Philipsburg:--- The board of the St. Maarten Carnival Foundation (SCDF) has chosen the slogan for Carnival 2011: "Country St. Maarten Fettin' for Carnival 2011". As has become tradition, the selection of a slogan was done via a public competition. The SCDF received 106 submissions via Facebook and email in a three week period.
In the end, the SCDF settled on the submission by Chananda Rombley-Delaney, an elementary school teacher at the Oranje School. She received a season pass to Carnival 2011.
President of the SCDF Stuart Johnson said after much debate, the theme was chosen to historically record that Carnival 2011 was the first Carnival festivities after St. Maarten obtained its new constitutional status.
"We contemplated leaving the word 'country' out of the slogan since you just say St. Maarten, not Country St. Maarten," Johnson said. "But we wanted that historic perspective; we thought that distinction was important. Also, the word 'fettin' is an old time word to indicate having a great time. And there is nothing bigger than our Carnival fete. So we have history fully ingrained in our slogan as well as fun and excitement," he added.
The slogan will be used on all Carnival 2011 promotional material, including its schedule, posters, website etc. "On behalf of the SCDF we would like to thank everyone who participated in the slogan competition. Carnival is the people's business and we were very pleased to see how many people came up with terrific slogans," Johnson said.
The SCDF is also gearing up to release its official 2011 schedule which is basically complete.
Caption: Winner of the slogan competition Chananda Rombley-Delaney receives her prize from President of the SCDF Stuart Johnson on Thursday.
