19 CARIBBEAN CHARITIES RECEIVE $1,000 GRANTS FROM CARIBBEAN CABLE & TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOC.            

ST. THOMAS, USVI, May 22 – The board of directors of the Caribbean Cable and Telecommunications Association (CCTA) unanimously agreed to award a total of $19,000 to 19 charitable organizations located in the Caribbean.  Each individual charity was nominated by a cable system operator that is an active member of the CCTA.                                 

Terry Roberson, chair of the CCTA and general manager of Bermuda Cablevision, stated, “The missions of these 19 outstanding nominees made it difficult to decide between them. The CCTA originally established the program to give just ten grants per year, but the program has generated so much interest among our members that the number of applicants continues to grow annually.  This year’s 19 nominees are very worthy organizations, and we are delighted to be able to award grants to all of them.”  Each nominee will receive $1,000.  The board took this action at their meeting on May 12.  

The 19 grant recipients and their sponsoring companies are:  Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bermuda nominated by Bermuda Cablevision Ltd.; Virgin Islands Cadets Corps nominated by BVI Cable TV; Youth Against Violence nominated by Cable Bahamas; Harrison College PTA nominated by Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation of Barbados; Centro Sor Isolina Ferre nominated by Choice Cable TV of Puerto Rico; Missionaries of the Poor nominated by Columbus Communications Inc. of Bahamas and Jamaica; Grenada National Coalition on the Right of the Child nominated by Columbus Communications Grenada; The Just Because Foundation nominated by Columbus Communications Trinidad; Queen Louise Home nominated by Innovative Cable TV St. Croix; Humane Society of St. Thomas nominated by Innovative Cable TV St. Thomas-St. John; Colegio de Educacion Especial y Rehabilitacion Integral nominated by Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico; International Institute for People with Disabilities of Puerto Rico nominated by OneLink Communications; Corno Abe’s Foundation nominated by SAT Telecommunications Ltd. of Dominica; Fundacion Telfon Pa Hubenfud Aruba nominated by SETAR; Holy Family Children’s Home nominated by St. Lucia Cablevision; The Police Boys Club nominated by The Cable of St. Kitts; Stichting Hamied nominated by T.V. Distribution Systems of Curacao; Special Olympics Cayman Islands nominated by WestStar TV Limited; and St. Maarten Soccer Educational Foundation nominated by Wireless Telecommunication Network. 

Formed in 1983, the Caribbean Cable and Telecommunications Association represents cable and telecommunications providers throughout the Caribbean and the programmers, software and hardware suppliers that support their activities.  The Community Charities Program, which was established by the CCTA in 1993, has awarded $208,250 during its existence. 

          NEWS FROM THE 2009 ANNUAL MEETING

The 2009 Annual Meeting held at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort, from January 26 to 29 was a great three-day event.  A total of 289 representatives of 135 companies attended the conference.  The attendees traveled from 27 different countries and territories to participate.  There were 78 exhibitors and traffic in the Exhibit Hall was brisk.  If you are interested in receiving the names and contact information for all attendees, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we can provide this data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.  The information is only available to members of the CCTA. 

At the Annual Membership Meeting held on Wednesday, January 28, new officers and directors of the association were elected.  For the 2009 year, the Board of Directors are Chair Terry Roberson of Bermuda Cablevision; Vice Chair & Chair-Elect Brendan Paddick of Columbus Communications; Past Chair Beulah Jonis of St. Maarten Cable TV; Director and Treasurer Jose Alegria of Liberty Communications of P.R.; Director David Burrows of Cable Bahamas; Director Bill Ewing of The Cable; and Director Roderich Pietersz of T.V. Distribution Systems. The Associate Membership elected John Kurpinski of Alloptic Inc. and Brad Trullinger of NBC Universal Cable to serve the two Associate Directors. 

Sponsorships of the various activities associated with the Annual Meeting were generous, and for that the Board of Directors is extremely grateful.  A full list of sponsors can be found on the web site, www.cctanet.com, in the “Who’s Who” piece under 2009 Annual Meeting.  The Auction and Raffle to raise funds for the Community Charities Program did well, bringing in $8,769.03 for this worthwhile activity benefiting non-profit organizations throughout the region.  Much of the credit for this success goes to our outstanding auctioneer Patrick Harrell of the Outdoor Channel.  We also must thank all the companies and individuals who provided such great items for the auction and raffle. 

The annual Golf Tournament attracted 52 players this year, making it one of the largest tournaments in recent years.  The first place team winners of the Golf Tournament were Chris Annesley, Willy Hamilton, Bruce Littman, and Guy Plouffe.  The second place team included Al Kernes, Ryan Roberson, Bernie Segura and Chris Shirling. The third place team was made up of Mike Adams Jr., Mike Adams Sr., RoAnn Adams, and Rowland Fowler.   Yne Gonzalez and Bill McCall were closest to the pin, while Jim Holanda and Paula Smith had the longest drives.  Congratulations to all! 

We welcome two new members to the association.  Those approved for Associate Membership prior to the Annual Meeting were NCM Supplies, Inc., and Scientific Satellite, Inc.  We thank these companies for their interest in the association and look forward to their continued participation.