By LISA S. KING
FN Asst. Editor
lisa@nasguard.com
The Free National Move-ment (FNM) Grand Bahama Council will be honouring His Excellency C.A. Smith with a 'night of tributes' in appreciation of his dedicated service to the country.
Smith, who is presently The Bahamas Ambassador to Washington, also assumed a three-month rotating chairmanship of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) earlier this month.
Recognizing that Smith has touched the lives of thousands in service to his country and community as an educator, Cabinet minister, member of Parliament and on many public and private boards, FNM GB Council Chairman David Thompson said the party wanted to honour him with an evening of tribute, praise, appreciation and celebration under the theme, " Mr. Smith Goes To Washington."
The event, which is slated for Saturday, April 5 at the Xanadu Beach and Marina Resort pool side, is expected to consist of fun-filled activities, raffles and reflections of a man believed to be a great Bahamian.
Scheduled to be in attendance will be Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, Cabinet ministers, Parliamentarians, former Parliamentary colleagues, co-workers, friends, family, former constituents and the general public.
"We believe that we are very fortunate to be given this opportunity to express our appreciation to someone who for many years in The Bahamas and Grand Bahama in particular, has devoted a life of public service to the community and to his country," Thompson said.
"The Grand Bahama community would have had a long personal relationship with this man because of the various forms of service he would have given. I believe that his family, friends and colleagues as well as those who worked with him would be happy to have an occasion that would allow for them to express in some public way to him, the gratitude that we all have for what he has done, which has affected so many of us in The Bahamas."
Thompson said Smith has a long history with his country going back to when he first started working as a teacher in Mangrove Cay, South Andros and later on in Grand Bahama.
As a young man, he progressed through the ranks, joining the Bahamas Customs Department in the early days of Freeport. In his quest for excellence, Smith then joined Syntex, where he worked as a manager and was noted at the time for ensuring that all employees benefited from working with that company.
Following his desire for public service, Smith became a Member of Parliament for Marco City and then in Pineridge, serving for more than 20 years in that capacity.
He also served for 10 years as a Cabinet Minister in two successive Ingraham led administrations, holding various posts which included Minister of Tourism, Minis-ter of Local Government and the first post given to him after the FNM's victory in the 1992 general election was Minister of Education.
Thompson noted that this was a great accomplishment for Smith because of his experience as an educator for many years prior to that.
"Now that he has been called to further public service in the Diplomatic Corp. after having been appointed Ambassador to Washington D.C., he is already on the job working hard for The Bahamas as well as the OAS," Thompson said.
"This is not only a good achievement for him, but more importantly for The Bahamas because he is now chairing an international body. So that is an achievement for the country and we are fortunate to have such an able diplomat as His Excellency the Honourable C.A. Smith to serve when The Bahamas sits as the chair of that prestigious body (OAS)."
