Blazing blue skies and the steel pan music of St. John’s Love City Pan Dragons set the stage for Sunday’s Festival Food Fair in Cruz Bay Park, also called Frank Powell Park.
Food Fair honored St. Thomas resident Gwendolyn Harley, known across the territory for her hand-crafted dolls wearing traditional madras market-lady dresses. She wore a similar dress as she accepted accolades for her accomplishments.
“Whatever I do, it’s a special feeling within me,” Harley said.
Harley is a retired educator who began her second career by making dolls out of mango seeds.
Food Fair is also the traditional time to crown the Festival queen and princess. Shanell Thomas, 20, is this year’s queen. Sh’Nyah Bacon, 9, is the princess, and both wore white for their coronation at the Food Fair.
Thomas’ father, Wesley Thomas, sought out a reporter to speak about his pride in his daughter.
“From the day she came into this world, I saw her to be a queen,” he said, adding that her mother, Annie Thomas, her brother, Shamal Thomas, and grandmother Eleanor Parilla, joined him in wishing the new queen success in life.
While food and crafts were the focus, there were a handful of people there for other purposes.
St. John resident Mimi Roller, her coach Erika Reineke, and Roller’s mother, Josephine Roller, were busy selling T-shirts to fund Mimi Roller’s upcoming trip to the London Olympics. She’ll represent the Virgin Islands sailing in the Laser class.
“It’s expensive,” she said of her trip to London and training costs.
The V.I. Housing Finance Authority had a table set up near the bandstand to spread the word about the affordable houses it has for sale in Calabash Boom. By early afternoon, there were no buyers, but the Finance Authority’s Rissa Sasso wasn’t giving up.
“I hope within the hour,” she said.
About 10 University of the Virgin Islands alumni fanned out around Cruz Bay to raise money in its 50 for 50 Challenge. Sharona Pickering, who just graduated from the school, said the school is raising money to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary.
“We’re trying to be the number one school that has the highest number of alumni giving back,” Pickering said.
She said the team had encountered quite a few UVI alumni, who made donations.
Vendors were scattered around Cruz Bay Park, along the waterfront and up the side street to the post office. Karen Paris of St. Thomas and Theresa Davis of St. Croix were near the Morris deCastro Clinic with “stewed tamarind, stewed cherries, gooseberry, pickled hot peppers, fresh pineapple…,” Paris said, plus lobster in butter sauce and barbecued chicken.
Matthew Krefetz, a St. Thomas resident who took the ferry over for the afternoon with a couple of friends, praised the lobster as “delicious.”
Those with crafts to sell also got plenty of attention. St. Thomian Dianne Fisher had soap she made as well as jewelry and placemats. However, it was the chance to meet people that made her smile.
“I love dealing with people,” she said.
Food Fair brought out a slew of people from neighboring islands, including Puerto Rico. Gorge Alejandro and his wife, Zureida, were staying at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on St. Thomas.
“I just came on vacation and somebody told me about it,” Gorge Alejandro said, busy taking in the sights as he and his wife made their way along the waterfront.
