Posted by: Editor on Sep 03, 2006 – 12:50 PM
newsandinfo  The sandy-footed, brightly clad crowd drew in a deep breath as they huddled closer to inspect the racers. The host, Harold Rolle, unveiled the competitors, lifting with a flourish the blue sand castle mould that hid them.

Out scuttled a handful of hermit crabs, scattering like slow-moving marbles, as they clawed the wooden planks of the Straw Bar, a thatched roof set-up partially open to the glittering moon and midnight sky, which straddles the shoreline. Rolle covered the scratching, shell-backed creatures after the quick peak. The racers promised good competition, or an unpredictable shuffle in about four different directions at the very least, but it was competition. Bettors waved dollar bills, trusting good money to their favourite crustacean.
The race would be intense.

Here in the ‘Entertainment Capital of The Bahamas’ – a moniker that Old Bahama Bay has tacked onto itself as it bathes its guests in Bahamian culture, stretching the limits of the average vacation – activities are as varied as the contents of a tropical fruit basket. One minute guests are laughingly placing bets on racing crabs, the next minute, they are being swept up in a roar of neon colour, feathers, fringe and beads, and a gust of cowbell shaking goatskin-drum thumping sound.

The West End Conquerors Junkanoo group swallows the guests assembled at the Straw Bar whole, as they fold themselves into Bahamian culture on a weekend visit. Guests walk through a mirror of the real Bahamas as they shake imaginary cowbells with the group’s real ones and dance along with them on the platform.

The resort’s staff rush to the Straw Bar at the end of their shifts on various parts of the property on this eve of Independence, tossing their uniforms for hibiscus red, deep sea blue and rising sun yellow Androsia print shirts.

It’s a testament, says Entertainment Director, Jareth Rolle, to how much they themselves enjoy the event. Tonight, as on any Sunday night before a Bahamian holiday or a any night ornamented by a full moon, 15 of the resort’s staff members become the West End Love Train.

For about two hours, the spirited group lip-syncs Bahamian songs in concert at the Straw Bar in a show called ‘Bahamian Tingum: A Tribute to Bahamian Legends.’

Staff members from different departments become K.B., Elon Moxey, Terez Hepburn and Sweet Emily by just picking up a mike. They serenade guests, dancing with them under the yellow, blue, fuchsia and green lights of the bar and the covering of the vast night sky.

The performance is nothing new for a make-shift group that has earned its praise at the resort and abroad. The West End Love Train, formed before tumultuous hurricane season in 2004, showcased for a conference of 800 CEOs from around the world and at the Lauderdale Yacht Club in Florida to rave reviews.

Half of the funds that the group raises goes towards a relief fund that is primarily for hurricane recovery, but also for staff members in dire need of assistance, Old Bahama Bay Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Bob Kramm, says.

When the show is over, the eyes of the guests leak their disappointment. It’s too soon. The effect, perhaps, is one that the resort goes for. A salad bowl of Bahamian culture that tosses guests into the mix, giving them more than enough reason to mark their calendars for the same time, same place next year.

“We want to identify to the international market and to the Bahamian market that West End and Old Bahama Bay is the entertainment capital of this country, and to do that we’re going to focus on all Bahamian entertainment, all Bahamian music, culture, arts, storytellers, fishermen – things that make The Bahamas The Bahamas,” says Kramm.

The entertainment that the staff spreads before the guests at ‘Bahamian Tingum’ is just one dish in a banquet of options that the resort prizes itself on. Each day or night holds a new experience for the guests; from Italian Night, Wild West Night, and the Conchtini Happy Hour to the Wednesday Sunset Celebration, the Thursday Junkanoo Festival and the increasingly popular Sunday Gospel Brunch.

Local artists, Steven Colebrooke and Wilfred Solomon and the Magnetics, perform weekly during particular events at the resort. The West End Love Train hits the stage about two to three times a month for ‘Bahamian Tingum’ and ‘Croon to the Moon,’ a Motown tribute show, every full moon.

Kramm says that the resort has always been focused on entertainment but not to the extent that is now. Mr. Kramm says that the resort has increased its entertainment budget by 500 percent in the last year-and-a-half. And the results have been promising. The resort has already seen an 100 – 150 percent increase in their local business, encouraging numbers for a resort that does not want to be seen as a private club that excludes locals.

Entertainment and guest activities at the resort also integrate members of the local community of West End.

At Camp Obby, a daily mid-day camp for children, young men and women from the community teach the guests how to snorkel and fish. And on weekends, Ms Dean, owner of The Four Kids, a store in the community, sells crafts on the property on the weekend. The resort also has plans to christen its Dockside Grille restaurant, in the name of famed West Ender, Bonefish Foley.

Kramm notes that part of the importance of this Bahamian focus in the resort’s entertainment lies in the fact that both the Bahamian and the international markets expect the entertainment offered at a destination to reflect the culture of that destination.

Mr. Kramm walked away from the January Tourism Conference that outlined the meaning of the new ‘My Bahamas’ theme that the industry has adopted, feeling proud that the precept was one that the resort already uses, especially in its entertainment. “One of the meanings of ‘My Bahamas’ is we’ve got to take individual responsibility for the tourism experience and we ought to be producing a Bahamian experience,” says Kramm. “(Old Bahama Bay) is already in that mode.”

The resort has opened itself to another arm of the Bahamian experience in its ‘Fun -Raiser.’ This programme, which allows local non-profit organisations to purchase packages from the resort at a discount and then sell them at a mark-up rate to raise funds for their cause, has already benefited the Grand Bahama Humane Society and its Potcake Ball. The event raised over $13,000.

Mr. Kramm also mentions plans to work with the Grand Bahama Art Association in the same way, allowing artists to sell their work on the property.

As Old Bahama Bay grows, so will its entertainment platform. By the end of this year, another 25 rooms will be added to its current 55. The resort, which is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, employs about 160 people at present. Mr. Kramm credits the Food and Beverage Director, Fred Moss and the Entertainment Director, Jareth Rolle, with the mounting success of the resort’s entertainment.

“Their teams work well together, they create well and they execute flawlessly,” says Kramm. The entertainment co-ordinators are currently working on a new offering – Broadway on the Beach, adds Kramm. This initiative will feature local artists performing show tunes in a celebratory salute to the genre.

Source: Thea Rutherford, The Nassau Guardian