KRISTY RAM­NAR­INE

kristy.ram­nar­ine@cnc3.co.tt

Fash­ion, en­ter­tain­ment, tea and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice took cen­tre stage at the Hy­att Re­gency Trinidad when Ro­tary Trinidad and To­ba­go host­ed its sig­na­ture fundrais­ing event, Hats & Heels, on Sep­tem­ber 21.

With par­tic­i­pa­tion from 14 Ro­tary Clubs across the coun­try, the event was a vi­brant show­case of Ro­tary fel­low­ship and style. Guests ar­rived el­e­gant­ly dressed, sport­ing a va­ri­ety of fash­ion­able hats—from chic fas­ci­na­tors and wide-brimmed boaters to clas­sic fe­do­ras—in cel­e­bra­tion of peace and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice.

Speak­ing at the event, Past Ro­tary dis­trict gov­er­nor Lara Quen­trall-Thomas em­pha­sised that peace lies at the heart of Ro­tary’s mis­sion.

“To­day, over 120 mil­lion peo­ple are dis­placed by con­flict and vi­o­lence, half of them chil­dren,” she said.

“Ro­tary re­fus­es to ac­cept con­flict as a way of life. Through our fo­cus on Pro­mot­ing Peace, we cre­ate en­vi­ron­ments where peace can flour­ish, glob­al­ly and right here in Trinidad and To­ba­go. On this In­ter­na­tion­al Day of Peace, we reaf­firm that peace is cen­tral to Ro­tary’s mis­sion.”

The event co­in­cid­ed with the In­ter­na­tion­al Day of Peace, re­in­forc­ing the con­nec­tion be­tween Ro­tary’s glob­al vi­sion and lo­cal ac­tion.

Quen­trall-Thomas in­tro­duced a spe­cial video mes­sage from Ro­tary In­ter­na­tion­al pres­i­dent Stephanie Urchick (2024–2025), who praised the Hats & Heels con­cept as a “won­der­ful idea” to cel­e­brate peace.

“This is a nov­el and in­spir­ing event that re­flects the cre­ativ­i­ty and pur­pose of Ro­tary,” said Urchick.

“While events like this may not end wars, they serve as re­minders that peace be­gins in our homes, com­mu­ni­ties, and clubs.”

“This is a nov­el and in­spir­ing event that re­flects the cre­ativ­i­ty and pur­pose of Ro­tary,” said Urchick.

“While events like this may not end wars, they serve as re­minders that peace be­gins in our homes, our com­mu­ni­ties, and our clubs.”

The Trinidad and To­ba­go Cadet Force, who served as ush­ers, were for­mal­ly recog­nised. Spe­cial to­kens of ap­pre­ci­a­tion, sup­port­ed by Sub­way and var­i­ous Ro­tary clubs, high­light­ed their ser­vice and re­in­forced Ro­tary’s com­mit­ment to youth em­pow­er­ment through ed­u­ca­tion and lead­er­ship.

The event seam­less­ly blend­ed style, mu­sic, and ser­vice in­to an up­lift­ing cel­e­bra­tion of Ro­tary’s val­ues. High Tea, ex­pert­ly pre­pared by the Hy­att Re­gency’s culi­nary team, of­fered guests a lux­u­ri­ous ex­pe­ri­ence along­side the ca­ma­raderie of Ro­tary fel­low­ship.

The en­ter­tain­ment pro­gramme fea­tured stel­lar per­for­mances by Phil Car­tar and Michael Phillips, fol­lowed by an op­er­at­ic per­for­mance by so­pra­no Le­An­dra, ac­com­pa­nied by pi­anist Johnathon Agos­ti­ni.

The fash­ion run­way, di­rect­ed by Jacqui Koon How of House of Jacqui, show­cased de­signs from some of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s most tal­ent­ed fash­ion hous­es, in­clud­ing: Kris­si’s Col­lec­tion, Priya’s Cre­ations, Knot Cou­ture, Zadd & East­man, Ma­trix, and Daron­té Guade­loupe.

Dis­tin­guished guests in­clud­ed Par­lia­men­tary Sec­re­tary in the Min­istry of Trade, Tourism and In­vest­ment Dr Col­in Neil Go­sine; Turk­ish Am­bas­sador Ayşe Sel­can Şan­lı; Act­ing Deputy High Com­mis­sion­er Dean­na Rap­ley and Head of Po­lit­i­cal, Eco­nom­ic and Press Chi­nali Pa­tel from the British High Com­mis­sion; Po­lit­i­cal Coun­sel­lor Stu­art Shaw, Com­mer­cial Coun­sel­lor Nan­cy Bernard, and First Sec­re­tary Paul Bernard from the Cana­di­an High Com­mis­sion; and Deputy Head of Mis­sion at the Em­bassy of the Do­mini­can Re­pub­lic Ana Suero.