New Aruba
Activities
The
sounds of Broadway can now be heard at the Aruba Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort with the new
musical/dance show “Broadway Jukebox,” offered every night but
Sunday at 9 p.m. in the Players Lounge.
The island’s longest running show, the Jewel Box Revue, recently
proved why it is also one of the island’s favorites during its official debut of the
newly revised production last week. The hilarious Gary Dee as Joan Rivers has taken over
from Ron Raymond (who is now the show’s director as well as performs his version of
Dame Edna) as the sharp-tongued emcee presenting a full line-up of female celebrity
impersonators. The Jewel Box Revue is presented every night but Sunday at 9 p.m. and 10
p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays at the Tropicana Showroom of the Royal Cabana Casino.
SNUBA (SNorkeling + scUBA), the watersport that allows underwater
explorers as young as 8 years old to descend to depths up to 20 feet by using the
breathing apparatus of the regulator is a new Aruba activity just one year old.
SNUBA-goers and SNUBA-DO-ers (4 – 8 year olds who remain at the surface) experience
the fun through De Palm Tours on its Fun Factory catamaran, Sea Star catamaran cruiser,
Sea Venture trimaran or at De Palm Island.
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ARUBA CATAMARAN
REGATTA: Graceful “Cats” make their way to the island
The
colorful sails of graceful catamarans will once again decorate the Aruba coastline as the
island plays host to the Aruba Catamaran Regatta, November 17-25,
2000, in front of the Aruba Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort.
In the last ten years of this event, the regatta has grown to be the biggest, and most
popular “cat” race in the Caribbean. Organizer Ruud Reij,
together with sponsors ATA, Heineken, P&O Nedlloyd, Gant U.S.A, Dutchtone, Magic
Marine, Meta Corporation, Does & Cadushi, van Deventer, Coastal, Holiday Inn, Tropical
Bottling Company and Airways rent-a-car, are succeeding in attracting participants from
The Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Aruba and South America.
Sailors competing in this world-class amateur event will run a variety of courses
including long distance, short coastal dash and a number of windward/leeward and
triangular courses. Participants will also be able to enjoy a number of social happenings
including happy hours and beach BBQs.
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International
Aruba Theater Festival organizers reviewing applications from no less than 58 theater
groups from 36 countries
The
twelve edition of the International Aruba Theater Festival (FITA 2000),
beginning September 30, 2000, is to be a tremendous event this year with
the recent announcement that no less than 58 theater groups from 36
different countries, including Germany, Antiqua, Argentina, Aruba, Belgium,
Canada, Honduras, the U.S., Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, St. Vincent and Venezuela,
have applied for the 18 possible spots.
The subsequent productions to be presented will encompass the full range of theater, from
contemporary to experimental, from musical to dance
theater, from pantomime to satire, from drama
to comedy. Each of the performances, which will feature a discussion
session about the work the following day, as well as the free workshops will be held at
the Cas di Cultura in Oranjestad.
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Excitement
continues to be generated for Aruba’s Festival de Las Americas
Aruba’s
Festival de Las Americas, featuring Latin American artists Olga
Taņon, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Rojas, Son
by Four and Carlos Vives, October 5 –7, 2000, is
generating a great deal of excitement in Latin America. According to ATA Special Events
Director Chido Henriquez, who just returned from a 5-day, 5-city promotional tour in
Colombia, the response so far has been phenomenal.
The recent promotional tour, accomplished in conjunction with the ATA Colombia office and
ATA’s advertising firm of McCann-Erickson, was able to get the word out about the
festival to travel agents and wholesalers as well as to the general public through the
media (newspaper, radio and T.V.). With the further assistance of McCann-Erickson’s
Monica Ballen, an upcoming media event on September 14, 2000, in which the official
announcements will be made of the Tower Record raffle winners (tickets for two to the
concerts with a winner chosen from each store outlet in Cali, Medellin and Bogota) as well
as which press from Colombia will attend, will undoubtedly further heighten interest in
Aruba’s Festival de Las Americas. The media event will be carried live on the radio
station of RCN (Caracol). Similar promotions will soon take place in Venezuela and Puerto
Rico.
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Aruba Celebreates
the Official Grand Opening of its NEW AIRPORT
In the
presence of invited guests, Minister of Transportation Glenbert Croes,
together with the management of the Aruba Airport Authority (AAA),
celebrated the conclusion of the multi-million dollar renovation and expansion of
Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport on September 1,
2000.
All areas
of the newly constructed three-level concourse, which tripled the size of
the pre-existing airport to 403,650 square feet, are now in full
operation. The state-of-the-art facility, equipped with new security system, flight
display system, baggage handling system, jetways and, in the U.S. departure terminal, a U.S.
INS/Customs checkpoint, is now able to handle 2.5 million passengers
annually.
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New National
Awareness Campaign Brings Attention to Stray Dog Problem
The Aruba Tourism Authority, represented
by Tamara Waldron, together with representatives from the Ministry of
Tourism, Veterinary Department, Police Department and Aruba Bunita N.V. recently launched
a campaign bringing attention to the stray dog problem.
This month, all dogs found roaming the
streets will be rounded up. For the last couple of years, stray dogs have become a major
problem around the hotels, downtown area and other sites where food is available to them.
For more information, please contact the Veterinary Department at (297) 850400 or e-mail vetservice@mail.setarnet.aw.
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The Aruba
Government is ready to Collect data for The CENSUS 2000
Collection for Aruba’s Census 2000
will soon take place in order to assess the different changes that the island has endured during
the last 10 years, and also in accordance with the request of the United Nations
for member nations to count its residents, in order to keep the world population growth in
perspective.
The Central Bureau of Statistics, the government department responsible
for the coordination of the project, has already launched the awareness campaign for the
Census 2000 with the broadcast of TV commercials and through the distribution of
four-language descriptive brochures. The actual collection of data will begin next month.
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The National
Library of Aruba Organizes “ Cultural Month 2000”
The National Library of Aruba has prepared a complete
schedule of activities as part of their “Cultural Month 2000”
celebration, September 7 – 28, 2000.
The first evening will feature a special presentation by
the General Secretary of Unesco Aruba and Father Rudy Lampe
at the library. On September 14 will take place a cultural evening at the
community pool in San Nicolas. On September 21, the cultural evening will
take place at the Tanki Leendert Community Center, and on September 28,
Cultural Month will close with a peace forum at the library.
All the celebrations will start at 8 p.m. and continue
until 11:00 p.m. Entry is FREE of charge.
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A New Dive Site
for Aruba
----- UPDATE:
Once again, thanks to the efforts of the Aruba Watersports Association (AWA), working
together with the Aruba Ports Authority (APA), another artificial reef has been created.
The “Star Gerren” tanker was successful sunk and now rests
securely on the sea floor in front of the high-rise strip by Hadicurari.
The placement of the boat in 40 feet of water will provide an additional wreck site for
both snorkelers and SCUBA divers to enjoy. -----
After almost 4 months of preparation, The Aruba
Ports Authority (APA) is ready to add another diving site to the waters of Aruba,
by sinking the tanker “Star Gerren.”
In order to make the ship a wreck attraction, many
modifications have been accomplished such as the removal of all windows, doors and
environment hazardous material such as oil and gasoline. In the case of the “Star
Gerren,” even additional holes were cut into the ship, to enable divers to get in and
out without any problems.
Although an exact date has not been established as yet for
its sinking, it will be take place shortly not far from the “Antilla”
wreck.
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“ Conoce bo
Talento “ a Special Weekend for the Aruban Kids
Recently a group of volunteers organized a non-profit
exposition for children at the Caribe Club, where about 400 kids participated
at this hobby fair.
The main organizer behind this event was Mr. Robert
Croes, Managing Director for Antraco Aruba, Aruba’s largest office supply
store. According to Mr. Croes, “children all over the world spend to much time in
front of the TV or computer” and this was a unique opportunity to experience another
type of activity.
The organizers recruited artists from all disciplines to
teach workshops during the entire weekend, enabling these children to enrich and expand
their knowledge.
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