WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 45th anniversary of The Bahamas’ attainment of independence from Great Britain will be celebrated in the Washington, D.C. area with three major events, including a cocktail reception on Friday, July 6, 2018, at the St. Regis Hotel in downtown, D.C.
Invitations to the reception have been sent by His Excellency Sidney Collie, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), and Mr. Theo Neilly, Bahamas Consul General to D.C., to Bahamians in the Washington, D.C.-area diaspora and friends of The Bahamas as well as a cross-section of Washington’s diplomatic, political and business communities.
In addition to the reception on Saturday, July 7, a picnic will be held at Statemen Picnic Grounds at the US Army’s Fort Belvoir located in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia, and on Sunday, July 8, Bahamians in the diaspora will attend a Church Service at historic Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, 1518 M Street, N.W.
The picnic is being organized the Bahamian-American Association of the Washington Metropolitan Area and the fact that it is being held on the grounds of a U.S. military establishment is a result of the efforts of two of its principal organizers, Nicanor “Nic” Davidson and Bernard Colebrook, who are both veterans of the United States Military. Davidson, who is President of the Bahamian-American Association, is a former U.S. Army Aviator and Colebrook is a former U.S. Marine.
Other key organizers of the picnic include Khandra Sears, Kelsey Mortimer and Yves Barrett, among others.
The Bahamas, a former British crown colony, became an independent Commonwealth on July 10, 1973, and is currently a member of the 53-member British Commonwealth, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State.
