It started on time
and ended very early. The biggest complaint among parade participants was that it was over
before 3:30 p.m. Some of the gorgeous road pieces - Cuba cost 21 thousand florins -
were on the road for just two hours. Slaved over for endless days and nights, the road
piece creators wanted to show their work much longer. But the Aruba Police tired of
a long weekend, pushed the parade along, herding revelers at a steady pace toward the
inevitable finish line.
Nevertheless, it
was majestic, luxurious and creative with 2701 participants, 14 groups, 15 bands, 2 brass
bands, 5 sound systems, 38 road pieces, 10 floats and 1 steel band.
Tropical Brass
Bands and the assorted
Queen Runner-Ups - including a fine-looking Mrs. Carnival, opened the parade. Their
arrival heralded Youth Queen Abigail’s float. A student of Colegio
Arubano, Aruba’s premier high-school, the teenager shared the platform with First
Runner Up Reina Grandi, Josey, also a student at the same highschool. The two
girls, one picked for her fresh, pixy looks, the other for her brilliant emulation of
Tejano singer Selena, during the pageant, were surrounded by dozens of dancing
Colegio students, cheerleaders in silver shorts and colored balloons. The group did an
enthusiastic 'Sok on Sombody’ with Musical Times, one of Aruba’s
veteran bands.
Our Carnival Queen,
Chastity Hodge shared her orange and purple float with the peerless Tamara
Scaroni, Miss Universe Aruba, and Shyarma another high school candidate.
They had the entire Dream Team behind them. The famed group from Santa Cruz
always makes an indelible impression with their glittery road pieces and deluxe costumes.
This year they celebrated Life, Bida, having just lost two of their most creative
members, Ro & Marjory, to deadly diseases.
Bida featured two
oversize Tucan birds. Their airbrushed faces and fluffy black feathers watched over a
little girl, Marjory’s baby daughter who was included in the parade, despite her
mother’s passing.
Richard and Rita Lopez
Henriquez are two forces to be reckoned with and each year they present magnificent
work. Their Garden of Life teeming with winged iridescent creatures got terrific
applause from people at the side of the road.
The group’s
orange and purple-clad, crowned floor-members dancing with their feathered boas fluttering
in the wind were accompanied by Band of the Year, Oreo, with lead singer Claudius
Phillips.
Educational
messages? The AIDS task force was included in the parade with large signs Aids
Doesn’t Discriminate. The task force usually keeps a high profile for during Carnival
season.
In contrast to Life,
Bida, a comical group presented the Blows of Life, Golpi di Bida. Chemy’s
players mocks government - this time the labor department - red tape, and our social
idiosyncracies, annually.
Five large road
pieces, Millennium Madness, shipped in from the United States, made a special
guest-appearance in the parade this year. They were carried by Arubans living in the U.S.
Apparently, they got together and send representatives to the Grand Parade. Their road
pieces were made by an artist from Trinidad and were considerably lighter from those made
here. Aruba-America was among the most welcomed group in the parade.
Universal Richness,
Aruban Treasure was a multi-
cultural theme presented by Texaco. Rei Barros, at the head of the oil company is a
Carnival fanatic, married to Utahna, a superb Carnival designer. It was the
company’s debut on the road, though its members are veterans of many parades under
different company names.
Besides the Texaco
queen, Geosaine, on a black, red and white float the company treated currency,
presenting road pieces with money themes: Dollars from the U.S., Pesos from Mexico,
Bolivars from South-America, Liras from Egypt, naturally also a fabulous 1000-florin road
piece representing Aruba. The Texaco group trotted around the globe for inspiration and
their road pieces were finished to perfection. Their African section, representing
bartered-goods had lovely scantily clad dancers in skin colored costumes with knee-high
leopard boots and pheasant feathers. Floor members represented every culture from Aztec to
Indian, including an Uncle Sam mime with dollar signs cleverly painted on his
smiling face.
Texaco’s
parade was fueled with music, BMW, a young band whose song the Truck, became a
national anthem and Climax, Aruba’s best Road Jam Band. Rei Barros on a small
trailer was in his glory, handing out logo baseball caps loving every moment.
The last group of
Texaco floor members were dressed in green and gold their costume decorated with elements
borrowed from the florin, the local frog, the rattle snake, the turtle, the indigenous
owl, an impressive, memorable design.
The Groovy Babes, was one of the
most successful groups in the parade this year. With a young group of teenagers and an
older more mature assembly just behind them. 
Dressed
as Flower Children, promoting flower-power, love and peace, they traipsed through town in
day glo colored wigs, pulling a psychedelic airplane. Meloney their Queen was
perched on an extraordinary, artful float. Organizers even repainted an old Volkswagen as
a resting station, dragging the gayly painted old clunker loaded with slightly exhausted
kids within the parade.
Johnny Walker, the group’s
sponsor, the English Gent in riding boots and mustard colored top hat, graced the parade
with his presence. Two bands were hired, Dream doing Pokeman for the kids
and Chups, a naughty young band, to play for the adults.
A perennial
favorite the Road Star Pan Show 2000, a special attraction each year, provided
excellent steel band music which islanders love.
A great commercial
winner was a float with a monster truck, an amazing effort by the Brute Racing
Organization which built a REPLICA of Big Foot, and towed it through town - by a tiny Smart
- billowing mock-smoke, rearing on its huge
hind tires to Star War music. The kid-drivers took turns and were so proud of their mega
toy, sponsored by a well-know merchant Ven Eman and his business. The monster truck
stole the show, again.
Los Laga Bai - let it all hang,
always have fun. The Millennium Warriors are lawyers, accountants, bankers, secretaries
out to enjoy themselves. They keep it simple, a nice costume, a well stocked bar, a
reliable band, Robert & Su Solo Banda Show. They were there to party-hearty.
Another comical
character, Dr. Kennedy, a local skin doctor, participates each year, this time he
was Y2K prepared dragging a plastic pony, just in case all else fails.
The All Loco Gulch followed with a
Western scene of Cowboys and Outlaws having gunfights in the street, complete with sound
effects and dead criminals rolling on the scorching asphalt.
A group from Colombia
arrived for a visit, in folkloric skirts and straw hats. The visitors were shown a
good time on the island.
Noord, a busy district,
sent Ebony & Ivory, whose members were dressed in black velvet decorated with
B&W piano keys. Entertained by the Original Band, lead singer Papito Raphael,
also our Tumba King, walked the entire parade amid his revelers, singing.
The Indians of Club
Caribe and ABN-Amro bank employees put their best foot forward. They were
propelled forward with Zodiac, a young, relatively unknown band.
The Creators,
a more established musical group played for Insects 2000 a luxurious menagerie of
lady bugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars and bees put together by the owners of El Gaucho
Restaurant. Their sexy bumble bees and spiders were very good.
Hospi-Jollies, the workers of
the hospital, just like Los Lag Bai, let it all hang. Hospi-Jollies On Fire featured them
in flaming orange velvet with smoky gray trim jumping to the music of Tigo.
Cosponsored by Colombian Emeralds International the group had a fabulous time.
Words could not
suffice to describe the beauty and majesty of the Coastal Aruba Refinery effort, Caribbean
Union, drawing inspiration from 11 different Caribbean islands and many diverse
cultures, Dutch, French, Spanish & African.
Their African witch
doctor carrying a goat skull scepter was spectacular. The orange & yellow Cuba road
piece, picture perfect - members smoking genuine Cohibas, playing maracas. The
Spanish road piece with Flamenco dancers and bull heads, was dramatic. Jamaica, divine. To
top it all a very HUGE float, flying an amalgamation of Caribbean flags, topped up high by
two lovely creatures, the Coastal Carnival Queens, a matching set of teenage twins.
The group was
spectacular and I understand they will NOT be eligible to receive the Group of the Year
honor as their twin queens didn’t participate in the Aruba Carnival Queen pageant.
The girls didn’t want to compete against each other in the stadium and withdrew from
competition, thus disqualifying the group.
At the tail end of
the parade, an Aruban theme, a true piece of our folklore, the Dera Gai festival,
floor members in red and orange carrying large rooster heads, a symbol of St. John’s
feast. Geraldyne Muller’s awesome costume, she is a TV anchorwoman, drew loud
cheers as the crowd simply loved it.
Dushi Carnival, is over. The last lap is tonight, for the burning of King
Momo, not to be missed, at the eve of Ash Wednesday.
