This is a big week for arts and music on St. John. The 6th Annual Arts Festival opened this weekend with a reception and exhibit at the Battery. "The Guy Show" is on view through Monday evening featuring "guy" things such as sports and heavy machinery.
Cruz Bay Park will be humming with free concerts. Monday, from Noon to 4pm, the Soldier Crab Band will play; Tuesday it’s the Dengue Fever Band, followed by Koko and the Sunshine Band on Wednesday. Tropical jazz by Sambacombo is scheduled for Thursday, and the week wraps up with the Ah We Band playing modern West Indian music Friday.
Food and crafts will also be on sale at the Park each afternoon this week.
Coral Bay’s Jolly Dog Stores have offered $2,000 for the winner of this month’s 8 Tuff Miles Race.
Runners/walkers/joggers can register at various businesses on island or online at http://8tuffmiles.com/register.htm. Every entrant gets a T-shirt.
Last year, race organizer Peter Alter said 589 people finished the race; this year he expects 700 entries. When Alter began organizing the event in 1997, there were 21 participants.
The 8.375 mile course begins in the parking lot behind the National Park Visitors Center and ends near Skinny Legs in Coral Bay.
Registration for the 10th annual 8 Tuff Miles road race has begun. Race director Peter Alter is planning for 700 entrants this year, up from last year’s record 589 runners, sprinters, joggers and walkers. (Everyone’s welcome!) (Click on the calendar for details.) The third of three training runs is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 11.
The Superintendent of the Virgin Islands National Park revealed plans for a New North Shore Road hiking trail and what he called "back country camping facilities" during a State of the Park address last weekend.
Art Frederick also told the annual Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park meeting about extensive plans underway to to maintain and repair the North Shore road. The $2.8 million project is expected to be complete by December. Because of the project, the island has its first traffic lights. They are managing traffic on what-has-become a one lane road where work is being done at Lind Point and Penn Point at Maho Bay. It’s been 15 years since the roads have had such attention.
The Park’s biggest event of this year, Frederick added, will be creation of a garden in front of the visitor’s center. It will be dedicated to Laurence Rockefeller, the man who donated the Park’s land.
Monday, Jan 23rd 2006 10:00am Omega Workshops at Maho Bay. Sessions include: Whole Food Nutrition: Nourishing the Body, Mind, and Soul, The Free Heart, and -World Dance. Eomega.org or Viki Brown at 693-5308.
Wednesday, Jan 25th 2006 11:00am Friends of the National Park Schedules Seminar. Afro-Caribbean Drumming Workshop, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Catherineberg Ruins. Drummer Eddie Bruce will demonstrate basic entertainment and ritual drumming techniques of West African and Afro-Caribbean cultures. For more information, call 779-4940.
Saturday, Jan 28th 2006 10:00am Friends of the National Park Seminar. Archaeology Boat Trip on the North Shore, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Jan. 28. Park archaeologist Ken Wild leads a boat ride around the island and points out archaeological discoveries along St. John’s North Shore. call 779-4940.
Saturday, Jan 28th 2006 6:00pm Art Show, Sale and Silent Auction at Caneel Bay Resort for The Safety Zone. Special hors d’oeuvres and chocolates and champagne will be served. The event will raise money to combat violence and help victims of crimes. Call 690-7233.
Bajo el Sol Gallery at Mongoose Junction has opened its first exhibition of the year featuring painter Pat Whitehead and ceramic sculptor Mandy Thody., Whitehead is a St. John artist whose work features a focus on local landscapes and their varieties of light. Thody said all of her works "contain something actively alive, usually a person or animals, with the background as a secondary focus." The gallery is open seven days a week.http://www.bajoelsolgallery.com/artists.html
St. John watercolorist Roy Imhoff is being featured with a collection of new paintings at the Solo Arte Studio Gallery at the Cruz Bay Lumberyard.
A schedule of lectures and workshops has been organized by Maho Bay Campgrounds. Workshops are being offered in Qigong, Tantra, yoga and the natural mysteries of the world. Tantra Yoga will be the subject Jan. 23 at 7:30pm. "Rediscovering the inherent preciousness and openness of our being" will be the subject of a presentation by Annette Koop on Jan. 30. The sessions will be held in the St. John School of Arts classroom in the Lumberyard, near Polli’s restaurant.
Morgan’s Mango, Skinny Legs and Pastory Gardens are three restaurants that got a thumbs up in a recent New York Times article about the island. Travel writer Bonnie DeSimone spent some time snorkeling off Gibney beach, Trunk and Hawksnest bays. "Shimmering psychedelic parrot fish, some a foot-and-a-half long, chewed at coral with their beak like mouths," she reported after one foray. "Their female counterparts display a windowpane pattern of brown, white and red that resembles stained glass."
She also spoke with author Gerald Singer about the environment and ecology of the island. Conditions on St. John are still good enough to support a healthy underwater ecosystems, and a picturesque one, he told her.
Due to potential stormy weather the Friends BBQ was postponed for the second time. “It’s unfortunate the weather isn’t cooperating with us, we really enjoy this event and are eager to share information about research and other projects happening in Park with the community” said Joe Kessler, Friends president. “However, we would rather be safe than sorry when it involves the safety of others, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused the “Ah We” Band, Miss Jane Johanus, and a host of volunteers and thank everyone for their understanding and continued support” said Kessler.
Island dog show growth prompts shift to Cruz Bay Next weekend’s Wagapalooza will be held at the Winston Wells ball field of the Sprauve School. The 5th annual fund raiser to benefit the St. John Animal Care Center will "bark off" Sunday morning, May 1. Dozens of island dogs, and dog owners, will be featured as they vie for prizes and awards in categories such as "Best Costume", "Most Dog-Owner Look- Alike," and "Best in Show."
The event began five years ago in Coral Bay, headquartered and organized by the owners of Skinny Legs and Jen and Jeff Donnelly. But the number of attendees increased and has made a cozy event at Skinny’s unmanageable now, and so the show has moved.
The ball field will be turned into "Waga Town", with animal lovin’ products and services from festival-like booths ringing the space. The Waga Photo Contest "is open to all spoiled cats, dogs, birds, reptiles … whatever," said Celia Kalousek, a spokeswoman for the event. Many local businesses have donated items which will be included in a fund- raising raffle. This is the second event for the Animal Care Center this year. In March, a dinner and auction at the Westin Resort generated almost $50,000 to reorganize and re-open the Center. Sheila Karcher is the ACC’s president, Diana Ripley is vice president, John Fuller is secretary, and Holly Hardy is treasurer.
