Thursday rocked with Kmart events. First the Tutu Park Mall "Sinbad Live" party, then the star packed Thursday night jam at Emile Griffith Ball Park on the waterfront.
Kmart executives began the evening at Michael Watson's Petite Pump Room on Tortola Wharf. Here they were joined by Sinbad and family to donate $25,000 to Virgin Island charities. $10,000 went to the St. Croix Federation for Community Development, $10,000 to the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas, and $5,000 to the Virgin Islands Partners in Recovery also on St. Croix. Local notables present included: Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd, acting Tourism Commissioner Clement "Cain" Magras, Judge Ishmael Myers, Dr. Noreen Michael newly appointed assistant commissioner of Education, and Eugene Woods, CEO of the Roy L. Schneider Hospital.
Following the presentations, the assembly trouped across the street to enjoy the Kmart Jamboree Concert. This event included the three top local bands Imaginations Brass, InnerVision, and Starlites. Ras Reg kicked off the night's entertainment right on the dot of 9 p.m. While the crowd was relatively small at first, the Imaginations rapidly filled the park. By 10 p.m. Griffith was almost half filled and a steady stream of newcomers joined the crowd.
The event was totally self contained with a mix of venders along the first base fence. Security was well represented by officers from Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Police and other government agencies supplementing some 20 primarily local security guards in business suits. According to one of the guards, "most of our work is keeping people from climbing over the fence. The only other problem might be a fight, but it is so rare I cannot remember the last one."
There was no mistaking the crowd's desire to enjoy some of the best music in the Caribbean. Score another one for the Sinbad Soul Music Festival.