Hi! I’m Hillary Bonner. I’ve been on St. John for 8 years and have worn A LOT of hats in my time on island. Most of us do tho…A lot of times island life calls for ingenuity, flexibility and resiliency. And those things are what I kind of LOVE about the people in our Love City Community.
Between boat days and day hikes and happy hours with so many happy faces, you may have seen me behind the bar at Asolare, Zozo’s, The Terrace or Drink (once upon a time, Motu) over the years. But after Hurricane Irma, I jumped from behind the bar into non-profit work. That desk job made me remember that, way back when, I DID go to college and I might have been letting some of those skill sets get a BIT rusty. My degree is in Journalism and Public Relations. When asked if I ever used it, my programmed response was, “Bar tending IS relating to the public.”
But, back to the desk job…I was doing everything. Which is, again, what you do in a small office on an island. Events, marketing, handling in-kind donations, unloading containers, attempting to figure out logistics I didn’t even know how to spell, community meetings, board meetings, FEMA meetings. All of the meetings.
One day, I decided that there were aspects I loved. And aspects…Well, not so much. So I started my own thing, supporting local small businesses and non-profits in the realm of design, marketing and events (specifically music related events…you’ll hear a lot about music from me). I have a bleeding heart for the small yet ambitious non-profits on St. John. And an overwhelming amount of respect for the small business owners who made their ideas take flight in a place where it’s very difficult to do so!
I love life here on St. John. The highs are the highest and the lows are not so low as they can be in other places. The accessibility to Mother Nature on this little slice of perfection is unparalleled. She’s all around us all of the time. You can watch the phases of the moon, the rotation of the planets, the shifting of the sunset and the tides. Every damn day. Mother Nature’s restless spirit reflects the transient nature of the people here as well. That was hard for me at first. The coming and the going. But now, I like the fact that I will rarely visit a place that I don’t have a place to stay and a friend to catch up with from St. John.
So, now, here I am (using my degree, Ma!). Contributing to a long standing super positive blog. Here I feel like I’m in a position to use my voice to entertain and inform you about the community and island that I love so much.
I’m grateful for this opportunity and am ALWAYS open to story ideas! Let me know what, where or who you want to hear about!
Good Morning, Good Morning! You guys, I am thrilled to be sharing with you today a service that I have used for visiting friends and family a multitude of times. Their customer service is fantastic, their rates much more reasonable than those on the regular rental market or Airbnb and, by renting your stay at the Westin Resort through St. John Condos, you still get access to all of the incredible amenities and location-based bonuses offered by one of the only resorts in Love City. Let’s take a look at how this awesome secondary rental company operates and what benefits you’ll see by booking your next stay with them.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some AWESOME news for you today! If you have visited St. John over the past five years, you have probably noticed the overall lack of outdoor facilities for our kiddos. We used to have two baseball fields and a functional playground right in Cruz Bay and a ball field in Coral Bay as well. After Hurricane Irma, the ballfield near the National Parks Dock (across from Mongoose Junction) was utilized a as a parking area for Federal vehicles and, later in recovery efforts, the BBC trucks.
Construction on the NPS Ballfield began in October of 2021 with a re-opening date for the end of that month. Here we are in 2022…Still no ballfield. Photo- Amy Roberts, St. John Source
The ball field near Julius E. Sprauve School (JESS) was functional post-Irma until the space was reappropriated to accommodate the modular classroom units. And, while a small playground was constructed on the school grounds at JESS for the school children to utilize during recess, the access to a competitive sports area for the children of St. John was diminished. The Coral Bay ball field, part of the Moravian Church property, still sits unused and in disrepair. And while the tennis courts and basketball courts have been open and recently received re-paving and facelifts, the playground near the NPS dock and ballfield has remained a sad, sad sight. BUT, in the name of progress (!), next month, construction, repairs and a full rebuild of the playground will begin with the goal of incorporating the nature, culture and history of St. John in a kid friendly and community minded environment.
Good Morning, Good Morning! Now that the sun is starting to show her pretty face once again on St. John, I have some fantastic news to share with you! The St. John Land Conservancy (SJLC) launched their Second Annual Love for the Land Fundraiser last week and the lucky winner of this contest will be absolutely living in the lap of luxury for a week on Lovango Cay. Oh, but this prize package isn’t JUST for incredible lodging…It also includes St. John dining, activities AND airfare credits. And every ticket purchased in an attempt to win this incredible prize goes towards a great cause: Preserving the cultural and natural resources of St. John from unsustainable development. It’s a win, win! Pun absolutely intended 😉
Good Morning, Good Morning! I’m happy to report today that Fiona left St. John pretty well unscathed with the exception of nasty winds and rains throughout the entire weekend. The airports and seaports are now open again and, with the exception of public schools remaining closed for the day in the USVI, everything is back to business as usual on St. John. However, Fiona has not been as kind to Puerto Rico, and we should all set our sights on the upcoming recovery and relief efforts for our sister island as this continually building storm is leaving catastrophic flooding in her path throughout the larger territory to our west.
Good afternoon, everyone! I waited until a bit later to post today because I wanted to get the midday update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in order to get you all the most up to date information on that pesky Fiona who is currently rolling towards us from the east with some decently sized winds and rainfall. Once again, there is no reason to panic!!! But, if you have travel plans into or out of the territory this weekend, they WILL need to be adjusted.
Hello All! Remember earlier this week when I told you that everything looked okay out there in the Atlantic Basin but that we shouldn’t let our guards down because it IS still peak hurricane season? Well, as we all know, things can change pretty quickly in Mother Nature’s planner and Tropical Storm Fiona is now headed towards the Caribbean with the first watches issued at 8AM to Saba, St. Marteen, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and Anguilla. So, I wanted to take a quick moment this morning to alert any of you who may have travel plans into or out of the territory this weekend of the possible impact of Tropical Storm Fiona.
Good Morning, Good Morning! It’s the sleepiest time of year on St. John…But that doesn’t mean your vacation has to be. We all know that A TON of businesses are currently closed for the off-season and that you can definitely expect lighter crowds and less coordinated activities during this time of year. But, if you are lucky enough to be visiting during these sleepier months, you might happen upon some fun that you just didn’t expect. Aside from the emptier than normal beaches, hiking trails and parking areas that we should ALL be taking advantage of, there are many businesses that are remaining open during these slower months. And, today, I want to touch on those establishments AND some fun activities that you may have never tried before!
Good Morning, Good Morning! It has been a blissful week of necessary internet timeout for this girl right here, but I have missed writing for you all! I hope that you all enjoyed reading Katie’s posts from afar as much as I have this morning as I caught up on the news. Her photos and videos were absolutely beautiful. Let’s get a round of applause for Katie and her incredible initial efforts here on the News of St. John!
Katie’s photos put mine to shame!
When I say “internet timeout…” Well, there is one thing that I was regularly checking in on over this past week. And that is the WEATHER! With Asante hauled out in Puerto Rico and our beloved home sitting under the watchful eye of our landlord on St. John…Well, the weather this time of year can be a bit unnerving. So far, with the exception of a close call from Hurricane Earl last week, things have been moderately quiet as we inch through the most stressful part of the Hurricane Season. But that’s no reason to drop our guards. Hurricane season technically lasts until November! Let’s take a look at what you can expect on St. John over the next little bit if you have a blissful off-season trip planned…
Good Morning, Good Morning! I’m reporting to you live from Denver, Colorado this morning and have slightly recovered from an insanely long travel day on Monday. Typically speaking, when I am venturing to anywhere west of the Mississippi from St. John, I try to schedule a night or two in Florida or some other direct flight destination in order to break up the trek a bit. But, this time we had things to do and people to see so we booked a Frontier flight ($150 one way! What???) with a two hour layover in Orlando. Let me tell you, every time I leave St. John the travel day has me STRESSED. But, this time, after a lot of overplanning and preparing for the worst, everything (miraculously) went off without a hitch!
Good Morning All! We made it safely and, surprisingly, on time to Denver last night and are dealing with the super fun time changes and super dry (for my humidity acclimated skin) air. Thank you to all of you for your well wishes yesterday 🙂 But, enough about me. This one is for the kids! There are many non-profit and privately funded educational programs on island that we regularly promote here. But, RARELY is there an opportunity to support the educations of the kids in public school, specifically on St. John. Well, if you are a passionate supporter of education AND Love City, here is your opportunity to give directly to the teachers at Julius E. Sprauve School (JESS) in order to create a more functional and creative space for our kiddos to learn and grow!
