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Faces of the Virgin Islands

Doc I the latest resident featured on the Faces of the Virgin Islands Facebook page. Images by STJ Creative Photography
Doc is the latest resident featured on the Faces of the Virgin Islands Facebook page. Images by STJ Creative Photography

Hello everyone and happy Friday! Today we’d like to tell you about a great new Facebook page that we think you should all check out. It’s called Faces of the Virgin Islands, and its goal is to profile residents here in the islands, as well as people who have come to our aid following the storms. Here is what the page has to say about themselves:

As the rebuilding efforts on St. John and and across the Virgin Islands continue, we want to provide a platform for people to share their stories. Irmaria reminded all of us of how intertwined our sister islands are. We want to share the stories of the people who came to the aid of St. John between the storms, the stories of people who’s first instinct after the storm was to head out with a pen and paper and start writing down names, the stories of people flying down from the states to help bring power back, the stories of people on a barge every other day delivering supplies. We want to share the stories of the love spreading across the Virgin Islands.

The page is relatively new, it just launched last month, and features photography by Anne Bequette, owner of STJ Creative Photography. Anne is also the photographer who captured all of the great images in our story earlier this week on Kenny Chesney’s Love For Love City Foundation.

So far, the page has featured three residents: Collette, the owner of St. John Scoops; Donna, creator of Valley Doll hot sauces; and Doc, one of our coolest residents here on St. John. Here is what Anne had to say about Doc, pictured above:

As I was documenting some foundation work being done, I caught a whiff in the air of something delicious. I followed the smell down the steps, past ducks and chickens, and found this handsome face on his porch cooking up ribs and meatballs for the guys working on a destroyed roof above. He invited me inside, so I sat, and we chatted.

Meet “Doc”. Born in St. Kitts, he came to St. John in 2000 to work on, and in, restaurants in Cruz Bay. One of them was Rumbalaya, which is now High Tide. He has worked in kitchens for 51 years and went on to tell me stories of playing soccer for the Virgins Islands and the St Kitts national teams. He showed me many pictures of his life, hung on his wall, grateful they survived the storms. He boasted about his garden that surrounded the remains of his wooden deck, as he pulled off leaves from his basil, mint, and thyme bushes, all used in his recipes and homemade teas. The smells were divine! Random facts about Doc: he loves to read, doesn’t drink coffee, and never drinks soda.

As he finished up the ribs on the grill, it was time to say goodbye. Before I left, I asked him what he thought of how the island is progressing after the storms. He emphatically stated, “People need to go to work. If you don’t work, the island won’t get good. Everybody has to chip in, everybody has to give a hand.” How does Doc give a hand? By doing what he does best… cooking up yummy ‘tings for the elderly at St. Ursula’s Episcopal Church in Cruz Bay. If you see him, say hello. He’s the sweetest!

Please click here to check out the Faces of the Virgin Islands, and please be sure to give it a “Like.”

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