May 9, 2007 — Buddhoe Park in Frederiksted was packed with elders Wednesday morning, enjoying a seated brunch in their honor.
The brunch was one of a series of events honoring National Senior Citizens Month. Vans from the Department of Human Services, buses, taxis and family cars all converged on the Frederiksted park in the morning, unloading their hundreds of passengers for the morning’s food and entertainment.
And there were plenty of both. After Sen. Terrence Nelson welcomed everyone and Daisy Charles led a prayer, the elderly guests were serenaded with song, poetry and music.
“This year we are calling it a ‘Brunch in Honor of Our Elders,’ said Dawn Smalls, a member of Nelson’s St. Thomas staff. “We aren’t in school anymore, so no one is a senior; they are our honored elders. They are the ones that paved the way for us to be where we are today.”
The message that we should think of the guests and the territory’s elderly population as “elders” rather than “seniors” was repeated by Nelson, Assistant Administrator of Human Services Cheryl Plaskett and everyone who spoke for the record about the event.
“We want to bridge the gap between the youth, our elders and the community,” said Val Rawlins, who helped put the event together. “Our elders are a vital source of what we need now. Talking with them would give us knowledge, wisdom and power. Our children would become more powerful listening to them.”
Nelson gave credit to others for bringing the event about.
“We were approached last year by Cheryl Plaskett at Human Services,” Nelson said. “We wanted to do something nice for our elders and came up with the notion of a brunch. They seem to like it. It’s a bit bigger than last year. It’s a beautiful and humbling feeling to do this.”
Nelson said Sens. Juan Figueroa-Serville, Ronald Russell, James Weber and Carmen Wesselhoft pitched in, too, lending some of their staff to help put it together.
Nelson’s sister, Stephanie Nelson, said they really wanted a sit-down function this time.
“We wanted it so they wouldn’t have to get up,” said Stephanie Nelson. “They should just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.”
Stephanie Nelson wanted to make sure Plaza Extra got some credit for helping them out.
“We had a bunch of people step up and help out with this,” she said. “But Plaza Extra was very generous, giving us all the food for everyone.”
Entertainment that sunny morning included the Ricardo Richards Steel Pan Connection, the Sparkle Lites Twirlers, Eulalie Rivera Elementary’s Vision Band, several solo singers and individuals reading poetry.
The guests of honor seemed to enjoy themselves. One such guest, Alice Petersen, walked up to Nelson and struck up a conversation.
“I’m 94 years old, and I have 12 kids, and many grandkids,” Petersen said. “My doctor says I’m healthy, so I’m ready for another 12.”
Once everyone was full and the program of entertainment reached its end, Plaskett took a moment to present Nelson with a bit of glass art from Jan Mitchell Studios in appreciation of his efforts.
Then, just after 1 p.m., the vans, cars and buses began to fill as the guests of honor began to make their way back home and workers started breaking down and cleaning up.
“We hope to do this every year from here on out,” Nelson said.
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