by Katherine Renton

The ‘Questelles Beach Keepers’ are continuing to take care of the jewels in their community, holding Questelles’ first children’s Christmas party in many years.

The last time SEARCHLIGHT saw the non-profit organization in action, they had restored the community’s old well that had become unsightly and laden with trash.

The Keepers’ ongoing goal is to keep the beach, which they believe to be the best beach “bar none” in St Vincent, as clean and beautiful as possible. Therefore, the group, currently 13 strong, undertakes to clean the Questelles beach every month and works to prevent the sand mining that constantly threatens to take place.

Madge Mulzac (right) hands out bubble-blowers to excited children

With the beach garbage-free, the Keepers, led by Rupert ‘Mully’ Mulzac turned to their community to see what they could do for its members.

“You want to try and give something back to the kids, and as far as I know, these kids in Questelles, they haven’t had …[a Christmas Party] for a very long time. So I thought that that’s something that we could have done to put a smile on kids’ faces at this time of year,” Mulzac explained.

He, his wife, Madge Mulzac, and other mother figures from the community were, with sweat on their brows, manning the three stations that were part of the children’s beach party.

The first station was food and juice, and the tent next to this one housed a professional face painter who decorated the children’s faces with Christmas themed art pieces.

However, the section that had all the children excited was the large bouncing castle set up on the sand next to these tents.

The children, ages five to eleven were also given bubble-blowers.

At the end of the party, which lasted for about three hours, gift bags with toys were prepared for the party-goers to take home.

In explaining their creation, Mulzac noted that the idea is that the party be like a carousel of activity so that each child is doing something different.

“We hope that when the kids leave that they would have a smile on their face and we would have gotten the idea to them to take care of each other, AND most importantly, the environment,” Mulzac, one of the three directors of the Beach Keepers intimated.

He is hoping that the children will understand the organization and what its purpose is.

Putting together the event for the first time took a lot from the newly registered non-profit organization, and Mulzac disclosed that it took many meetings, “time and trying to get it organized…trying to get out letters to potential sponsors.”

“It gets a little hairy and a little time consuming after a while, but you know what the objective is and so you keep on going and so there we are,” the former military man concluded.

However, all their efforts paid off and sponsorship was gained, from companies including Digicel, We FM 99.9, the Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies(ECGC), the St Vincent Brewery Ltd, Facey Trading, Coreas Hazells and individual donors from the community.

Children wait for their turn to have their faces painted

The members of the Beach Keepers also gave from their own pocket to make the party happen.

Although the organizers may not have been looking for a thank you, Mulzac received one when halfway through the party a little girl walked up to him held his hand and told him “Happy.”

Kyle and Aaliyah Matthews who attended the party told SEARCHLIGHT that they felt “good” and informed that they liked the bouncing castle best.

Sharon Francois, one of the women in charge of the party indicated “I feel so happy for the children them so they could enjoy themselves and be happy and behave.”

However, the Christmas cheer continues for Questelles, and the Beach Keepers are planning to give gift baskets to 15 older persons who are shut-ins.

“…So we’re going to look at the old and the young in that regard,” Mulzac summarized.