KINGSTON, Jamaica — Residents of Mona Heights and members of the public are being invited to the community’s annual Independence Day flag-raising ceremony on Thursday, August 6, with this year’s observance centred on the theme of resilience and authentic Jamaican energy.

In a release on Tuesday, organisers said the annual event, which has been staged for more than three decades, will be held under the sub-theme, “Authentic Jamaican Energy”, in keeping with the national theme, “United in Celebrating Resilience”.

The programme is being organised by the Mona Heights Neighbourhood Watch, the Mona Heights Citizens Association and the Lions Club of Mona, in partnership with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.

Residents and visitors packed Mona Heights’ community centre for their annual independence-day flag raising ceremony.

The organisers said the programme will acknowledge and give thanks for energy in all its dimensions as a crucial component of resilience, whether on the individual, community, national or global scale.

The annual tradition, started by the late Corine Kiddoe, who co-founded the Mona Heights Neighbourhood Watch with her late husband L Garth Kiddoe, features a community breakfast fellowship, family-strengthening cultural entertainment and education, and a shared sense of national achievement and responsibility, free of political partisanship.

Multiple-time festival winner Roy Rayon is expected to perform, while child author Deanashae Delisser will showcase the Jamaica Culture Book. The Ministry of Health and Wellness’ Health Promotion and Education Unit will also provide information on biological energy-dependent health outcomes.

One of several intricate ribbon patterns St Theresa Preparatory’s Maypole dancers weaved and unravelled at last year’s Mona Heights independence-day flag raising ceremony. (Attendees Jennifer and Ewan Millen’s five-year-old granddaughter, Marleigh-Alexis, reacted gleefully, “Actually, the dancing was quite good.” It was ‘grandma’s’ first time seeing Maypole dancing as well.)

PhD candidate Andrew Johnson (MPhil) is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

Formalities are scheduled to begin at 9:00 am at the community centre on Independence Day, with the flag-raising ceremony to be led by representatives of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, supported by members of the Lions Club of Mona serving as the Colour Guard.

The event is free and open to the general public.