The Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel ushered in its diamond anniversary last week with a series of nightly events from Tuesday, June 4 – Saturday, June 7.

On night one, Hussey matriarch, Ruth, the hotel’s managing director, invited a select group of guests, comprising government officials and supporters of the historic hotel over the decades to a Pioneers’ Dinner consisting of a splendid four-course menu inside the hotel’s swanky Regency Room.

Among the guests of honour were Portland Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz; Glynne Manley, retired visual artist and widow of the late Michael Manley, former prime minister of Jamaica; Dennis Lalor, chartered insurer, and founder/CEO of ICWI Group Limited; and former governor general of Jamaica Sir Kenneth Hall and his wife Rheima.

“You are in the room of selected pioneers,”, stated Rumfire and Hampden Estate marketing director Christelle Harris during her brief welcome.

Harris later handed over to the hotel’s maître d’ Frank Gilmore, who was the hotel’s first, and who reminded guests of the hotel’s storied history with mention of celebrity and VIP sightings during his tenure.

After dinner, a two-tiered 60th anniversary fruitcake by Selena Wong was served along with the Terra Nova Classic Cheesecake with coconut and roasted jackfruit glaze and a light tarragon sauce, garnished with a Rumfire Tuile — a sweet climax.

The week-long celebration continued on Wednesday night with an evening of jazz/live music in the Regency Bar & Lounge; a client appreciation dinner on Thursday, June 6, feting corporate clients and members of the diplomatic corps; and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, June 7. The latter signified the official renaming of the Terra Nova Suite to the Blanche Blackwell Suite. Blanche Blackwell, the mother of record producer and founder of Island Records Chris Blackwell, once called the property home. It was where her son, who was born in the UK, was raised. Latin night on Saturday June 8 wrapped the festivities.