Howard and Trecel are getting married!
UNIVERSITY of the West Indies postgraduate students Trecel Messan, 25, and Howard Johnson, 24, have been in love for the past six years.
But although Trecel knew that a marriage proposal was imminent she had no idea that it would happen in the Rum Jungle a few seconds past midnight Friday, during Coral Cliff’s New Year Eve’s Party.
Among the loud shouts by patrons of “Happy New Year!, Howard went down on one knee with an outstretched hand, then he popped the question. Cheers went up as a beaming Trecel said, “Yes, I will!”
Within seconds a smiling Howard removed a silver ring from his right pants pocket and slipped it on the ring finger of his wife-to-be.
Howard and Trecel, who are reading for MPhil degrees in Chemistry and Linguistics at the UWI’s Mona campus in Kingston, arrived at Coral Cliff about an hour before midnight. They were spotted by the Observer West seated at a small table sipping champagne and smiling.
“The young couple seemed to have been enjoying each other’s company and to be really in love,” said a worker at the entertainment facility, who said she had been observing the duo. Howard had journeyed from Portland to spend time in Montego Bay with Trecel, a native of St James.
Shortly after the brief engagement ceremony, Howard told the Observer West that last year they spent New Year’s Eve at Margaritaville, next door Coral Cliff. But this time around, he said, they wanted something different.
“We wanted to formalise our relationship and to put our lives in a different direction so we decided to go to Coral Cliff where there is usually a more mature audience and where we could enjoy the New Year’s Eve show,” he said.
A date has not been set for the wedding, but the couple is hoping to tie the knot this year.
Coral Cliff’s New Year Eve’s party was staged under the theme ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ — which was choreographed by L’Antoinette Stines-L’ Acadco Dance Company — infront of an appreciative audience.
It featured resident band Jumanji, while a host of other entertainers including singers Raquel Collins, Kasey Chambers, Michael Brown, Kelvin Dixon, and Brian Brown; dancers Chantal Davis, Sanchia Brown and Tasharn Williams, and motorcyclist Carol Green.
Several other New Year’s Eve parties were held across Montego Bay at venues including Margaritaville, the Yacht Club, Sunset Beach Resort, the Twisted Kilt, Pier One, Groovy Grouper and the Rose Hall Great House.
