St. Croix environmentalist Olassee Davis will be the featured speaker at Sunday’s Friends of V.I. National Park annual meeting. "Come so you can learn more about what’s going on in the park and more about the Friends. And it will be a real treat to hear what Olassee has to talk about," Friends President Joe Kessler said.
Davis, reached at his office at the St. Croix campus of the University of the Virgin Islands, plans to talk about the history of the park.
"How it was and how it is today and how to preserve the area," he said.
According to Davis, when he got out of high school in the 1970s, environmentalism was a bad word. That’s changed, particularly on St. John and St. Croix, but he said challenges remain.
The St. Thomas-born Davis works as an assistant professor and specialist in UVI’s Extension Service on St. Croix.
In addition to Davis’s remarks, Kessler will give a report on Friends’ projects. And Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove will speak on the state of the park.
Sunday’s meeting begins at 2 p.m. at the T’ree Lizards Restaurant at Cinnamon Bay Campground.
Light refreshments will be served following the meeting. Kessler said that those who attend the meeting will have an opportunity to talk to Davis, Hardgrove and Friends staff during this time.
Kessler said that a shuttle will run from the park’s maintenance area, located adjacent to Mongoose
Junction in Cruz Bay, to Cinnamon Bay. The shuttle will begin at 1:15 p.m. Parking is tight at Cinnamon Bay, so Kessler requested that people use the shuttle when possible.
For more information, call the Friends at 779-4940.
