The Bishops’ High School and Queen’s College Alumni Associations held their second Twelfth Night Dance at the St Peter and Paul Hall in Scarborough on January 5, 2002. I recall the animated discussion among members of the Q.C executive concerning the wisdom of holding the first dance one year earlier. Many of us felt that as Christmas was a time of great celebration and heavy spending on gifts and entertainment, there might not be great enthusiasm among alumni for a Twelfth Night party. At the end of the day we agreed to participate with our Bishops’ friends, swayed by their conviction that there was great interest in such a fete. The first Twelfth Night party was a great success, with more than 400 tickets sold. The doubters were silenced; everybody was happy.

There was no hint of opposition to the organization of a second. A planning committee was set up months before the event, ably chaired by Jennifer Francisco of Bishops. The St. Peter and Paul hall was chosen as the venue, and the Tropical Vibes and D. J. Jones were chosen to provide the music. Bishops agreed to decorate the hall to reflect the “Moonlight Evening” theme and to arrange the foodstuffs to be made available for sale; Q.C was responsible for the organization of the bar. There were several door prizes and a 50/50 draw. The number of tickets made available for sale at $20.00 each was limited to 600 which is the maximum that the hall at St. Peter and Paul can accommodate.

The demand for tickets was astonishing. By mid December all the tickets had been sold or committed, and the telephones of members of both alumni executives were buzzing with requests for more tickets.

On the night of the event, many turned up hoping to pay at the door, but had to be turned away.

The dance was a tremendous success. The music played by Tropical Vibes and DJ Jones was a well-planned mixture of old favourites and more recent hits, and was greatly appreciated by the crowd, many of whom were born in the first half of the twentieth century. Many were singing to the music, reminiscing. The dance floor was crowded throughout the evening. Our dear friend and alumnus, Conrad-the-Crooner was loudly applauded, as he belted out the old hits from the era of the Platters.

The menu of black pudding, roti and curry, cook-up-rice, meat patties, pilourie and fish cakes was very popular among those who wanted to eat. By the end of the evening, all of the food was sold out. To the embarrassment of the bar organizers, we ran out of some items of liquor early in the evening, and had to rush out to buy more!

Altogether it was an exceedingly enjoyable evening for all. The organizers received many congratulatory calls from alumni and friends who attended and regrets from those who waited too late to buy tickets, hence could not attend. Our president has thanked the organizers for the great work done in making the event a huge success. He reflected on the financial success of the Twelfth Night dance, no doubt due to the stalwart efforts of a few, in comparison with the enormous effort by so many that is put into the Last Lap Lime in order to achieve a similar financial return.

For those who could not attend, our advice is: wait ‘til next year! Maybe we can find a larger hall. In any case, BUY YOUR TICKETS EARLY!!!!!!