The Council and Staff of the National Trust rejoice in the reopening of the Red House, the seat of our democracy.
It is our fervent hope that the grandeur of the Red House will spark a desire in citizens to preserve, cherish and celebrate all heritage symbols that entwine our shared past with our shared future.
The National Trust wishes to thank all those who have contributed to the restoration of the Red House and other heritage properties that are the inheritance of every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.

A contingent of dancers from Trinidad and Tobago has triumphed in different categories at the World Salsa Summit.
Of the six categories they entered, the team placed in five.
The dancers have emerged victorious with first place in the Pro-Am Mens Salsa Shines category, second places in the Pro-Am Ladies Salsa Shines and Amateur Mens Salsa Shines categories and third places in the Amateur Ladies Shines and Amateur Small Team Salsa categories.
The competition, which is taking place in Miami until January 13, pits the best salsa dancers in the world against each other.
Kurt Thorne, known as DJ Fluffman in the local Salsa world, said this is the first time T&T has fielded such a big contingent of about 20 dancers.
“We are totally blown away,” he said. ‘This is the first time a small country like us are going up there and competing against the best in the world and for us to come away with trophies is amazing.”
He said the team comprised instructors, teachers and dancers from various schools who came together to train under renowned instructor Nelson Flores. Flores, his son Devin Flores and Destiny Garcia, directors of Descarga Latina New York, together with Martin Jim of Salsa Fiesta T&T gave the dancers the opportunity to audition and form Descarga Latina Trinidad and Tobago.
As such, the team received expert choreography and top-level coaching which helped them to make their mark on the competition. The team also received support and training from their local coaches Ade Smart and Karline Braithwaite.
Source: The Loop, Jan 10, 2020

This David Moore painting is yet another excellent rendition showing the arrival of a TGR Train. Probably the 1:05 pm ex Port of Spain or perhaps the 4:25 pm.
Note the figures on the right: The Station Master who is second from right is receiving the "tablet" from the Engine Driver or is it the Fireman?
Notice the colours of the coaches indicate the real TGR, pre-PTSC.
That Gentleman with the children should not be walking on the tracks, but this is merely artistic licence.
On a normal day(during school time) the 4:25 pm ex POS would depart with 700 or so persons. These coaches had a capacity of 96 passengers seated (2 per seat), or 144 sitting 3 per seat.
That large wagon at the back of the train, behind the four coaches is the Brake Van. That would also carry excess passengers and any wheelchair passenger. In a previous time it would also carry the goods of small traders who would have made their purchases in Port of Spain.
If it is the 4:25 pm, it would sleep overnight in Arima to be joined later by the 6:10 pm ex POS. They would depart next morning at 6:29 am and 7:00 am for Port of Spain.
In the last years of the Railway the 6:29 am became 6:30 am.
The 6:29 am would run non-stop from San Juan, omitting Barataria, Morvant and Laventille arriving Port of Spain 7:31 am with a steam engine or 7:33 am with a diesel-electric engine.
Essentially the running-time was 1 hour 8 minutes making all the stops.
Thanks to Glen Beadon for sharing this article written by his friend on ABVMOTT.
"Credit must go to my good friend Mr Ruthven Bunting. A beautifully written account of this magnificent painting by another friend, the one and only, David Moore.
Source" Virtual Museum of TT

The Red House has been pro­claimed as the place for the con­tin­u­a­tion of Par­lia­ment.
A state­ment from the Par­lia­ment yes­ter­day showed a le­gal no­tice signed by Pres­i­dent Paula-Mae Weekes where she ap­point­ed the Red House as the place at which the Fifth Ses­sion of the Eleventh Par­lia­ment shall con­tin­ue.
Here is the full text of the procla­ma­tion be­low:
WHERE­AS it is pro­vid­ed by sub­sec­tion (1) of sec­tion 67 of the Con­sti­tu­tion of the Re­pub­lic of Trinidad and To­ba­go, that each ses­sion of Par­lia­ment shall be held at such place with­in Trinidad and To­ba­go and shall com­mence at such time as the
Restora­tion works have been on­go­ing at the Red House, which housed Par­lia­ment for decades.
Last last year it was an­nounced that sit­tings of the Up­per and Low­er House would re­turn to the Red House this month af­ter be­ing housed at the In­ter­na­tion­al Wa­ter­front Com­plex, Port-of-Spain for the last eight years.
Gov­ern­ment said last year it would take some time for Par­lia­ment staff and op­er­a­tions to move in­to the Red House and this would be done dur­ing while the hous­es were on re­cess.
It was not the first time the his­toric Red House had to be re­stored or re­built.
The orig­i­nal build­ing was de­stroyed in 1903 wa­ter ri­ots and re­built in 1907.
It was giv­en its fa­mous coat of red paint in 1897 when this coun­try, which made up British colonies, pre­pared to cel­e­brate then Queen Vic­to­ria’s di­a­mond ju­bilee.
Pres­i­dent may by Procla­ma­tion ap­point:
Now, there­fore, I, PAULA-MAE WEEKES, Pres­i­dent as afore­said, do here­by ap­point the Red House, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, as the place at which the Fifth Ses­sion of the Eleventh Par­lia­ment of the Re­pub­lic of Trinidad and To­ba­go shall con­tin­ue.
Giv­en un­der my Hand and the Seal of the Pres­i­dent of the Re­pub­lic of Trinidad and To­ba­go at the Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent, St. Ann’s, this 10th day of Jan­u­ary, 2020.
Source: Trinidad Guardian, Jan 16, 2020

​WITH THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FLAG WAVING AND HER PARENTS CHEERING AT THE FINISH LINE, ABIGAIL VIEIRA MADE HISTORY BY BECOMING THE FIRST ATHLETE FROM THE DUAL-ISLAND CARIBBEAN NATION TO COMPETE AT A WINTER YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES.

The 17-year-old Alpine skier was born in the United States but chose to represent her parents’ homeland at Lausanne 2020.A day after serving as Trinidad and Tobago’s flagbearer in the Opening Ceremony, Vieira competed in the women’s Super-G at Les Diablerets, the first medal event at Lausanne 2020.
She placed 42nd out of 62 competitors, finishing in 1 minute, 2.58 seconds. But neither the time nor the result mattered: representing the nation on the global stage was what counted most.
​“This is the greatest day for me,” Vieira said moments after crossing the finish line. “I wanted to ski for Trinidad because they never had a skier before at the Youth Olympics.
“I just thought it would be a great opportunity to show that part of me. It’s very special to me because my parents are from Trinidad. Yes, I could have chosen the US but I can share more of my story this way.”
Waiting to embrace Vieira at the finish were her father Richard, mother Allison and 19-year-old sister Ria. Her father serves as the chef de mission for the Trinidad and Tobago team, while her sister is the assistant coach. The family lives in Boston.
“It is a crazy feeling,” Vieira said. “Today I have represented a part of me that has not been shown on slopes before. It is great to have my family there.

British filmmaker Sam Mendes has thanked his Trinidadian grandfather for inspiring his film 1917.
In his acceptance speech as winner of the Best Director of a Motion Picture at this weekend's Golden Globes awards, Mendes praised his grandfather Alfred Hubert Mendes.
"He signed up for the First World War, age 17 and I hope he is looking down on us and I fervently hope it never ever happens again," he said.
Born in Trinidad in 1897, Alfred went to England at the age of 15 to attend school but enrolled in the army where he served in the Rifle Brigade.
The movie 1917 is loosely based on Alfred's role as a messenger during the war which is chronicled in his book: The Autobiography of Alfred H. Mendes 1897–1991 published in 2002 by the University of the West Indies Press.
Referencing the book, the site History vs Hollywood said that after serving with the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade, Alfred was sent to Oisemont, not far from Dieppe, France, where he trained to be a signaller. He was then sent to the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium.
On October 12, 1917, hundreds of British soldiers, including Alfred, set out to reclaim the village of Poelcappelle, which had been overtaken by the Germans. The British soldiers suffered heavy losses with 158 of the 484 men in Alfred's battalion killed, wounded, or unaccounted for. 
Alfred volunteered to be a runner to locate the positions of the survivors so they could be rescued and for his efforts, he received the Military Medal of Bravery.
Following his service, Alfred returned to Trinidad and established himself as a writer. He produced a literary magazine called Trinidad with CLR James and contributed to The Beacon journal in Trinidad among other publications in the US and Europe.
He authored two novels, Pitch Lake in 1934 and Black Fauns in 1935. 
In 1940, according to Wikipedia, Alfred abandoned writing and became the General Manager of the Port Services Department.
He was also one of the founding members of the United Front, a party with socialist leanings that participated in the 1946 general elections.
Alfred died in 1991 in Barbados.
Source: The Loop, January 8, 2020