Progressives hold Seafood Fest and Health Fair

By Christopher Tobutt

Cayman Cricket Ground, was buzzing with activity on Saturday 5 November. People were lining up for the Progressives fundraising Seafood Fest, where the most delicious seafood dishes you could imagine were going on sale for between 15 and 20 dollars, all to support the work of the NCVO.  In the next-door tent there was a free Health Fair too, where folks could get their cholesterol and blood sugar levels checked, or get a flu shot, or get their Covid vaccinations.

The Progressives Leader, Hon Roy McTaggart said: “The Progressives are in the midst of celebrating our 20th Anniversary and one of the events we planned for was to hold a Seafood Fest to sell food at the Farmers Market this Saturday morning and the funds that are raised from the sale today will be donated to the NCVO so it’s an effort of ours to give back to the community which has been so good to us over the last 20 years. The response from the community has been phenomenal and beyond my expectations. We are also having the Health Fair over here in the tent with ‘flu shots, blood testing for Cholesterol and blood pressure and all in all its been a very good day for us, and hopefully we’ll have raised some good money we’ll be donating to the NCVO.”

 Timothy McLaughlin Monroe, Public Health Surveillance Officer, said, “We are here at the PPM Health Fair and we’re giving out the flu shots for the season and we’re also giving out the boosters for the Covid vaccine and the first-time vaccines as well.  We have the Moderna Bivalent, and we also have the Pfizer. The Pfizer is what we are giving folks who are coming for the first time to get their vaccine, and if you like you can get your booster with Pfizer, but we recommend the Moderna for the booster. We are also doing blood cholesterol and blood sugar. It’s still important to get your vaccinations and boosters. Covid is still in the community.”

 “We are serving up some delicious local dishes like escovitch fish, plantain, green banana, macaroni pie, stewed conch, turtle, crab, shrimp; all sorts of lovely seafood dishes,” said Glenda McTaggart. 

George Town MP David Wight said, “This has been a really special day, a brilliant day with the turnout. A lot of people came for their free healthcare checkup, and we had the Seafood Fest, and the turnout has been unbelievable. I know a lot of people have come, they’ve enjoyed themselves and enjoyed the food and at the same time they can do a checkup and make sure their health is going well. We have been busy setting it up from early this morning and we are happy with the success.

One of the visitors, Sophie, was just about to get in line for the seafood, “We don’t get a lot of local seafood in abundance, its very nice, its local and Caymanians just love seafood so I think it’s a fantastic idea I think they need to do another one, and I think that raising funds for the NCVO, that is a really excellent cause for the occasion.