By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 27, 2023 — The Hon. Fred Mitchell, Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs, was among those paying tribute to Frank Minaya at a memorial service held at Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, in New York City, on Wednesday, April 26.
Taking what he referred to as a “walk down memory lane” during his brief remarks, Mr. Mitchell said that Mr. Minaya, the late legendary owner of the renowned BANANA BOAT nightclub in Nassau, Bahamas, in the 1960s and 1970s, was “a Bahamian in everything but the legal sense,” adding that it was a privilege on behalf of the Government o The Bahamas and Prime Minister Philip E. Davis to join in “this solemn and sad occasion, but also to celebrate a great life.”
He recalled that Frank came to The Bahamas at the invitation of Dame Doris Johnson, Head of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and referring to some of Frank’s contributions to The Bahama he noted that when the “pages of the history of The Bahamas are written, Frank has to be a part of those pages.”
Other speakers included Carolyn Young-Miller, a close friend of Frank’s and his wife Dr. Dana Minaya and a member of Bahamian American Association, Inc.; Debra Barrett, a family member; and Ronald Bruno, Director of Morningside Retirement & Health Services, Inc.
Ms. Young -Miller said Mr. Minaya played a pivotal “role in making sure that the Bahamas House in Harlem reflected The Bahamas.”
“On numerous occasions he would take a few men into the building to plaster the walls and paint or whatever necessities needed to be done,” Ms. Young-Miller said. “Late last year, Dana messaged me to say that Frank was not doing well. At that moment, I made my request to visit him. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon, but I knew that I had to go.”
Nothing that she was introduced to Mr. Minaya 21 years ago when she served as treasurer of the Bahamian-American Association, Mrs. Young Miller said during her visit to see him “we chatted for over an hour, reminiscing about The Bahamas and The Bahamas House in Harlem and its upkeep.”
“He talked about the renovation of the building and how nice it would be to house Bahamian students, a museum to display Bahamian art work, meeting rooms, and the like,” Ms. Young-Miller said. “I was saddened to hear the news of Mr. Minaya’s death. I knew I had lost a great friend. Dana, on behalf of the officers and members of the Bahamian American Association, nationals and friends in the tri-state area and The Bahamas, we say thank you for sharing your beloved husband with us.”
As I noted in a recent article following Frank’s death, during the height of its popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, The BANANA BOAT for young people of my generation was a nightly experience, a fact which in later years after it had closed resulted in a group of persons who frequented the club establishing an annual Banana Boat Reunion, which subsequently became and still is one of the most popular events in Nassau during the Christmas season.
One of the photographs circulated at Wednesday’s memorial service was of Frank with members of the annual Banana Boat Reunion Committee when he visited The Bahamas for the reunion in December of 1980. Unquestionably, it would be a wonderful tribute to Frank Minaya if the annual reunion continues as one of the highlights of the Christmas season in perpetuity.
F
