SPTC celebrates mothers with a grand Mother's Day Extravaganza!

While the love is there year-round, on the second Sunday of May, mothers around the world are shown extra love and care and attention. Mother’s Day is a huge celebration, and in San Pedro, an annual gala is held by the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) to spread love to the mommies of our San Pedro community. Every year, mothers look forward to an evening of entertainment, dinner, laughter, drinks, prizes and surprises.

This year, Yolanda Ayuso was crowned Mother of the Year 2011-2012.The smiling Miss Carnaval and Miss Chiquitita Gabby Knox-Alexander greeted mothers at the entrance with a red rose.
Games throughout the night included locating a hidden star under the chairs. Mothers happily obliged by looking for the star...
Performers took to the stage to present dance and songs...

Musical chairs proved to be quite fun...
A dance competition was held, where mothers showed off their impressive Punta skills...

Mothers waited for the highlight of the evening...
Jennifer!! The performer sang, did some dances, and entertained all the gathered mothers with great jokes and excellent music.
The Mayor got a special table-top performance as well from the very energetic Jennifer!
Mothers were certainly laughing and dancing the night away...
Happy mother's day to all our lovely moms!!

Internationally acclaimed Jamaican artist DARRIO arrives in San Pedro

Internationally acclaimed Jamaican artist Darrio arrived in San Pedro around 6:00pm via Maya Island Air. The San Pedro Sun was there to welcome him. Scheduled to perform on Friday and Saturday night inside Fido's Restaurant and Bar on Barrier Reef Drive, Darrio arrived early as he will be making a couple media appearances, promoting Island Invasion Easter Edition.

Darrio gives us an intro to what will happen this weekend inside Fido's Courtyard!

Visiting from the United States - Catherine Demdam was one of the first to meet Mr. Darrio

Decades Party at the Holiday Hotel

The San Pedro Holiday Hotel was grooving on Saturday night as guests enjoyed a flashback to the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s. With totally ‘rad’ music by DJ Busch and DJ Julian, costumed party revelers danced the night away. There were prize giveaways for some of the best outfits of the night, as well as snacks and free Jell-O shots for everyone in attendance. Dance of the Decades is an annual event, so don’t miss the next one!

Kelly McGuire celebrates his annual Birthday Bash and releases new CD

Internationally re-knowned artist Kelly McGuire was back on the island for his annual “Birthday in Belize Bash” as well as to release his new CD entitled “King of the Island”. The San Pedro Sun caught up with Mr. McGuire down at Athen’s Gate to listen to his new CD and get a rundown of what he had been doing since his last visit.Kelly McGuire made his first journey to San Pedro about eight years ago. How this happened was quite interesting. He won the Independent Artist of the Year award, an award given by the Texas Country Music Association, and as a result his video was posted online. Unbeknownst to him, he was being viewed widely. That soon changed when he received a phone call from Ebbe, who introduced himself as the entertainment director of Fido’s in San Pedro, Belize and requested that Kelly fly to San Pedro to do a concert. Mr. McGuire admitted, “At first I thought this was some sort of a timeshare scam – I was very skeptical – however within a couple days, I received another call with a confirmation number. My tickets had been purchased.”
Kelly hopped on the plane and landed in Belize and after a short flight; he was in San Pedro for the first time. He did a couple shows on that visit. The last day of his visit found him sitting on the beach in front of the Royal Palms, where he started writing a song about a guy he had met on the island. The gentleman was from Colorado and owned a charter boat which was parked behind BC’s bar called “Boat in Belize”. That song was finished on his plane ride back to Houston. That year, Kelly returned about four times and did various shows for Fido’s.

With each visit, Kelly found himself writing more songs. Before he knew it, he had a collection of tropical island type songs which were later compiled to become the “Boat in Belize” CD. This however, was not Kelly’s first CD. His first CD, titled “Red Fish Island” was released in 2000, and it was comprised of sailing, boating and island type songs. His second CD was a country album that had couple singles featured on the Texas Music Charts.

Boat in Belize was Kelly’s third CD, which in 2008, received the award for Album of the Year at the Texas Music Awards. Kelly has continued to make several trips to Belize throughout the years, and every time he is here, he awes the audience with his magnetic vocals and catchy lyrics. Apart from performing in Belize, Kelly has performed at venues throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

On this trip, Kelly stayed on the island for ten days and had four performances at Fido’s, leading up to his final performance after Super Bowl Sunday, and featuring well known local artists as well. The release of his CD “King of the Island” is as a result of years of writing and visiting. He told The Sun that most of the songs were written while sitting on a beach some where in Belize. The CD expresses his emotions and the way his fans make him feel every time he visits and performs on the island. With songs such as Daddys and Daughters – an audience favorite and Nautical Man, this CD is sure to be a favorite.

The artwork for the CD was done by well know local artist, Walter Castillo, and was created to reflect the lyrics of the song “King of the Island” and Kelly’s relationship with San Pedro. With inspiration from his travels and personal experiences, listening to Kelly can make you fall in love all over again with San Pedro, Belize.

Free Music School partners with Zaak Bajo (Blue Hole Entertainment)

Press Release – Free Music School – February 8th, 2010 – The Free Music School partners with the new and improved Zaak Bajo (now Blue Hole Entertainment). Brad LeFevre, the new proprietor of Zaak Bajo, has offered to host Free Music School student concerts and teacher recitals. The upcoming spring barbecue and concert will take place April 23rd, 2011 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Students will perform a series of children songs. They will sing, act out the lyrics with music drama, and play guitar, flute, keyboard and drums. The students are being taught by Mr. Bradley Haylock and FMS Founding Maestro Dr. Floyd Jackson. Mr. Haylock teaches voice and drama. Dr. Jackson teaches instrumental music. The Music School continues to give free instruments virtually every other week to students. Last week the School gave free guitars and keyboards to several students. The School welcomes contributions from the local and global community. Please contact us through the FMS website,

http://www.freemusicschoolbelize.wordpress.com/, or 663-1927. Dr. Jackson, conservatory trained violinist/flautist, will give a pre-Valentine Barbecue Recital at Zaak Bajo on Saturday, February 12th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Dr. Jackson will perform songs from the score of the Broadway Musical My Fair Lady. During the second half of the concert, he will perform a half dozen other Valentine love songs on the same concert chamber flute. The pre-Valentine Recital is free. The barbecue is affordably priced at $9.00 per plate. Please come and celebrate this historic event.

Mr. Wilfred Peters passes...

The undisputed King of Brukdown, a Belizean icon, a genre defining musician – Mr. Wilfred Peters – has passed away. Reports are that he passed away at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, June 9th, 2010 after suffering a heart attack.

He performed Brukdown for well over 60 years, combining African rhythms with the call-and-response patterns of European harmonies and Belizean Creole lyrics. Mr. Peters and the Boom and Chine band were known for the true Belizean music. His legacy will live on through his music - and in the hearts of all whose lives he touched. May he rest in peace.

Isla Bonita Students receive an introduction to Classical/Rock Music

On Friday May 28th, students from the Isla Bonita Primary school were honored with musical presentations by Dr. Floyd Jackson of San Pedro’s Free Music School and musicians Tull and Brandy, of “Love Paradigm”. Dr. Jackson strives to promote music appreciation to students of all ages. Apart from running San Pedro’s only Free Music School, Dr. Jackson takes time out of his schedule to bring music into the classrooms across the Island.

During this presentation, he was joined by Tull – an accomplished musician, and Brandy – a songstress and accomplished guitar player. The two are contracted exclusively with Fido’s. Dr. Jackson introduced the children to classical music, while the duo fed the children’s imaginations and excitement with music from the Rock genre.

All presenters were received by the children with standing ovations. Dr. Jackson hopes that this exposure will serve to spark an interest in music within the minds of the recipients of the presentations.

Drumming to raise funds

San Pedro Roman Catholic School (SPRCS) drummers took to the streets of San Pedro in an attempt to raise much-needed funds for their upcoming participation in Band Fest 2010 (March 27). They paraded through the main streets drumming and cheering, with collection boxes for those spectators willing to donate.

The band provides entertainment for all occasions: parades, town events, etc. Your support is greatly appreciated. Call 226-2550 (SPRCS) or 605-9739 (John Thompson - coach) for more information on how you can help.

5th Annual Reef Radio Karaoke kicks off!

Reef Radio, in conjunction with Jaguar's Temple Night Club has begun their annual Karaoke competition, with the first round held last night, Thursday, August 13th. The 5 rounds of singing will culminate on September 17th.

The six contestants were: Roberta Novelo, Ramon Flores, Moises Tzul, LeRoi Hyde, Helda Santos and Mavis Usher.
Hosts for the evening, David "DJ Habo" Marin and Luis "DJ Flex" Romero.
Mavis Usher was the top choice for round one.
Crowd favorite, Helda Santos also makes it through the first round.

Other perform

As Monday, internet voting will start for the remaining contestants. All contestants who don't make the cut in the five rounds will be placed online and whoever wins the votes will be the 11th contestant (wild card) for the finals on September 17th.

International Night rocks with Cristian Castro

Rain came down halfway through the concert, but the music kept on playing and Cristian kept on rocking the field with his classics on Saturday night and early Sunday morning. The crowd eagerly anticipated his appearance on stage, and he did not let down his fans as he provided a top notch performance. Some lucky fans were called on stage during the night, and at the end of his two hour show, all declared the concert one of the best ever.

More pics and info coming up soon.