CATEGORY:CARNIVAL
----------------------

By Wallace J.A (Inside Grenada correspondent)

PARACLETE, St.Andrew’s – Work is progressing very satisfactorily at the Paraclete Government School ahead of the August 14 & 15 carnival celebrations. Villagers from Paraclete as well as from the nearby communities find themselves at the school every evening and work well into the nighttime to prepare the beautiful costumes for the two big days.

In an exclusive interview with Mr. Dennis Bridgman, the leader of the Paraclete Mas Band, GC (Grenadianconnection) learnt that the name of the mas that his masqueraders will be playing this year is “ Just Dreams.” The band will be made up of five beautiful-looking sections: ‘Shine’, ‘Blue Angels’, ‘Moon Beams’, ‘Fire Frolic’ and ‘Ecstasy.’ The cost of the costumes ranges from EC$60.00 to EC$110.00, figures that reflect the financial realities of the people living in our rural communities.

Mr. Bridgman is very pleased with the way things are progressing and anticipates having a band size of approximately 180 persons this year, which would be about twenty to thirty persons more than he had last year. He informed GC that “…the participation this year will be good and the people are bubbling with enthusiasm. We placed 3rd last year and this year, they want us to come 1st.”

One of the problems that the Paraclete Mas Band has been experiencing for some time is that of the use of a suitable venue to prepare their costumes. Mr. Bridgman stated that when the Paraclete School was built during the time of Sir Eric Gairy, he (Gairy) said that the school would also serve as a community center and a section of the school was actually used for this purpose. Things have changed somewhat over the years and sometimes it is difficult to access the keys for the building. Added to this, the mas band has to pay a substantial sum of money for the use of the facility, for insurance coverage and for the use of electricity, a figure that many persons think is too high. The Paraclete School is also used as a church on weekends.