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MOUNT GAY LAUNCHES CROP OVER ECLIPSE LIMITED EDITION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BARBADIAN VISUAL ARTIST RUDY VUITTON

MOUNT GAY DISTILLERIES has partnered with Barbadian visual artist Rudy Vuitton (Rudy) on a new limited-edition label for its popular Eclipse bottle which will be available throughout the Crop Over season.

Inspired by Mount Gay’s love of the festival and Rudy’s Crop Over experience, the limited edition will be available exclusively in Barbados during the season in limited quantities of Eclipse 350ml, 700ml and 1L bottles.

Antoine Couvreur, Mount Gay’s Managing Director, comments, “To mark the end of this year’s sugar cane harvest we wanted to create something exclusive to Barbados. The art scene on our island is amazing, so we transformed the Mount Gay Eclipse label into a canvas to showcase this talent to the world. We have been following Rudy for many years, since his first wonderful Mount Gay XO paintings, and he is a huge artistic talent in Barbados. It was a real pleasure to partner with him on this project and bring the Crop Over festival to life on our bottle.”

Rudy, who is equally as excited about the collaboration explained, “My art in one way or another is influenced by my personal experiences and compliments the aspects of my culture that I enjoy. For the art on the label design, I took inspiration from what you would see at Grand Kadooment or a fete during the Crop Over season. It is the sea of people enjoying this unique atmosphere in Barbados. It is the colours, music art, rum and vibrancy of our iconic festival. Mount Gay has always been my go-to rum. Now I get to share a project that merges both of the things I am passionate about. This is the art of rum.”

Rudy is a self-taught contemporary artist, born and raised in St Michael, Barbados, and he is known for his Mount Gay XO bottle interpretations and nostalgic character paintings. The multidisciplinary artist, whose iconoclastic approach to art is easily recognized by its subject matter and bold colour choices, is a founding member of collective 6PMSPLASH. This group has contributed significantly to the local art scene by creating an event platform for emerging artists to exhibit & create in-front of a live audience.

The popular Mount Gay Eclipse is a blend of rums distilled in traditional column and double retort copper pot stills then matured for two years in charred ex-American whiskey casks. First launched in 1910, Eclipse is the reference for character, body and aroma of the Mount Gay style with notes of vanilla, almond, ripe banana and dark chocolate. (PR)

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CIBC Caribbean team cleans Drill Hall Beach

A team of about 50 volunteers from CIBC Caribbean and their families joined hundreds around the world on Saturday 21^st September for the start of the International Coastal Clean-up – the world’s largest annual volunteer effort created to tackle and clean up increasing levels of trash and debris which are impacting our delicate marine environment.

Armed with gloves and lots of energy, the team assembled on the Drill Hall Beach, St. Michael from as early as 6.30a.m., and with the help of the crew from the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) they started the task of collecting trash left by people who use the popular beach.

*Jacquelyn Boyce (right) marks off the items brought in by her team as they collect the debris*

The Barbados International Coastal Clean-up (BICC) is an annual nationwide volunteer beach cleanup event which is coordinated by Barbados’ Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), a non-profit organization. This year the cleanup for Barbados will take place every Saturday until the end of October in an attempt to tackle and prevent the damage being done to our local marine environment by trash and debris on our beautiful beaches.

*The CIBC Caribbean team armed with the gloves and bags just before setting off on their clean-up mission*

On Saturday, all materials collected were carefully catalogued and recorded as the CYEN team uses this information to report into the international network to which they belong, about the items found on beaches across the region.

Within a two-hour window, the CIBC Caribbean team had collected 108.39 kgs of garbage which included food wrappers and containers, plastic beverage bottles, clothing, pieces of glass, cups, plates, grocery bags, micro plastics and bottle caps. They also removed pieces of wood and a discarded office chair with wheels. The group also moved the fallen dry palm tree fronds to a large pile for further removal.

*Sean Bostic and Krystle Maynard (right holding card) present the sponsorship card to Shannon Weekes and Jabari Jones of the CYEN*

“The cleanup at Drill Hall Beach highlights the ongoing commitment of Barbadians to safeguarding our coastal environment. As we work together to remove harmful debris, we not only protect our marine ecosystems but also strengthen our communities. Each piece of litter removed is a step toward a healthier, more sustainable future for Barbados, and we are proud to have CIBC contributing to this vital cause year after year. This effort is a reminder that protecting our beaches is not just an annual event but a shared responsibility for all of us,” stated National Coordinator for the CYEN in Barbados Shannon Weekes.

The bank also took the opportunity to present the CYEN with a donation towards their work in keeping the beaches clean by organising the clean-up exercises this year. The super-size credit card was presented by Krystle Maynard from the Treasury Department and Sean Bostic Senior Manager, Business Analysis, Performance & Analytics.

This is the third year that the bank has participated in the beach cleanup. Other beaches they have tackled include Sam Lord’s Castle Beach, St. Philip and Pirate’s Cove Beach in Bridgetown. (PR)

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VENEZUELANS TO VOTE SUNDAY JULY 28

Venezuela’s opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, says he trusts the country’s military to ensure respect for the result of Sunday’s presidential election. Speaking during a press conference on Friday, Mr. Gonzalez declared that the Opposition, is going to win because millions of Venezuelans want change.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has attracted significant support, even from former supporters of the ruling socialist party.

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Mr Deejay first on stage at Finals

First-timer to the competition Mr Deejay will be start the competition when the Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Finals comes of next Friday, August 2 at the National Botanical Gardens at 8 p.m.

This is the first time in the history of the competition that a visually-impaired contestant has made it to the Finals. The Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Finals Draw was held Wednesday, July 24 at Courtesy’s Wildey showroom. There were no switches.

Reigning Monarch iWeb will perform at No. 15. I-Web was unable to attend the draw. However, his manager Brian Corbin was present and pulled on his behalf. TC pulled for Tae who came later while Merle Niles pulled for Biggie Irie who was present. The other finalists were present as well as tent managers, relatives andwell-wishers.

National Cultural Foundation Chief Executive Officer Carol Robers announced that the Finals will be streamed to Barbadians free of cost as a gift for the 50^th anniversary of Crop Over. Courtesy Garage’s Regional Product Manager Samuel Gaston reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the festival.

*NCF CEO Carol Roberts (left) (EDIT) Courtesy Garage’s Regional Product Manager Samuel Gaston and Acting General Manager Andrez Greene.*

The draw took place in the Courtesy Garage showroom where the 2024 Nissan E Power X-Trail was on show. This year the winner of the Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Competition has the option of driving away a brand new Nissan vehicle valued at $136 000 or take $100 000 in cash. Second place gets $40 000;

third place $20 000 and fourth place takes home $15 000. 5^th place gets $10 000;