The 2007 StAY Alive Dinner & Liberty Awards Nite went down in a specially erected dome outside St Andrews Church on December 12th. Although starting an hour later than scheduled there was no mistaking the evening was going to be warm and relaxed.
Starting off with a moment of thanksgiving and unadulterated worship all present were reminded of God’s faithfulness through out the year and were asked as individuals and as a group to lift up a thanksgiving praise. That done with, prayers for food were said and a sumptuous dinner was served. This being the 5th dinner the menu was getting better (and fairer, there were loads of it). With our very own resident techie / DJ Charlo doing what he does best (making noise) churning out some nice worshipful music, with pictures of the years activities rolling on the hurriedly setup big screen the mode was set for the next session of the night, the awards ceremony. And it did not disappoint.
The various categories were awarded thus:
SONG OF THE YEAR: Undoubtedly this jam got everyone within the larger St Andrews community praising, no lesser person than the Vicar himself has expressed his love for the song. Indeed I have heard some comments to the effect that StAY Alives version does sound better than the original [sic]. The award was taken by the song LEAD ME TO THE ROCK beating Ibada Yangu and the St Andrews Silver Jubilee theme song, Ebenezer.
ACTIVITY OF THE YEAR: As soon as this event was ending on Sep 2nd it was already being billed as the leading candidate for this award. With a stellar cast of guest artists and a thoroughly beautiful day all through Down To Beracah Concert finally lived up to its promise and scoped the award. See an independent review of the event by clicking here.
CHAIRMANS AWARD: This award was setup to recognise people who have offered great support to the group throughout the year or have been involved greatly in one way or another in helping in the growth of StAY Alive Fellowship. The jury is still out on whether the Patron qualifies for an award but this nights recognition went to one of the pioneer members of StAY Alive, a former chairman and the current Patron Cris Mwangi who was recognised for his continued support of the StAY Alive activities and for his direct participation in the groups activities as opposed to remote visibility that has been associated with previous Patrons.
BEST NEW MEMBERS: 2007 saw the group rake in several new members each joining and jellying with and growing within the group. The nights honors though belonged to Geoffrey Waweru and Barbra Maina who have undoubtedly played their part and deserve the title Rookies of The Year. We hope they will emulate some previous award winners who have gone ahead and become great StAY Alive officials and also scoped other subsequent awards.
OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR: StAY Alive is known for its vibrancy and noise, and sometimes its the noisiest things that get noticed, but guess what these are not necessarily the most important!!! The official who held the most essential docket working at it quitely through thick and thin, when there were many people and when he was solo, the guy who made sure our spirituality was propped deservedly took this award. A second time award winner, having scooped the 2006 Best New Member Male, Martin Njenga humbly accepted the recognition amid calls for fellowship and prayer.
MOST VALUABLE MEMBERS: Arguably the most prestigious of all awards, this category recognises the exceptional value and contribution made by the most ‘active’ members of the fellowship. And who more deserving than David Kamau and Treazer Nyaoro?
David has become synonymous with Logistics, the sheer energy and knack for wanting EVERYTHING done has stood out. At no occasion has he been found resting or folding his hands indeed even on this particular evening he was slacking it out… and as has been his custom he had some parable to share… meanwhile checkout Proverbs 6:9-11 that must be his inspiration. David took the Best New Member award when the awards were started in 2002 and went on to be Chairman of the group for two successive years, years that will be remembered for the setting up of StAY Alive evangelistic ministry with several mission trips and school visits.
Treazer is the joyful high soprano, the secretary to the KATAA Secretariat and the nearly incognito worker within the group. Treazer was joint winner of the 2006 Best New Member Female award. At this rate the sky is not the limit. Sad she was not present to collect her award but she was ably represented by the immaculately dressed Helen Mwihaki.
Speaking of immaculately dressed, the awards are themed as a formal evening outing aimed at celebrating the achievements of the group and recognizing the efforts made by several individuals & / or groups throughout a given year. The evening is also aimed at introducing the membership to formal events. I think it’s about time a new spontaneous award category was included for the most well dressed male, female and couple to spice up the evening. My parallel award nominations for the night for this 'new' category are: Female - Helen Mwihaki; Male - Alex Karuga / Anthony Kibigo; Couple - Mr & Mrs Elias Wamae; Pevu - Mrs Purity Wakubwa...
That said, we look back with gratitude to a great 2007 looking forward to what promises to be a monumental 2008… CAN’T STOP – WON’T STOP.
Enjoy The Pic's
