FABULOUS 50TH ANNIVERSARY
January 14, 1958 - January 14, 2008

Greetings P&P friends and family! The Club Peace and Plenty hosted a milestone 50th anniversary in a gala blowout celebration held at the Club on January 17, 2008. Lawrence Lewis, Grand Nephew of Florida railroad magnate, Henry Flagler, built and opened the private club on the banks of Elizabeth Harbor, as a fishing Mecca for his guests visiting to sample some of the world’s finest bone-fishing. Before long, popular demand dictated opening the club to the general public and has remained an Exuma mainstay for the last 50 years.

The Stan Benjamin Family, management and staff of the Peace and Plenty hosted a full day of festivities. Mr. B. was at the hotel for the week prior to the celebration, and will return again in early April. The day began with a local art show, sponsored by the Yuma Arts Foundation starting at 10 AM and offered paintings by Bahamian artists, jewelry and crafts for most of the day. A sailing exhibition featuring some of the Exuma regatta boats offered rides to our guests from the Club dock in the early afternoon. Our own Doralee of Stocking Island fame, crafted 50th Anniversary straw baskets as gifts for our honored guests Bahamas ZNS television filmed the entire program.

Long time resident, Basil Minns, owner of Minns’ Watersports, set up an exhibition in the Yellow Dog Lounge offering a dazzling display of the pictorial history of the Peace and Plenty and early George Town, along with intricate models of early island sailing craft. The Minns’ family home was on the original site of the Club.

After months of preparation, extensive floral and Junkanoo decorations transformed the pool area into a festive venue for the late afternoon official ceremonies. P&P CFO, Paul Pringle, introduced the M.C. Reg Smith, President of the Chamber of the Commerce, who introduced the official speakers. Dais attendees included, amongst many notable others: Ms. Vernice Walkine, Director General of Tourism; Hon. Neko Grant, Minister of Tourism and Hon. Charles Maynard, Minister of State for Culture. Charlie Pflueger, General Manager, Peace & Plenty and Barry Benjamin represented the ownership.

One of the highpoints of the afternoon was Charlie Pflueger’s recognition of Stan Benjamin and his family’s contribution to the hotel and community, which included recognizing the Benjamin Foundation’s vital impact on Exuma’s education efforts.

Head barman Lermon Rolle (the doctor of libations) with wife Mag at his side, was presented with a certificate for “Excellence in Service” and an Omega watch by Barry, who recognized his 41 years with Club Peace and Plenty. Barry also announced that the Benjamin family was sponsoring an annual educational scholarship in the field of hospitality or environmental management, for the children of employees (and former employees) who qualify academically.

During Club Peace and Plenty’s 50th Anniversary celebration the resort was awarded the ‘Historical Site’ Antiquity Plaque, presented by the Hon. Charles Maynard, Minister of State for Culture. Barry Benjamin accepted the award which recognizes the Club Peace and Plenty as an historic site;.

Local lore suggests that when hand cut, lime rock blocks were discovered as part of the walls, the main lobby and kitchen was thought to be the site of Bowe’s Tavern, a watering hole and, on occasion, the site for slave auctions. The building later became a sponge warehouse, country store and home to the Minns’ family. The separate standing cookhouse now serves as the Club’s main bar called the ‘Slave Kitchen’ Bar where we all enjoy gathering today.

With the formal, presentation over, the Exuma ‘Musical Youths’ performed a rousing ‘Junkanoo Rush’, around the pool, complete with a huge custom 50th Anniversary banner, floats, costumes, whistles, horns, and drums. For those guests not in Exuma on the main Junkanoo Day, December 26th, Boxing Day, this was a great opportunity to get a taste of what this cultural event is all about and appreciate the intricate designs and difficulty of costume construction.

Once the ‘rush’ was underway, the pool bar and main bar were opened for ‘drinks on the house’, which proved to be a popular concept! At the same time, Neville Lee Choy, Manager, and his evening staff, kept the extensive snack food coming to stave off any possible hunger attacks while Audley and his ‘Sweet Love’ band entertained the guests until almost midnight!

In honor of our anniversary, we are marking the occasion with a special offer; Book 4 nights or more, including the 14th of any month, and receive THAT NIGHT FREE! (not applicable with any other promotional offer).

We are also offering a 50th ANNIVERSARY SUMMER SPECIAL; good from May 1st – August 30th 2008.Poolside Rooms Only $99 a night (with a minimum stay of 3 nights, not applicable with any other promotional offer)...or our SUMMER/FALL SPECIAL: Book 2 months in advance and receive 20% off; Book 1 month in advance and receive 10% off. (not applicable with any other promotional offer). Remember, summer is a great time to bring your family, gather for a reunion, or just relax and enjoy the calm clear water.

Fifty years is a long time for an out island hotel to survive and thanks to our many friends in the Ministry of Tourism, the local community, our visiting guests and the fabulous Exuma weather, we had a wonderful celebration, and talked about plans for the next 50. Kudos to everyone who worked so hard to make this day a day to remember!

OTHER NEWS

This past summer we decided to downsize the Peace & Plenty Boutique and concentrate on selling the P&P brand exclusively. Dillycrab Realty has leased the old boutique building for use as a downtown real estate office. Bob Hyde, from the Bonefish Lodge, who is a master woodworker, offered to build us a beautiful display case for the Club lobby. We are now selling P&P shirts, caps and books from our brand new display case. In honor of the 50th anniversary we produced a keepsake t-shirt made from 100% organic cotton. We are also selling commemorative 50th Anniversary pins and donating a percentage of sales to the Exuma Foundation for use in environmental endeavors.

We set up a little boutique annex on Stocking Island and now offer island style merchandise and of course, our P&P t-shirts and caps. We also have snorkels and masks available for our guests’ use.

As we continue to try new things to make your stay new and exciting, we are expanding our amenities. A young aesthetician with her own business in Connecticut, Michele Comerford, was a guest at P&P and immediately had a vision of offering spa services for our guest. She has been working with our own Glen Turtle’s (Head of Maintenance) daughter, Nitza, (who is a trained masseuse herself) in various forms of massage. Nitza will continue to offer massage services, both in-room and on Stocking Island to our guests. We also have plans to create a space in the hotel to offer manicures, pedicures and massage. We know the ladies always want to look their best and will appreciate the extra pampering.

This Summer Season, Manager, Neville Lee Choy is going to begin a Full Day Sunday Brunch, to run from 11 am until 7 pm and also has plans to hold a bonfire cookout on Stocking Island one night a week.

As many of our more recent guests know, our 16 room Peace and Plenty Beach Inn, built in 1991, has been sold and is no longer a member of the Peace & Plenty family. Please call Annette at Club Peace and Plenty, 1-800-525-2210 for reservations at the Club. Fishermen can call Magnolia at the Bonefish Lodge at 1-242-345-5555 or visit the Lodge website: www.ppbonefishlodge.com.

Speaking of the Bonefish Lodge, the restaurant and bar is open daily for lunch on the new outside grille where Lawrence, of Beach Inn fame, holds forth with delicious sandwiches and his usual exotic tropical drinks. The dinner magic of the Lodge is now available nightly, including Karen’s exciting hand feeding of ferocious sharks. The Lodge is only closed on Tuesdays.

TRIVIALITIES

QUESTION: What Great Lakes state has more shoreline than the entire Atlantic seaboard?

ANSWER: Michigan!

EMPLOYEE OF THE ISSUE

Ms. Leonamae Flowers, Night Maid, has worked faithfully for Club Peace & Plenty for the past seventeen years in the housekeeping/laundry department. Her greatest pleasure is to see that our guests are comfortable and have everything they need. Very often, with late check-ins, Ms. Flowers has been known to carry guest’s luggage to their rooms, show them how to control the a/c and TV remotes, and would tuck them into bed if that is what they requested. She performs her duties with a smile and with pride.

In her own words
"It is my esteemed pleasure to give thanks to the founder of the Peace & Plenty, Mr. Benjamin, who has provided me with a job for seventeen years and has generously provided assistance for my children’s education. For my son, Paul Adderly, who received a scholarship from the Benjamin Foundation and is now Corporal of his C.S.I. unit; for my daughter, Tavar Flowers, who is in the process of completing her Business and Management and Law degree, and the rest of my children, Nickol, Karen, Samantha and Terrance. With equal admiration and gratitude I would like to thank the managers, Mr. Pflueger and Mr. Lee Choy who have made sure I stayed employed and a special thanks to my co-workers who have made my time here exhilarating. I will do my job to the best of my abilities and more, to ensure our guests at the P&P will never forget us here and always come back." Congratulations Ms. Flowers!

Summer is upon us and the Peace & Plenty family would love for you to visit us again in our Anniversary year. Take advantage of our “specials.” Get away from your winter blues and trade them in for the “exuma blues”; the turquoise and jade hues of our beautiful calm waters.

American Eagle, Continental Connection and Delta out of Atlanta, all offer convenient direct flight service into Georgetown from the States. Bahamasair, and Sky Bahamas fly direct to Exuma from Nassau. Get out of town and fly to George Town.

REMEMBER:
A passport is now required to enter the Bahamas.

Please visit our website at:
www.peaceandplenty.com for updates and specials.

From the owners, managers and staffs of Club Peace & Plenty, Bonefish Lodge and Management office, we wish you well. Please come see us again soon.