April 22, 2002 – Hundreds of school children laughed at Sunday evening's rain and rushed to their places at the Steelband Jamboree, eager for their turn to play.
About a thousand parents, teachers and music fans showed up to the event armed with umbrellas. Others piled into the covered bleachers in Lionel Roberts Stadium, unwilling to let an occasional cloudburst spoil their fun.
This year's steelpan fete got under way two hours earlier than the traditional start, giving 18 bands ample time to perform and send their young musicians home to get a good night's sleep and go to school on Monday.
Youngsters from the Ulla Muller Elementary School were set to strike up the band when the downpour came. "I think this will cool their little bubbly bellies," teacher Francis Wenner said. This was the third year the Muller Panatics appeared on stage, but Wenner said half of the band members are new this year, and some were still getting over their stage fright.
It seemed to dissolve in the rain, because moments after the last drops fell, the music began again.
Also eager to perform was a new band from the Bovoni Housing Community whose members scurried like ants hustling drums onto the stage while the Eudora Kean Devil Rays and the Territorial Court Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra entertained the crowd aboard two double-decker trolleys on the field.
Watching from a quiet corner backstage were a mother and daughter who also made their debut Sunday night. "We did very well, said Anneta Heyliger of her group, called Prayers, Hymns and Praises. Heyliger said she became a pannist after taking her 8-year old daughter, Yasmin, to Holy Family Catholic Church to register her for pan lessons. "My daughter signed up, and I found out they had an adult group," she said.
Adult novices were the novelty of the night for the jamboree committee's Steelpan Shoot-Out. The audience was asked to choose the winner from five sets of first-time players. They chose the Territorial Court Jammers of Justice by an overwhelming level of applause.
Leuben Davis, the committee chair, said the shoot-out was instituted as part of the effort to woo back the crowds that used to fill the stadium when the jamboree was a free event. Today, it costs $10 for adults and $5 for children.
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