Truck mas returns with upbeat message
Posted: Wednesday, February 18, 2004

By Terry Joseph

ONE of the staple presentations of Carnivals up to the 1950s, then called "Lorry Mas", will be returning to the streets of Port of Spain come next Monday and Tuesday; this time with a different twist.

Concerned about what she called "the negative energy currently about us", television personality Allyson Hennessy and sister Rosemarie "Roses" Hezekiah have come up with a novel Carnival day plan to reverse the vibe.

The sisters, who are also joint owners of Veni Mange Restaurant, are putting on the road a music trailer called "The T&T Sweet Truck", which will be decorated in national colours, with masqueraders costumes depicting either traditional mas characters or representing various ethnic groups or themes of Trinidad and Tobago.

Allyson says The T&T Sweet Truck concept was developed as a vehicle for reminding our people of the beauty of living in Trinidad and Tobago. "In this time of anxiety and stress about the state of the country, we often forget how blessed we are and this is an attempt to remind everyone of our gifts and uniqueness," she said.

Banners with positive messages such as "Love T&T and "T&T Is Our Land, Cherish It" will be displayed on the truck itself, whose music will be a mix of this year's festival music and calypsoes of yesteryear.

Allyson and DJ Marlon will, from time to time, deliver messages of encouragement to those who may be feeling a sense of despair from the barrage of negative news that has surfaced recently. "Along the route, we will be encouraging everyone to continue to believe in our beautiful country," she said.

"We are going back to the original lorry mas concept on purpose and will register as a small band as there is no specific category for this traditional type of mas that was played on a truck.

"Our music will comprise all the positive road marches and some patriotic songs like "Sweet TnT", 'Song for a Lonely Soul' and 'I'd Rather Be in Trinidad'. 'We Can Make it If We Try and that sort of idiom, to spend the days boosting our opinion of ourselves and shoring up national self-esteem.

Courtesy Trinidad Express

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