The 2013 Reunion of the Fortis 79 group of KC Old Boys was held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA between June 21, 2013 and June 23, 2013. It was the second annual staging of the event.
The festivities started about 4:00 pm at the residence of Desmond “Banga” Vassell (1G).The first patrons, Conrad E. “Atom” Jones (1D) and Martin Batts (1A) arrived from out of town about 3.30 pm. A steady stream of attendees arrived until about 3.30 am on Saturday morning. The Chicken wings, soup, steam fish, conch fritters, liquor, bottled water, fruit cake and such kept us charged throughout the evening and early morning.
On Saturday, activities moved to the C. B. Smith Park, starting about 11:00 am. The oxtail, curried goat, jerk chicken, roast fish, bottled water, soda and fruit punch was quite adequate for the day. The children who came spent their time on the playground as well as at the water park while their Fathers ‘caught up’ with old times in the Pavilion. Of course, the wives who attended were quite gracious and just allowed the “old boys” to have their moment as the intensity of the link-up could be heard even in the other Pavilions nearby.
Saturday night was more subdued and a few of us just got together for a quiet drink together.
Sunday, was the day to recap and back to the Vassell residence it was. Trevor Edwards (Basketball -2 Clarke) arrived then (work commitment prevented him from coming earlier) and joined the few who could wake up to make that trip. We subsequently said our goodbyes and vowed to link up in 2014.
Officially the Florida crew headed by Dean Morris (1E) has agreed to host the 2014 event promising bigger and better things.
A special Thank You must go to Mrs Janice Vassell (Banga wife) and family for tolerating the ‘excitement’ during our stay in Florida. To organizers Banga Vassell, Martin Batts, Needham (1E) and company I say on behalf of all, thanks for a job well done.
Note: The 79ers are looking forward to having an annual Reunion and hope that in the near future there will be representation from Jamaica, Canada, England and other countries.