Every two years, the Mar­tinez fam­i­ly con­gre­gates in one of the fam­i­ly's home­towns to cel­e­brate a her­itage that dates back well over a cen­tu­ry.The lin­eage of the mul­ti-eth­nic and colour­ful fam­i­ly bears an as­sort­ment of sur­names, in­clu­sive of Mar­tinez, Pa­jotte, Calderon, Guer­rero, Sali­nas, Castil­lo, Gar­cia, de Sil­va, Pa­ponette and Mc Mayo, and they hail from dis­tricts like Aripo, Cau­ra, Lopinot and St Joseph.Last Sun­day, the fam­i­lies con­gre­gat­ed at the Height of Aripo Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre in Aripo.

No few­er than five liv­ing gen­er­a­tions were in at­ten­dance, with ages rang­ing from 93 to nine months.The day's pro­gramme, host­ed by Louis Mc Meyo, in­clud­ed open­ing prayers; the view­ing of a DVD of the last re­union; fun sports; and, live per­for­mances by parang group Jose Y Ami­gos, Curepe Poy­phon­ics steel or­ches­tra, Carib Wood­brook Play­boyz and DJ Stu­dio G.A his­to­ry of the fam­i­ly tree was al­so de­liv­ered by Rus­sel Pa­ponette, while awards were giv­en to some fam­i­ly mem­bers.De­spite spo­radic in­clement weath­er it was day filled with un­bri­dled fun, good food and mu­sic, and much love and rem­i­nisc­ing. (PRB)