By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter

On Saturday, Oct. 4 The Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church will host an honoring banquet at the Wyndham Nassau Resort to pay tribute to seven outgoing officers. The banquet begins at 7 p.m.

According to Rev. William "Bill" Higgs, the new Conference president, the banquet will be a night to remember for all.

"This banquet is being held to pay tribute to all of the officers who are leaving office," he says. "They actually left office a month ago at the end of August, and so the banquet is a bit late. The original date for the banquet was actually Sept. 6 but it had to get postponed due to the hurricanes, however we are determined to pay tribute to these officers for their service. These officers include the four principle former officers of the Conference, who are former president Kenris Carey, who was president for six years, former vice president Rev. Dr. Laverne Lockhart, who was vice president for three years, former general Dr. Reginald Eldon - who was general secretary since the inception of the Conference 15 years ago, and former treasurer Vincent Knowles, who served for the last six years. Then you have three outgoing assistants — one to the treasurer and two to the secretary.

These are former Assistant Secretary Janice Knowles, and former Assistant Treasurers Janet Hall and Jocelyn Demeritte. So as I said the purpose of the banquet is to express thanks to all of these persons, to give gifts and to express our appreciation for their service.

"On that night we are expecting to have about 300 people from all over The Bahamas where we have churches and we expect it to be a fun night. The Royal Bahamas Police Pop Band is expected to provide music throughout the night and there will also be a few musical selections and a skit put on by members of the churches."

However according to Higgs this is just the beginning.

"On Sunday the fifth we have the official induction service of the new officers which will begin at 7 p.m. at Ebenezer Methodist Church on East Shirley Street and that's when the new officers will be installed. These officers are as follows President — Rev. William R. "Bill" Higgs, Vice President — Elmena Bethell, General Secretary — Henry Knowles, Assistant Secretary — Andrea Gibson, Assistant Secretary — Rev. Philip Stubbs, Treasurer — Rev. Dr. Laverne R. Lockhart and Assistant Treasurer — Audrey Culmer.

"All together we are expected to have close to 500 persons at this event," he adds. "It's an important night for us and persons will be flying in from all round to attend and witness this event. The public is also invited to attend all events."

Tickets for the banquet are $90. They can be purchased from The Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church office located on Baltic Ave, just off Mackey Street.

Outgoing Officers

* President: Kenris Carey

* Vice President: Dr. Laverne Lockhart

* General Secretary: Dr. Reginald Eldon

* Assistant Secretary: Janice Knowles

* Treasurer: Vincent Knowles

* Assistant Treasurer: Janet Hall

* Assistant Treasurer: Jocelyn Demeritte

New Officers

* President: Rev. William R. "Bill" Higgs

* Vice President: Elmena Bethell

* General Secretary: Henry Knowles

* Assistant Secretary: Andrea Gibson

* Assistant Secretary: Rev. Philip Stubbs

* Treasurer: Rev. Dr. Laverne R. Lockhart

* Assistant Treasurer: Audery Culmer