It is easily one of the most anticipated dos of the Yuletide season, the annual KSA Engineering Consultants party hosted by its principal, Steve Ashley, and his lovely wife, Betty, at their upper St Andrew residence, to culminate the KSA year of activities as well as to share the spirit of goodwill with friends and colleagues!

With the ugly recession on, forcing many a would-be host and hostess to cut back on entertaining, traditional dos held at this time have suffered from the economic downturn being experienced all over. For Ashley and KSA, however, a company tradition is a tradition and, as such, will be maintained, global economic meltdown or not!

And so it was, that last Thursday, the Ashleys once again threw open the fortified gates and doors to their lovely home and hosted another annual Yuletide shindig, and Kingston and snob society are all the better for it! Hard economic times are clearly not for shrinking violets, as these are challenging economic and social times. They are, however, times of great opportunity, as well as an occasion to separate the profilers and pretenders from the real movers and shakers!

beauty and inspiration

Some time ago, the very successful and fabulous Betty Ashley decided on giving up her life in the corporate world to spend more time being a homemaker and caregiver for her family. She learnt how to charm flowers with her green thumb, particularly orchids. Today, not only does she boast one of the single largest orchid collections around, her home garden is the envy of most would-be gardeners, a thing of perpetual beauty and inspiration. Having transformed the family home into a veritable showplace, Ashley parlayed her gardening skills into a business, and today, Betty's Garden and Supplies, located on Constant Spring Road, is one of the Corporate Area's foremost flower and plant shops. But what confounds many is the fact that her home garden seems to be in a perpetual state of blooming splendour, despite the challenges of maintaining a flower shop.

Anyway, back to the shindig. The evening began with cocktails at the couple's majestic front lawns and gardens. It made for a most intoxicating night, as with premium libations on offer, not to mention some delightful starters, y'all know we are talking a superb evening underlined by haute society and elegance! It got better as the affair transformed itself from a snazzy cocktail do to full-blown party mode, with traditional Christmas fare, complete with sorrel and Christmas pudding and cake, and rice and gungo peas.

dancing up a storm

After dinner was served, guests needed no prompting as the musical offering was more than enough to see the majority taking to the dance floor and literally dancing up a storm.

It was the perfect opening to the party season!

Among those sharing in the festivities were Transport Minister Mike Henry and his fab wife, Dawn; PNP Chairman Bobby Pickersgill and the lovely Fiona McNeill; Opposition MPs Dr Peter Phillips, Phillip Paulwell, Dr Wykeham McNeill and Anthony Hylton; former MP and Health Minister John Junor; former Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba; Col Trevor MacMillan and wife, Dr Olivia McDonald; Deika Morrison; Judge Glen Brown; the iconic Vincent Chang; security conglomateur Kenny Benjamin; Yvon and Cynthia DeSulme; Capt Michael and Thalia Lyn; Nathan and Ann Richards; Lance and Barbara Johnson; J.B. and Lola Gordon; Steve and Karishma Khemlani and her lovely sister, Madhu Mahtani; Drs Winty and Sonia Davidson; Dr Michael Banbury; Dr Guyan Arscott; Dr and Mrs Arthur Geddes; Dr André and Gina Foote; Dr Konrad and Carol Lawson; Dr Lennox and Kathy Francis; Raymond Reece and wife, Mary-Helen; broadcaster/actress, Fae Ellington; Ian Garbutt and companion Sonia Khan; Wesley Saulter; Paul and Yvonne Bourke; Ray Campbell; the delightful Joyce Young; Roy and Andrea Davidson and Oliver Magnus.

Other guests

Others out included Chris Berry and wife, Dr Patricia Yapp; Tanny Shirley; chief executive officer, Couples Resort, Glenn Lawrence; Mark and Julie Jones; Rajiv Bakshi, companion Dorothea Gordon-Smith and her daughter, Taquise Gordon-Smith; Hallis McIntosh and son Andrew; Richard Burgher; Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd; Al Aiken; Nadine Sutherland; André Hylton; Sybil Harvey; Vivian and Patricia Moore; Yvonne Wilks; Clive Tapper; Claudette Jackson-Rickards; Vinay Walia and companion Sidjae Robinson; Alex Dropinski and wife, Dr Saphire Longmore; Christopher Honeywell; Murphy and Sandra Walters; Kim-Marie Spence; Donovan Nelson; Angela Amir; the fab Jackie Bird, in from Montego Bay; Chris and Karelle Jones; Robert Haughton; Claudette Chin; Keith Garvey; Patricia Nicholson; the oh-so-hot- looking Karon Chung; the lovely Natalie Parboosingh; Analise Harewood; New York-based international fashion designer Courtney Washington; Steve Ashley Jr and his siblings Chase and Emile Ashley, plus a number of others!