I want to begin with some brief remarks about the Fox Hill Festival.  I believe that we have had a good festival this year.  I know that some of you were concerned about what appeared to be a fall off in the crowds that attended Junkanoo on Monday morning.  Some have suggested that this was because of the Junkanoo parade in Grand Bahama.  I do not agree but I think it is important this year as you do very year to conduct a thorough post mortem on what went right and what did not go right this year.

I think that this year’s event suffers from some difficult comparisons.  First, last year’s festival was helped by the fact that it was the 170th anniversary of Emancipation, and there were special events supported by the Government including the visit of Ambassador Sidney Poitier to Fox Hill along with the Director General of UNESCO.  The Government also spent considerable sums by supporting the visit of the dance and music team from South Africa.  That did not happen this year.

Further, when the Junkanoo parade was announced in Grand Bahama with the distortions as a result of the huge prize money supplied by the Grand Bahama Port Authority, in my view there was not a sufficient marketing response.  By that I mean, if you look at the Fox Hill Festival as an entertainment product as it is, and the fact that on this weekend it competes normally with excursions to the Family islands, the Grand Bahama experience was new.  It cannot therefore be assumed that everyone would know that Junkanoo continued in Nassau in Fox Hill.  We have to get the message out.  In other words, more vigorous marketing and advertising may have helped.  There were many people who did not know that there was Junkanoo in Fox Hill.  Further, we will have to invest more time and effort at working with other groups, since the major groups have decided that they prefer to go to Freeport.

The fact is that whether or not there is Junkanoo in Freeport, Fox Hill’s Emancipation Junkanoo will continue, and there is an audience of Nassuvians who will come to Fox Hill, if they know, if it is properly organized which it usually is and if the activities up here are considered safe, secure and clean fun.

In this connection, I wish to congratulate the Chairman and his committee for doing just that, organizing a safe, clean and fun festival where there were no incidents.  Fox Hill’s Festival then is very much like the brand name.  It has associated with that brand name: the tradition of celebrating African freedom (this is powerful marketing tool), the fact that it is an organized activity with a long history, the fact that the Government of the day always supports it, the fact that it is an activity for families including small children, for the religious persons as well with its annual service and gospel concert.  We also attempt to ensure that the grounds are kept clean of garbage, and that there is sufficient police presence to ensure that order is kept and if anything is amiss that it is brought under control quickly.

In this connection, I wish to thank the police for all their fine work Supt. Mortimer and Chief Inspector Davis and their team and all the detectives who came out in plain clothes.  We thank also the Bahamas Electricity Corporation and BTC for their assistance.  BEC helps with the lights so that all the areas are well lit for security reasons and for Junkanoo. They also help with the pruning of the trees and the mounting and greasing of the greasy pole.  I want to thank the public for continuing to come out.

There is also the annual police marching day and the luncheon organized to feed the senior citizens and our guests who come out to the service.  This year as usual Olive Mackey superbly organized the event.  I want to thank Leon Taylor for the work on Junkanoo.

The festival is a product or a brand name then just like Coca Cola.   Even though Coke is the most popular soda in the world, it never stops advertising.  Everywhere you go, you see Coca Cola.  It must be the same for the Fox Hill Festival. We cannot forget that people - your market - has many things competing for their attention on this weekend.  We have to remind them each year and throughout the year what a bargain for fun Fox Hill can be during this week.  Indeed, the vendors themselves can be a part of contributing to the advertising of this festival.

We should also begin more and more to see the economic gains that are inherent in this for the village.  I have in the past argued that the Committee should set a target for revenue for this Festival.  That it is important for vendors to agree to provide the Committee with their gross revenue.  Perhaps if people are sensitive to giving the actual figures, you can give them in broad terms, for example.  You can have a form which says state your revenue collected in categories: 0-5,000; 5000-10,000 and so on.  But it will give the Festival Committee and opportunity to let the public know what are the economic benefits of this Festival to this village during that time and set targets for the next time.

I also think that you may have to investigate the possibility of major brands coming here to advertise their products.  For example, next year why can’t the greasy pole experience be sponsored by a major corporate sponsor?  I have already spoken to Larry Wilmott about the way that the entertainment value of that experience can be enhanced by setting rules which might eliminate the rags, and there is more actual climbing and setting time limits.  What I noticed again this year is that after one and half hours the audience tends to get bored, and there is not enough drama in the event to keep people engaged.

We must also seek to flesh out the week with more activities.  This year there were some gaps which could be filled with activities.  For example on the day after the official opening there was no activity and it was clear that the Village was expecting some activity.   Persons turned out in fairly significant numbers that Saturday evening 30th July to honour Roberto McKinney.  So there was a market available.

So we must spend some time over the next year figuring out what further entertainment opportunities we can provide during our major days Fox Hill Day and Emancipation Day.

You must also realize that you have major competitor in Festival terms with Gambier which now has a more organized fun event  which being newer will have greater cachet.  We have to figure out how do we keep our audience or our market in the face of that competition.  I suggested to the members of the Committee that it would be useful to go to Gambier and see what they have.  This is called market research.  Is it possible to work with Gambier or with Adelaide to develop things which do not now exist but that can help enhance both experiences?

It seems to me also that when the Festival closes on Tuesday 9th August, the very next day we ought to begin planning for the next time.  There is no reason why we cannot announce the days for the Festival next year, including the calendar of events.

I think that we must work more closely with the churches to ensure that the groups turn out for the gospel concerts.  I think that we ought to let the churches know from now when they are expected to perform.  We might propose that there will be no church in the Village that night and that the church groups or individuals will come to sing that night.  I think that we ought to even choose a song for them to sing, with heavy concentration on songs which can get great group join in and response, so that there is sing along community atmosphere at the gospel concert.

The question then is given all of these ideas is how do we accomplish all of it.  I am certain that the Government will provide the support that is required to the extent of its resources.  I wish to thank my colleagues at the Ministry of Youth and Culture, the Ministry of Tourism for their support of this Festival.   But the more planned and organized we are, the greater the resources we can get.

So this year, I would wish to work with Committee Chair Charles Johnson to set some of these plans in motion.  You know my philosophy; I do not believe that the Member of Parliament should be a part of the Committee, except in an ex officio or informal sense.  This is to avoid any suggestion of partisan politics being involved in it.   Of course, the MP has an interest because whatever happens at the Festival, people think that it is the MP who is responsible.  So I have to ensure that it goes well, but I do not have to run it.  I believe that the Festival Committee should be open to all members of the community regardless of politics, and that each year a stream of younger people always needs to be recruited and trained in its work.

I would wish to work toward getting a professional person to assist the work of the Committee and get involved in much of the nuts and bolts of this out of season so that the Committee’s work when it comes time for the actual Festival is eased.  I know that there is some unease about this but I think I have the responsibility to encourage new ideas and to assist in making the festival a greater success than it already is.

I wish to turn now to the community centre.  Some of you have seen the progress which has been made in erecting the new community centre.  The centre is to have a 600 seat auditorium and a two storey set of offices.  The floors should be poured shortly.  I was hoping to have a cornerstone laying shortly but the planning got away from us.  But an event will be planned for the future to mark this event.

I want to thank the co chairs Benjamin Rahming and Rev. Dr. Carrington Pinder for their work on the Fox Community Centre.  Their funding has been exhausted. I am hoping to have this finished by next year, and during the year, I am hoping to have a fundraiser which will get the community more involved in the building and completion of their building.

I would be happy to discuss tonight any subject matter which is of concern to the community.  Among my main concerns is the continued youth unemployment.  I expect that as the construction and tourist projects pick up that the unemployment situation will ease.  We continue to keep a list at the office to assist people with their problems at social services and with trying to get employment.  But it should be known and you should be remember that there is still a freeze in general government hiring.  And so it is to the private sector that we have to look to in the first instance for job opportunities.

Public works continue throughout the constituency.  The main road in Monastery Park is to be paved shortly.  Sapphire Ridge and Sunset Ridge will also be paved.  Sherwood Drive, Tower Estates and Tulip Boulevard in Eastwood have all been paved.  The speed control erasures should be restored shortly.   Hillside Park is still awaiting the speed control measures that were promised.  The process of completing the lights on Eastwood Park is almost finished.  Also in the coming months the Ministry of Youth & Sports will be putting in a walking track on Eastwood Park.  There are several side streets in Fox Hill proper that have already been paved, most of them unnamed  strips.  Grays Terrace is soon to be paved as well off Bernard Road.

The Urban Renewal project is to come to Fox Hill.  Several persons with damaged homes should have been visited by the Ministry of Housing with a view to effecting any repairs which came from the last hurricane or housing where people are after passing a social services test will get their homes repaired.  I am hoping that there are no outside toilets left in this area but if there are please let me know so that I can have that rectified right away.  If you know any poor family who has no other means of assistance please contact me or the office on that score as well.

I would now wish to ask the Fox Hill Festival Committee to stand so that they can be recognized, along with Miss Fox Hill and Little Miss Fox Hill.  I think we ought to congratulate the special committee under the direction of Jan Davis for the Miss Fox Pageant.  It was a huge success and we have to find a way to use Miss Fox Hill.