Heard in the Hive

On Sunday, December 10, the Scottish-Maltese community based in and around Aberdeen held their annual Christmas gathering. This year an invitation was extended to families from as far afield as Edinburgh.

In all 11 families turned up for the gathering - around 40 people in all.

The group included Fr Geoffrey G. Attard - St Francis' (Dundee), Ivan and Clare Depasquale, and their sons Daniel and Duncan (Aberdeen), John and Rachel Camilleri-Brennan and their children Julian and Elise (Stirling), Adrian and Christine Pace-Balzan, daughter Sophie (Edinburgh), Joseph Magro (Tayside), Ivan and Antonella Tonna (Aberdeen), Samufi and Mandy Stafrace, and their daughters Maya and Elena (Aberdeen).

John and Stephanie Cordina, and their children Jacques, Paul and Jeremy (Fife), Lina Sangster and her daughter Joanne and her fiancé Graham Cheyne (Aberdeen), Nigel and Mary Bellizzi, and their daughter Teresa; Kevin and Maria Cassar, their children Xandru, Mikiel and Teresa (Aberdeen); and Carmen-Maria and John Fyfe and their son John-Bruce (Aberdeen).

Friends of Australia's Christmas dinner

The Friends of Australia Association held their annual Christmas dinner for members and friends at the Skyroom of the Preluna Hotel on December 15, rounding up the various activities held throughout the year to celebrate the association's 30th anniversary, with Chev. Tony C. Cutajar at the helm.

The association's Gozo section, which was quite active in the past, is being revived early in the new year.

The special guest of honour at the Christmas dinner was the new Australian High Commissioner, Jurek Juszczyk, who like his predecessors has agreed to become patron of the association.

To the nostalgic organ playing by Alfred Demicoli, Mr Juszczyk, accompanied by his charming wife Malgosia and Chev. Cutajar, went round the tables meeting the members and guests present, among them Frank Micallef, assistant director of social services, and Mrs Micallef. He had a good word for each and everyone while wishing them a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

ZAK Zabbar raises Lm7,800 for Richmond Foundation

The tenth Malta Table Tennis Marathon, which was organised by ZAK Zabbar (Zghazagh Azzjoni Kattolika), has come to an end with the group managing to collect an amazing Lm7,800 for the Richmond Foundation.

The marathon was held at De La Salle College, Vittoriosa, between December 7 and 10 and consisted of a record of 75 hours of non-stop table tennis.

The event was opened with Mass, followed by a table tennis game between MLP deputy leader Charles Mangion and Franco Azzopardi, chairman of the Malta Sports Council, and another game between Helena Dalli, MP, and Anthony E. Guillaumier, chairman of the Richmond Foundation.

Besides continuous table tennis playing, there were several other activities at the college premises, such as massages and hairstyling to raise more funds for the cause.

ZAK Zabbar helpers were also very busy collecting funds from various localities in Malta. Every day was concluded with entertaining performances by Malta's top dancers and singers such as J. Anvil, Hooligan, Nadine Axisa and Olivia Lewis.

The collected funds will help the Richmond Foundation to restructure Villa Chelsea in Birkirkara. The foundation was set up in 1993 and is a non-governmental and non-profit making organisation working in the field of community mental health.

Villa Chelsea provides a model of residential and day community-based care for those suffering mental health problems. The programme aims to help clients learn the necessary skills to be able to live an independent life within the community.

"On behalf of management, staff and clients at the Richmond Foundation, I would like to thank ZAK Zabbar for the organisation of this marathon. Their hard work and dedication were rewarded through the amount of money that they raised. I would also like to thank the general public for their generosity", said Doris Gauci, CEO of the Richmond Foundation.

The event's main sponsors were Powerade, Carter's Supermarket and Dew Fresh Meat Products.

For more information visit www.zak-zabbar.org/maratona, or www.richmond.org.mt or e-mail maratona@zak-zabbar.org or info@richmond.org.mt.

New Italian restaurant opens in St Julian's

To mark the opening of Ristorante La Rosa, a new restaurant specialising in Italian and Sicilian cuisine, Enzo La Rosa recently hosted a reception for a number of distinguished guests.

These included the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Dr Francis Zammit Dimech, renowned restaurateur Walter Cassar, as well as friends and colleagues of the host.

Situated in St Julian's, at the former premises of Mezé, the restaurant specialises in a variety of gourmet dishes based on Italian recipes, including fresh fish, meats, a selection of platters, a variety of home made pasta dishes, and an à la carte menu.

Prior to his arrival in Malta, the established Italian restaurateur Enzo La Rosa part owned and managed La Giara restaurant in Taormina, and before that managed the popular Grand Duca restaurant, also in Taormina.

Enzo has a wealth of experience in the catering industry, having operated and managed a number of restaurants in the Caribbean.

The restaurant is open daily in the evening and is also offering a variety of special staff party menus. For bookings call 2137-6444.

Rotary Governor visits Rotary Club Malta

This year, Rotary Club district 2110, which comprises Sicily and Malta, appointed a Maltese governor to administer the district.

Governor Alfred Mangion is a prominent businessman, pharmacist and philanthropist. During the course of his very busy year, Alfred and his wife Simone will visit each and every club in the district totalling 84 clubs. His official visit to Malta saw him visiting Malta Rotary Club and Rotary Club La Valette, during which he saw the projects that both clubs were undertaking.

Rotary Club Malta was responsible for the continuous maintenance and the extension of Dar il-Kaptan, the respite home for the handicapped at Mtarfa, and Rotary Club La Valette for the Cottonera Lines embellishment project.

Rotary Club Malta is opening another club in Gozo, which will be officially chartered by Alfred Mangion on May 24 next year.

An evening of music and Spanish dance

The committee and members of YWCA (Malta) recently hosted an evening of music, mime and Spanish dancing sponsored by the Austrian ambassador, Dr Elisabeth Kehrer.

Malta's much-loved concert pianist Cynthia Turner, who is vice-president of the YWCA, organised the programme, which was presented in her elegant studio in Gzira.

Although the evening was dedicated to Mozart, the programme was opened by Yixiang Zengon on the piano playing a prelude by Bach.

Ms Turner's successful student Geoffrey Tanti followed at the piano with a Mozart sonata, followed by John McDonough playing a Mozart Adagio for oboe and piano, a melancholic and haunting tune, which was oddly familiar. Ms Turner and Geoffrey Tanti played the first movement of Mozart's Piano concerto K. 450 in B flat on two pianos.

YWCA member Anna Chetcuti Bonavita performed a mime/dance entitled Life is beautiful, with music from the film La Vita è Bella by Roberto Benigni. She dedicated her performance to those who are working towards a better life.

A series of Spanish dances including tangos and Sevillanas, were presented by the temperamental group La Zambra Flamenca Dancers: Anna Chetcuti Bonavita, Alexia Eminyan, Carolina Mattocks, Claire Sapiano, Charmaine Tanti and soloist Jenny Vassallo.

Zammit Nurseries of Qormi donated flower bouquets that were handed to the ambassador and the soloists.

At the end of the performance refreshments and fine Austrian wines sponsored by the Austrian Ambassador were served.

This fund-raising event was supported by, among others the Australian High Commissioner Jurek Juszczyk and his wife, the Spanish and Italian Ambassadors, as well as many other distinguished guests.

Maltese-Australian Association hosts High Commissioner

Last Sunday, the Maltese-Australian Association hosted Australian High Com-missioner Jurek Juszczyk and his wife Malgosia to the association's annual Christmas lunch at a hotel in Bugibba.

A feature of the well attended function was the distribution of life membership certificates by the High Commissioner after he was formally introduced to those present by Nicholas Bonello, president of the Maltese-Australian Association.

In his welcome address, Mr Bonello mentioned that the High Commissioner is the son of Polish emigrants, and how he has done well to become a member of the diplomatic staff of Australia.

In his reply, Mr Juszczyk, while thanking the Maltese- Australian Association for their work, said that both he and his wife were pleased to be among such a happy crowd and welcomed the association's idea to erect a memorial to ANZAC at the Argotti public gardens in Floriana, adding that he hoped to see the monument completed soon.

He ended by thanking the association's committee and members for their kind invitation, and wished all present and their families a happy time at Christmas and a prosperous new year.

In his reply, Mr Bonello elaborated on the association's plans for the ANZAC memorial. He said an application to erect the memorial has been submitted to MEPA and that recently the use of the word ANZAC on the memorial has been cleared by the Australian government.

Mr Bonello said the fund-raising sub-committee will be meeting very soon, and that he hopes that such a memorial will in time become the venue for the ANZAC day ceremony.

Re/Max five-a-side charity football tournament

December 13 was a day full of goals and fun for the iGaming industry thanks to a well organised five-a-side football tournament at the Luxol Sports Grounds in St Andrew's. Seven teams from the iGaming industry and one team made up from the complement of Re/Max Associates came together to play in this tournament in aid of charity. In fact the rules provided that for each goal scored Lm1 was to be donated to charity.

Speaking about the event, Jason Cornthwaite, letting branch manager for Re/Max, St Julian's said: "We are delighted with the turnout of the teams and spectators. Our prime objective for this event was to get people with common interest together to give something back to the community and it certainly looks like we have succeeded. This could not have been done without the help from my colleague Edward Agius, letting branch manager for Re/Max Sliema".

The tournament was well fought out with two teams from each group qualifying to a semi-final round. Tain Ltd and Expekt.com qualified from Group A and Casino Euro and BetExpert qualified from Group B. On Pitch A, BetExpert took on Tain Ltd in a high-adrenalin semi-final, seeing the latter getting the best of their compatriots to make it to the final, whereas on Pitch B, both Casino Euro and Expekt.com ended up in penalties where Expekt edged out Casino Euro with some great saves by their keeper.

The final was well contested by both teams, with Expekt having the advantage of a more vociferous crowd in the stands, but unfortunately the football counted as their colleagues were the better team of the day winning 3-1 to secure the first Re/Max iGaming five-a-side-tournament trophy.

A super delighted AJ Thompson from Tain Ltd was full of praises declaring a "big thank you to Re/Max Malta for having organised this great fun event, we will be looking forward to coming back to defend our title in the next edition". The whole competition was spread over a few hours and all the teams were treated to refreshments and a 'rich-in-carbohydrates' buffet dinner.

There were a total of 185 goals scored during the event and Re/Max management decided to add to the success of the day by doubling the amount to be donated from Lm1 to Lm2 per goal thus bringing the amount to Lm370.

It is expected that at least one of the participating companies will match the number of goals and donte an additional Lm185. The proceeds will be passed on to the organisers of L-Istrina for eventual distribution through the Community Chest Fund.

"Based on the success of the event, we plan to organise the Re/Max iGaming Tournament again in spring and expect to have more teams participating, which will put us in a position to donate more to charity," Jeffrey Buttigieg, Re/Max Malta director, said.

The President and Mrs Fenech Adami's engagements December 18-23

Wednesday
10.30 a.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami present donations to various institutes and organisations on behalf of the Malta Community Chest Fund at the Palace, Valletta.

11.30 The President and Mrs Fenech Adami preside over the launching and presentation of star prizes of the L-Istrina 2006 campaign to the press at the Palace.

7.30 p.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami attend a reception organised by the St Helen Band Club and the Duke of Connaught Band Club at their premises in Birkirkara.

Thursday
10 a.m. The President receives Dr Tanya Vella, Malta's ambassador to Tunisia, on a courtesy call at the Palace, Valletta.

7.30 p.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami attend the annual Christmas concert organised by Xaghra council, in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund, at Xaghra basilica.

Friday
8.30 p.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami attend a cocktail party hosted by the Commissioner of Police at the Police Headquarters in Floriana.

Exhibition at China Cultural Centre

Background music from the Beijing Opera together with dramatic readings from the Chinese classics provided the perfect blend for the inauguration of the current exhibition at the China Cultural Centre in Valletta.

The exhibition, entitled Poetry in Motion, features both on- and off-stage photographs taken by Charles Mifsud of the troupe of Chinese actor-singers who gave some unforgettable performances at the Mediterranean Conference Centre last April courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Heritage Malta and the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

Zheng Hao, director of the China Cultural Centre, Lily Zhang, head programme officer, and Kevin Casha, curator of the exhibition, made the exhibition possible.

Tony Cassar Darien and Annabelle Galea co-ordinated the dramatic extracts based on the life and writings of the foremost Chinese poet Chu Yuan, who died in 300 BC.

The audience included distinguished photographers and artists from the performing arts who remarked about the importance of having such occasions where the impact of cultural milestones, like the coming to Malta of the Beijing Opera, could be assessed and publicly discussed.

The exhibition is on at the China Cultural Centre, 173, Melita Street, Valletta, till January 9 on weekdays.

Micallef - Grech

Married Recently at St Agatha's Chapel, Rabat, were Catherine Micallef, daughter of Mr and Mrs Nicholas Micallef of Siggiewi, and Christopher Grech, son of Mr and Mrs John Grech of St Venera.

Nuptial Mass was celebrated by Fr Joe Vella. The ceremony was witnessed by Richard Micallef, the bride's brother, and Stephen Grech, the groom's brother. Joseph Aquilina was bestman.

The bride was attended by her cousin Nikita Aquilina as bridesmaid. The groom's nieces Andrea, Rachelle and Gillian Grech were flower-girls.

A reception was later held at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, Attard. The couple spent their honeymoon in London, Miami and cruising the Caribbean.

For your diary

A card party in aid of the Little Sisters of the Poor is being held at the Sky Room of the Preluna Hotel, Sliema, on Wednesday, January 10, from 10 a.m. For bookings call Blanche Martin on 2133-0387.