What started out as a small, unlicensed club where friends met to play cards has evolved to become an Arima Monday mas institution. The patriarch of the family always called the large old wooden house “the Bismarck”. The land was subsequently acquired by the Government for the expanding Arima hospital. In 1965 or thereabouts the Songui family moved out, leaving the three oldest boys at the old hom
e. It immediately became the meeting place of all their friends. It is said that the weekend games began on Friday evenings and ran continuously until Monday morning. Stories are told about members who would stay for the entire period and their wives or girlfriends would have to come to look for them there. Facilities at the Bismarck were improved when a juke box was installed. One of the Songui brothers who was not a gambler began preparing meals to sell to the players. A supply of drinks was also always available. It is said that it was probably in 1966 that some of the guys began to cover themselves with mud and colours on Carnival Monday and started what was to become a major part of Arima carnival: the Bismarck Carnival Monday presentation of dirty mas. The name of one of their earliest presentations was the Sky Above and the Mud Beneath. The objective of Bismarck was fun for participants at minimum costs and this has been maintained to the present day even though the structure on Prince Bartholomew Street was demolished decades ago. Perry Morris, one of the original members, still organizes the band on an annual basis. In its heyday, more than one thousand participants took part in the band, but nowadays, it’s more like two hundred. One thing remains sure:
Bismarck on Carnival Monday continues to be an important part of Carnival in Arima, and all participants enjoy the experience.
