Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Elephant Man's refrain 'Give dem a run', blaring from Renaissance's speakers, aptly describes the efforts of the Jamaica National (JN) employees who were being feted at Island Escape at Sandals Cay, Montego Bay, recently.

The event, the first of four, is intended to reward top performing JN staffers for the quarter.

As early as 4:00 p.m., the 30 and 50 seater luxury liners rolled into the elegant driveway of the all-inclusive resort, onboard, were those selected for special recognition, having outpaced their colleagues in areas that resulted in a profit-making organisation.

No apologies

The turbo-charged quartet of TOK made no apologies for turning up the heat on Sandals Royal Caribbean's private island.

"Ladies first," they declared, announcing what they described as the "baddest tune right now".

The foursome belted the lyrics to their hit 'No Man', gathering momentum which led to the females coining their version 'No Gal'.

Brown's Town, New Kingston and Port Antonio branches had the best view of the show on the white sand beach while at the same time taking on the task of back-up singers.

After 'Tears', TOK drew from their catalogue a crafty JN sing-along to which the employees obediently and quickly joined in: "When I say JN, you say mortgage; when I say mortgage, you say JN."

As fiery quartet exited, an electrifying appearance by Monster Twin completed the ingredients in this musical cake.

New life

A necessary evil, many would say, the dwarflike twins brought new life to the event.

Bling belt buckles, lyrics galore, the over 350 employees and their guests representing 21 locations islandwide were feted in a manner known by none other than Jamaica National.

It was a celebratory day of great food, spine tingling, gyrating, hardcore dancehall music from DJ Smoke, cemented by an atmosphere made for Kings and Queens.

The branches in attendance included Spanish Town, Duke Street, New Kingston, Barbican Moneyshop, Tivoli Moneyshop, Montego Bay, Lucea, Junction, Falmouth, St. Ann, Ocho Rios, Mandeville, Half-Way Tree, and Papine.