The Adisadel Old Boys Association, North America (AOBA-NA) last week enjoyed yet another successful Congress in the history of the organisation. 

Gathering under the theme “One Adisadel: United in Progress,” Santaclausians of different generations travelled from all across the United States and Canada to the Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia metropolitan area (DMV) for their three-day annual confab on the US Memorial Day Weekend from May 24 through May 26.

The weekend began with the customary Happy Hour on Friday, May 24 at the Mango Café, a restaurant and Club owned by a Santaclausian in Bladensburg, Maryland from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. 

As the unofficial check in spot for the weekend activities, Adisco Old Boys gathered to network and socialise as they enjoyed the Ghanaian and Carribean cuisine, drinks and music provided by one of their own Mr Tajudeen Abubakar (Santa ’86). 

The 2019 AOBA-NA Congress followed on Saturday morning at the Hunting Ridge Conference Hall in Greenbelt, Maryland from 11:00am through 2:00pm. 

Co-Presidents, Dr Kofi Boadu Ansah (Santa ’89) and Mr Aaron Aboagye (Santa ’89), led the discussion on ways to build on the success of the alumni association, especially, after reaching the one hundred thousand dollar fundraising goal that was set in 2018. 

After hearing testimonials from two of the beneficiaries of their scholarship program who graduated this year with first class honors in Accounting from the University of Ghana, the Old Boys were motivated to do even more, and resolved to encourage the entire alumni towards contributing into an endowment fund.

Proceeds from the fund would be used to invest in the students directly and away from building physical infrastructure which automatically becomes the property of the government upon completion.

Representatives of the 1994 year group, Mr Cliff Klaye, Dr William Ghann, Dr Leonard Wryter and Mr Selassie Ametewee, were on hand to share their experiences from hosting the 2019 Speech and Prize-Giving Ceremony and what it took for their year group to deliver on their Speech Day Project and host one of the most successful Speech Day Ceremonies yet, during their silver jubilee since leaving the College. 

Attendees also enjoyed a ‘red-red’ lunch sponsored by the Raymond James Financial group, whose representative and honorary Santaclausian, Mr Scott Petersen gave a presentation on Endowments. 

Saturday, night capped the activities planned for the weekend with the Black Santa and Fundraising Dinner Dance at the La Fontaine Bleue in Lanham, Maryland.

The black-tie event, emceed by the very funny renowned actuary Mr Kwabena Sarpong (Santa ’78) begun around 9:30pm with a red carpet and photo-op by Santaclausians and their loved ones who came out in their numbers to socialize, raise money for a worthy cause and dance the night away. 

By the 10:00pm, the formal was officially underway as attendees danced to an irresistible selection of music of all genres (mostly Ghanaian) by a Santaclausian DJ, Mr Jonathan Djan (Santa ’93) aka ODK and enjoyed delicious entrees and unlimited drinks from the open bar all night long. 

They partied like only Adisco boys could interspersed with two powerful speeches delivered by the Keynote Speaker, Dr Bernard Rawlins (Santa ’76), a renowned Orthopedic & Spine Surgeon and philanthropist and Baffour Adjei Bawuah, Ghana’s Ambassador to the US. 

These two distinguished personalities headlining the Black Santa Night alone is a testament to level of respect the Adisadel Old Boys Association commands in the United States, and they did not disappoint as they challenged all Santaclausians in particular and Ghanaians in the diaspora to boldly leverage their intellect, expertise and networks to become influential leaders in our communities. 

This year’s Black Santa Night also attracted exhibitors from Stanbic Bank, Prabon and Greenway Developers, from Ghana, who attended all the events to promote various real estate and mortgage products for their companies and help Ghanaians secure their dream homes in Ghana with the peace of mind they deserve.

The packed weekend ended with a family picnic in collaboration with the USA based Old Boys associations of the two other Boys’ Schools in Cape Coast, namely Mfantsipim School and St Augustine’s College at the Accredale Park in College Park Maryland on Sunday, May 26. 

The first of its kind organised in the DMV area, with a planned triangular soccer gala and games, the event generated so much publicity that the attendance exceeded the capacity of the park to the point where the matches had to be called off. 

The organisers are therefore pumped up knowing how much enthusiasm the picnic has generated, to get a bigger venue to deliver a befitting picnic and games for their members.