Ringing in the New Year in times gone by
By Iana Seales
Stabroek News
January 1, 2005
Decades ago, Old Year's Night celebrations stretched across the capital, with masqueraders lining Camp Street and enthusiastic couples/singles flooding the halls of Georgetown Club, St George's School and Hally's Night Spot on D'Urban Street to ring in the New Year.
There was even the Portuguese Club and the Transport and Harbours dance that drew crowds. People dressed to impress when they took to the road, but a priority in several homes was the traditional pot of cook-up rice that was prepared on Old Year's night. Several went to church for midnight mass, but even after that, they then joined the celebrations. What followed on New Year's Day were picnics and house-hopping for most party boppers.
Still with resonance today, women in those days greatly looked forward to Old Year's night since the belief was that whosoever the man rang in the new year with, was the leading lady in his life.
These are memories of times long ago, that four senior citizens shared with Stabroek News. Today, they know little of what the celebrations are like on Old Year's Night and where they are, but they are convinced theirs were the glorious days which could never be recaptured. "Nothing like the good old days and the rich splendour of those times," is how one woman summed up her recollections.
Nothing about the much talked-about parties these days at Le Meridien Pegasus, Hotel Tower, Georgetown Club and several of the resorts on Old Year's night, that leave patrons reminiscing days later, sounded familiar to the senior citizens. One clearly said that she would not listen to such stories since they were nothing compared to what she experienced. Even the widely marketed Kashif and Shanghai Football tournament held in Linden every year that draws a capacity crowd on New Year's Day baffled the elderly people, who said that they could not understand what made it a festivity.
Oscar Mohammed, 89 years remembered that he was always part of a group that went carolling on Old Year's Day around Georgetown before joining the masqueraders on Camp Street. He said the atmosphere then was so animated that people couldn't help but join in. He said the masqueraders that were still around today seldom did justice to the art form. Then, he recalled that masqueraders wore good costumes and flounced to bring humour, not to irritate.
Growing up as a boy in the city, Mohammed said his parents usually passed Old Year's night at church. He remembered going to a few house parties while in his teens, but never really any big dance. Though some of his friends went dancing, Mohammed said he went singing, for that was his first passion. He said door to door carolling was popular back in those days, so he became a regular with some folks. Now, Mohammed rings in the New Year very quietly, except when someone visits him and makes a request that he sing a song or two. However, he does most of his singing at Christmas time when he is invited out to sing at functions in and around the city.
Unforgettable memories of dancing the night away was what Florence Arthur, aged 89, remembered of her Old Year's night at the Transport and
Harbours' parties. She said that was one of the places to be when you wanted the best in soft music, so she was often present with her husband. Now a widow, Arthur said she missed those times when she went out and had moments with her husband. According to her, the grief was so bad that she could not remarry when he died.
She said people also gathered at Booker's Square which is now Guyana Stores, and made merry on Old Year's Day right up until the next day. Sometimes she was part of that action, but Arthur said that was when she was younger. She explained that as her teenager years left her and she met her husband it was all about spending time together at some nice place. According to her, there was a party for everyone in those days: the sophisticated and the common man.
Olga Jones, aged 78, said she was often at church on Old Year's night at the insistence of her mother. She said church service was never dull, with the highlight being at midnight when everyone would go outside to look at the sky and witness the old year pass and the new one step in. She said those days could never come again.
Jones recalled that the few times she went partying her mother always got dressed and went with her. "I remember dancing and looking up to see my mother at the door with her coat," Jones said. Those were the times when some young ladies could not go out with young men as they wished, and permission had to be granted in some families. However, Jones said her time was the best Guyana had witnessed. Now anything passes for a party, according to her.
Joseph Scott, aged 73, said he remembered the pot of split peas cook-up that was prepared every Old Year's night in his home. The reasoning behind that was so the new year would find the home with food in the pot both then and for the rest of the year.
Scott recalled there were good parties at St George's School and at Hally's on D'Urban Street. Scott said he usually went out with a gang of his friends and they would `shark' the parties until some young woman caught their eye. However, he said there was a certain way one had to approach a lady in those days, since respect was highly regarded. According to him, you saw a lady at a table with her friends and you went over to buy her a drink as well as one for all her friends.
However, Scott said he sometimes told the boys when it was the year for him to spend it with that special someone. He said that being with your lady on Old Year's night was important since it was a demonstration to her that she was everything and you wanted the world to know it. He remembered spending some unforgettable nights at several parties.