Spring Time in St. John

In spite of three hurricanes in two weeks, a tsunami warning, seventeen foot waves, explosions and fire, 24 hour power outage, and a 4.7 earthquake, we are having a beautiful Spring! I am not going to even ask “What’s next’” for fear of finding out! St. John Strong! We just keep telling ourselves….

Visitors have started to return and say it is still as beautiful as ever, minus our coconut trees. Should anyone come to the gallery, and purchase gifts, $50 (or more), I am giving a free 3’ coconut tree to go and plant anywhere on St. John. Our North Shore beaches need new coconut trees, and that way, we can all help put them there. Take a photo, and come back next year to see how they are doing.

The gallery officially opened on Valentines Day, with a lovely party for the entire island. And it seems, everyone came! I saw a lot of very happy faces! Rich and Katha are back, giving us lovely music again, and we had another cameo appearance from Nancy Ruffer. The studio never looked nicer, but you must come by and see for yourself.

I have been forming ideas for next years calendar, going out and around the island for inspiration. I believe the calendar will be titled, “New Beginnings,” but don’t hold me to it!

Every day gets better than the last (with a few steps backward). Normal is a word often heard. We will have a Chili cook off on April 22, and the Beach to Beach Power swim is planned for May 27, 2018. 8 Tuff Miles was held, but there was no registration. It was very casual. Almost all restaurants are open, serving wonderful food. Come and see for yourselves!

I have committed my time to two committees of the Long Term Recovery of St. John Community Foundation. One is Infrastructure, and the other is Economic Recovery. I particularly want to have either new companies bring in more barges, or the companies that have the licenses, to bring in new barges. I have been told that Llew Sewer has purchased a large new barge, and awaits delivery…maybe this month! It would certainly ease the strain off of our two barges that are working day and night!

Caneel Update… from Friends of NPS

“The future of Caneel Bay Resort has been in the news lately fueled by VI Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett’s introduction of a bill (HR473) in Congress to extend Caneel’s “retained use estate” status for another 60 years. The Friends opposes this bill. We believe that this bill is unnecessary, unwarranted, and contrary to the best interests of Virgin Islands National Park as an effective mechanism for the continued operation of Caneel Bay Resort at the expiration of the RUE. There is a law which already exists. This is PL 111-261, a law passed in 2010. This law allows for the resort to operate under a lease arrangement for up to 40 years. The law also protects the natural, cultural and historic resources of the property, provides for lease payments to Virgin Islands National Park based on fair market values, and respects the legacy of Laurence Rockefeller, who founded the resort and donated about 5,000 acres of land to establish VI National Park. The law is already quite favorable to the current RUE-holder, CBI Acquisitions LLC, allowing them non-competitive access to this unique opportunity.”

I personally would go one step further and request that you contact your Congressman/woman; and say that the Bill HR473 is not helping the people of St. John, and to vote it down, and not include it with another bill that may get passed. It has passed out of the committee, to be heard by Congress. The Virgin Islanders have NOTHING to say about it, and no way to stop it……except by reaching out to you, as you DO have representation. Because it is in the National Park, it must be decided by Congress!

Thank you to all and thank you for being a lover of St. John!
Love City Strong,

Elaine Estern