THE DRINKS flowed freely and the conversation and laughter were effortless last evening, when the Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) Guyana Inc. showed its appreciation for their customers.
The festivities took place in the comfortable settings of the Water Chris Hotel’s lounge here in the city, with Company Plant Manager, Mr. Mark Bender saying that the event was an excellent opportunity to show appreciation for its customers and express their heartfelt gratitude.
Bender said that 2009 was a tumultuous year for the company, because of the global economic downturn, and that sales were not quite as expected, nor was the budget met.
Exhorting customers to continue supporting the company, Bender noted that they were doing reasonably better this year, a fact he partly attributed to increased sales that were spurred by a price reduction of cement last month.
He noted too that the company conducted a number of seminars last year on the proper use of cement and concrete, which were all well attended by a number of contractors. This was testament, he said, of the company’s commitment not only to sell, but also ensure the integrity of the structures made from their product.
The proceedings got going somewhat later than the anticipated 18:00h start as most of the guests arrived in ‘Guyanese time’, but the few persons that were present didn’t mind, as the place was cozily decorated with potted plants and clusters of balloons in TCL’s corporate colours  of green and orange and as said before, the drinks flowed freely.
Persons present   ‘chilled’ and listened to the two-member band that had been hired for the occasion. The chanteuse rendered a medley of hits from popular movies of the 80s like ‘Ghost’ and ‘Dirty Dancing’, while her male partner accompanied her on a synthesizer. In no time, it seemed, the room was  full of people.
The singer was now belting out more recent pop hit covers of fast-paced numbers, from Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige when the lights suddenly dimmed and a flurry of activity began. Getting up to see what the fuss was all about, I  parted the   laughing guests and saw that the source of their amusement was a splendidly bedecked young woman in  the centre of a table covered with a table cloth that matched her dress  that was laden with candles and food. As could be expected, several men eagerly volunteered to sample the fare from of this table.
Then it was time for the main event of the evening, which was the presentation of ‘The Best Customer of the Year Awards’ in the various categories.
The coveted award of the evening, ‘Top Distributor of the Year’ for the country, went to Suresh General Store, while the ‘Top Distributor Awards’ went out for the various counties.
Boohoo’s General Store of Parika, carted off the ‘Top Distributor Award’ for Essequibo, while Gafsons Industries Ltd carried off the award for Berbice, and Toolsie Persaud Ltd the Demerara Award.
The ‘Customer of the Year Award for Pre-Mix Companies went to  Ready-Mix Concrete Ltd.,while Hacks Hollow Blocks  carried off  the Customer of the Year Award for block-makers.
The final ‘Customer of the Year Award’, this one for contactors, went to B.K International.
As we took our leave, the band could be heard moving into reggae gear as the celebration seemed bent on continuing well into the night.