Dubai: SMKC holds ’Family Fun Day’

Courtesy: Mangalorean.com

Dubai, 07 February 2010: A city in the Middle East is always full of activity, a city wherein in hundreds of Konkani, Kannada, Tulu organizations/associations of Mangalorean Origin have established themselves to support to their respective communities.  They not only support but extend their help through various charities every year by contributing generously for various causes be it education, medical, treatment, etc.  Definitely, these hard working people deserve a break to have some fun and entertainment for themselves too.  The picnic is one such an event, an atmosphere which will give them a fresh lease of life, a fresh air and a day to get to know the family and friends more closely than in any other events.

SMKC (St. Mary’s Konkani Community affiliated to St. Mary’s church Dubai) decided to have a break and they selected Friday, Feb 5th was the best day to celebrate and have a day out in the form of Picnic at the Dubai’s famous and the best park called Zabeel Park.  Though the picnic began amidst fear of rain but the picnic gathered momentum as the day progressed and all young and old alike had a beautiful day out enjoying themselves under the perfect weather conditions in the backdrop of Burj Khalifa (Arab) the tallest tower in the world.  Children and young had a great day even some youngsters playing their favourite game of cricket whenever break was available from routine games.  All in all it was a called: SMKC ’Family Fun Day 2010’ which was attended by all SMKC members, their families and well wishers from all over UAE.

The day began with a warm up dance, a short baila dance to the tunes of famous bail numbers by Remo Fernandes.  Prior to the beginning, a good breakfast was served to all provided by Lalith Restaurant and with the help of committee members Lawrence D’Almeida, Felix, Gilbert and Salu and others.  Jennifer Mascarenhas, the current president of SMKC welcomed the gathering and wished them a great fun loving day ahead.  She also thanked God Almighty for giving them a beautiful day for the purpose.  The compeer Norbert Sequeira once again welcomed all the gathering and outlined day’s programs and explained rules and regulations of the games. 

 

 

 

Four teams were formed for the morning session namely:  Shirva, Mangalore, Goa, Udupi and a few games such as Personality game, couple game (Balloon Toss) and Senior Citizen game (Chain of Rubber bands).  A few interesting games for kids were also arranged such as passing the parcel, shopping list, hole in biscuits & Marshmallows.  All these games were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone especially by the kids.  These games were efficiently conducted by SMKC members including Bhaskar, Anthony, Alwyne, Claris, Cyprian, Anna, Juliet, Kiran, Felix, Oswald, Elsie, Frenny, Juliet, Pius, Vincent, franics Abrea, Edward, Francis Machado, Lily Mary and John Sequeira.  The judges Jennifer, Vincent Pereira, Bonny and Noel Sequeira had a tough time to judge as all participants were very competitive and enterprising.

A delicious lunch was served provided by Canara Restaurant.  Soon after the lunch a special item was exhibited and won the admiration of all.  The item was traditional Mangalorean costumes based on occupation and leaders, such as School Teacher, Ghurkar, Priest, coolie, farmer, toddy seller, etc.  The costumes they wore were very attractive and perfect.  They were paraded with back ground music and especially to Mangalorean famous band called: Harry’s band and it was indeed a thrilling moment for all Mangaloreans.

Fr. Fredie D’Souza was the guest of honour and he spoke on the occasion and thanked and wished all the best for organizers for arranging such a wonderful picnic with so many items and games for the fun of members and their families. 

Thereafter, five teams were created to smoothly organise the team sports and they were named as  Red Chillies, Green Community, Blue Bell, Mangalorean Lions and All Idiots.  The fun loving and thrilling games were conducted such as SMKC in Human Form, Kitchen Equipment (reciting without a pause), Cake Feeding (eyes tied) of the feeder and dance to perform.  Those who accumulated maximum points were declared winners.  The judges for these team games were: Edwin Lewis, Clara, Vincent Rodrigues and Hazel.  The finall winners were: 1st prize went to Green Community (Captain: Michael Sequira) and the 2nd went to Blue Bell (Captain: Donald Pinto).

Jennifer Mascarenhas was happy to announce the achievements by SMKC over the years and especially in charity works.  She said that more than 1.25 crores have been utilized so far by SMKC in various charity works, such as helping the underprivileged children to pursue studies in Engineering, Medicine, Gen. Nursing and B.Sc Nursing and other local and Charity works back home in Mangalore.

The Housie-House game was conducted prior to final program of the day and that was Baila wherein the entire crowd danced until the picnic ended at about 6pm.  Prior to prize distribution the Vice Co-ordinator of SMKC Vincent Pereira evoked Vote of Thanks and he thanked all the organizers, sponsors, media persons and all the people who gathered for the picnic especially Fr. Fredie D’Souza with whose constant and whole hearted support SMKC is able to carry out a lot of community service to all Mangaloreans.

The entire program was well organized by the organizing committee of SMKC and the DJ music was provided by well-kown Dubai based DJ Wendel D’souza.

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