NASSAU, Bahamas -- Over the past weekend students from Grand Bahama achieved outstanding results at the Bahamas Primary Student award ceremony held in Nassau on Saturday May 18, 2013 at 6 pm at the Golden Gates World Outreach Center.   123 Primary students representing the best of the best in the Primary Schools across the Bahamas assembled in Nassau May 17- 18, 2013.

The first event was a special medal ceremony held at Government House on May 17th at 6 pm where students from Grand Bahama and the Family Islands were honoured. Deputy to the Governor General, Oswald Ingraham, awarded medals to each of the students who are the top students in their schools.

Then on Saturday May 18, 2013 the students from New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands gathered at Golden Gates World Outreach Center at 6 pm for the prestigious award ceremony. Thousands of parents, family members, teachers, and friends from across the Bahamas came to support these top students.

During the ceremony each student was awarded a trophy and in the words of the Dr. Ricardo Deveaux, President & CEO of the Bahamas Primary Student of the Year Foundation, "every student in order to participate in this ceremony are already winners."

When the announcements began for semi-finalists and finalists, students from Grand Bahama were leading the way.

The semi-finalist and finalists are as followed:

Semi-Finalists - School  -- Scholarship --- Scholarship Award

Nathaniel Bain - Tabernacle Baptist Academy - $ 1000 - Raymond & Cyril Rahming

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The 2013 hurricane season will officially start on June 1, 2013, and end on November 30, 2013.  This season is expected to have 18 named storms; nine hurricanes with four of them being major hurricanes.

In preparation for this year’s hurricane season, the East Grand Bahama Constituency will host a Hurricane Awareness Seminar under the theme, “LET’S BE AWARE AND PREPARE,” on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at Church Of The Ascension, West Beach Drive, and beginning at 6:00pm.

According to the Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. K. Peter Turnquest, seminar facilitator, a number of speakers will present various topics relevant to Hurricane Preparedness ranging from insurance matters, to property security, disaster preparedness and weather warnings. 

Included among the speakers are, Mr. Kirkland James Chief Meteorological Officer, Ms. Tammi Mitchell, Co-Chair Grand Bahama Disaster Consultative Committee, Insp. Doyle Burrows, Royal Bahamas Police Force and Mr. James Carey, Branch Manager of Insurance Management.

In addition, various companies will be on hand offering their services and displaying their products to help us better prepare before and recover after in the unfortunate event of a major storm.

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- CEO of Bahamian Brewery, James ‘Jimmy’ Sands, was on hand last week to welcome the thirteen delegates of the Honorary Consular Corps in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, who visited the island to hear about possible opportunities for investing in the Grand Bahama industrial sector.

“I am pleased to be here to welcome you myself to the brewery,” said CEO Sands. “It’s wonderful for you to see the progress we have made and our success in the brewery business.  I am a very proud Bahamian and I hope to encourage other Bahamians to invest and achieve more here in Grand Bahama.”  

Sands went on to discuss his personal story about meeting with Edward St. George and how he came to plan and eventually build his brewery.  He introduced his management staff and announced that his beer will start distribution in Florida very soon.

The special guests and their entourage were then treated to a tour of the brewery by the Brewmaster and Hazel Springer, the Quality Control Manager.  First stop was a brief history of the construction and opening of the brewery in Freeport, with a quick climb upstairs to see the brewing process, before a taste of the local delicacies at 'Jimmy’s' bar.

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- Seventeen of Grand Bahama's top primary scholars are set to take part in the country's premier national award recognition ceremony in New Providence and one of them could return with the overall title.  

The Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year Awards Program was established in 1997 and recognizes the academic accomplishments of six grade students in The Bahamas.  This year, the foundation has planned two days of activities in the capital on May 17 and 18 along with a ceremony at the ballroom of Government House to climax the highly-anticipated event.

With more than 1,100 primary school students have been recognized and over $600,000 in scholarships and prizes presented, the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Celebrate Freeport Founders are joining forces to highlight the young leaders in their hometown.

Minister for Grand Bahama, Dr. Michael Darville, encouraged each honouree during the press conference in the ministry's boardroom Tuesday to continue to strive for excellence and take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them.

"Be that shining example of strength and courage and resilience that you demonstrate here on Grand Bahama," said Darville.

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The members of the Honorary Consular Corps residing in The Bahamas visited Grand Bahama May 10 and were hosted to a breakfast meeting by the management of the Grand Lucayan Resort.

Minister for Grand Bahama the Hon. Michael Darville, fourth from left, front row, is pictured with the corps.

During their visit they also toured and visited the Freeport Container Port, Freeport Harbour, the Grand Bahama Shipyard, and Bahamas Brewery & Beverage Company Limited.

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- Yet another relevant and exciting speaker was brought in by the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce to present at its monthly luncheons, Dionisio D’Aguilar, spoke to the over 70 attendees at the packed event held late last week.

Mr. D’Aguilar, a well respected businessman and former President of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce was invited to give his views on the topic: The Freeport Model ... Obsolete Relic or Untapped Opportunity.

While this often outspoken member of the community is from Nassau, he does business in Freeport, being the Chairman of the Board of AML Foods, owners of Solomon’s and Cost Right. In declaring his familiarity with Freeport, he said he was very involved in the expansion of Solomon’s to the Lucaya Shopping Centre, commented that the Grand Bahama Port Authority was very welcoming and accommodating in helping that store get up and running in record time. He said that Freeport is very important to AML Foods as this island provides for 40 percent of its total sales.

At the onset of his presentation, Mr. D’Aguilar shared the history of Freeport Model, namely the Grand Bahama Port Authority, which was created in 1955. He stated that in essence, Freeport became a company town, with the company charged with developing the city and handling every aspect of its administration.

D’Aguilar then asserted, “Yet somewhere along the way, things went wrong! Over the past 50 years, Freeport has not experienced the kind of growth seen in Nassau or even Abaco for that matter!”