes open to see what you can do in your own community and be open hearted and generous in whatever way you can, even a small financial donation can make a difference if plenty of people do it. But there are other creative ways you can help – whatever your talents are make them count. And don’t forget to cuddle and hug those you love as often as you can ….

By the way – there will be pictures of the divine Cece for some time to come – I took so many …..

This final picture of another glorious sunrise at Sprawling Towers was going to be used for the featured image at the top of the blog – but it automatically crops the picture down to fit – and the sun and sky were completely cut out – so I put it in here at the very end …..