Earlier this month, Marjorie and Ellerton Harmer were honored by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Virgin Islands for their 45 years of service to the faith. The Harmers were given a beautiful framed calligraphy with a quote from Baha'i writings. The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of St. Thomas will host their own dinner on Saturday for the Harmers. The dinner will be attended by local Baha'is, family and friends from St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix and Tortola.
The Harmers came here on Jan. 12, 1956, without much knowledge of the Caribbean but in response to the request to "plant the seeds of the faith" in every locale. The Baha'i faith has no clergy and the expansion of the religion is based on teaching efforts and the growth of the administrative arms of the faith. The Harmers worked with other Baha'is in the region and when the size of the communities grew there was a National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward, Windward and Virgin Islands. Proof of their efforts is that for the past 35 years there has been the National Spiritual Assembly of the Virgin Islands.
The Harmers have also been instrumental in working with Baha'is worldwide to spread the message of their religion by hosting activities and taking part in various local, national and international teaching activities. Their homes in Sugar Estate and later Bonne Esperance have been affectionately referred to as the "Harmer Hotel" and are like a revolving door to many esteemed members of the Baha'i community and visitors to the islands.
Looking back on their experiences over the past 45 years, Marjorie and Ellerton admit that there were difficulties but there were so many "golden moments". The couple also celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Thursday. Their shared commitment to the Baha'i faith and their family have provided them with the strength to face the major disappointments, including the loss of their son Tony, damage to their home with Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Marilyn, and deteriorating hearing and vision.
They were both very involved in the activities and interests of their children: Susan (a former speech pathologist, now travel agent), Tony (pianist) and Michele (an elementary education teacher on St. Croix).
The family has grown with five grandchildren—Michael, Munirah, taMicah Jerme, Mikyba and Minkah—and an extended family of friends throughout the islands. Both Marjorie and Ellerton are happy to have spent most of their lives here. Ellerton, now 83, recalls that he was "only 39" when he came here and has lived here longer than anywhere else. Marjorie will be 80 in August and still feels the decision to come here was the right one.
In addition to raising the family and serving the faith in several administrative positions over the years the Harmers were instrumental in ensuring that Baha'i marriages are accepted as legal in the Virgin Islands and that children from Baha'i families can be excused from school on Baha'i holy days.
The Baha'i faith is an independent world religion with principles including the oneness of God, the oneness of religion and the oneness of humanity. For more information on the Baha'i faith call 774-3648 or email: NSA@vi.bahai.org, or visit the Web site at www.vi.bahai.org.

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What does a busy man who is partner in five drugstores on three islands do? He opens a soda fountain.
"I've just always loved ice cream," said Jared Falek, part-owner of Doctor's Choice Pharmacy Inc. Falek was in the Boston area last summer when he came across an old-fashioned soda fountain which got to his taste buds and his imagination.
"The idea of a soda fountain in one of our stores really inspired me," Falek said. A fan of St. Thomas Dairies' Udder Delite shop on the way to Magens Bay, Falek approached the dairy owners about his idea, and they were, apparently, utterly delighted.
Udder Delite 2, opened this week in the front of the Doctor's choice Pharmacy at Wheatley Center, a brightly colored wooden booth. Sorry, no spinning stools. Woodworker Bruce Goodspeed was busy finishing up the wood detail early this week. Behind the counter hangs a Norman Rockwell type print of a soda fountain called, guess what? "After School."
All the delights of the country store are here, and some that Falek has conjured himself. Though the nearby school students will probably become steady customers, the fountain also has the more adult, booze that is, selections.
Leading the milkshake selections, is the "Dr.s Delight," rum raisin ice cream, egg nog and Cruzan rum. Then there's the old standby, the "MooCow Jumbie," with coffee ice cream, chocolate and kaluha, along with another drugstore themed drink, the "Pharmacy Nog," with vanilla ice cream, egg nog and Cruzan rum.
There's ice cream cones, even sugar cones, novelty bars, and, Falek said, "soon we'll have ice cream sundaes."
Udder Delite 2 is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Though the drugstore is open on Sundays, the cows take the day off.

Police and Drake's Seat vendors lined up Thursday morning at the scenic overlook in what might be called a Virgin Islands standoff. As vendors made moves to set up their wares, police officers told them they were not allowed to do so.
One officer confirmed that he had been sent to the scene to stop the vendors from setting up. One vendor, who refused to give her name, said she "didn't get anything in writing" and added, "Show me the papers" that say she could not set up shop at the overlook.
Attorney General Iver Stridiron said Wednesday that if vendors were selling at Drake's Seat, they were there illegally.
District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore on Friday suspended a 1985 preliminary injunction issued by the District Court that barred the V.I. government from evicting vendors from Drake's Seat. Moore said that unless attorneys for the two vendors who filed the suit against the government present additional compelling arguments in the next two weeks, he will dismiss their motions to make the preliminary injunction permanent.
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Deputy Police Chief Theodore Carty told the Source on Thursday morning, "We are going to enforce the court order. We don't have any choice. If the court says they (the vendors) can't set up, then we are going to stop them."
Carty said the police are prepared to be there every day if need be. "And if they try to set up, we have no choice but to arrest them."
Despite Moore's latest ruling, two or more vendors have continued to conduct business at the site all week.
Stridiron said Wednesday that the governor was very concerned about the vendors' fate and was working diligently to find them another venue. One place being considered, he said, was an unoccupied house next to the recently completed overlook on Valdemar Hill Drive.
The vendors, who had been paying $75 a month to Housing, Parks and Recreation for the space at Drake's Seat, have already rejected offers to move to Long Bay and to Vendor's Plaza.
In his decision Moore suggested that Housing, Parks and Recreation has had no legal authority to issue location permits. That function still belongs to the Police Department.
Attorneys for the vendors said in court documents that some Drake's Seat vendors were making as much as $1,000 a week at the site.

Former acting Health Commissioner Lucien A. Moolenaar II pleaded not guilty Thursday after he was charged with embezzling at least $102,000 from the V.I. government from 1995 to 2000.
Attorney Frederick Watts entered the plea before Territorial Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar. He requested a trial by jury.
Agents of the government's Fraud and Corruption Task Force filed a criminal complaint against Moolenaar two weeks ago, alleging that from 1995 to 2000, more than $102,000 was illegally added to his biweekly government paycheck. Moolenaar resigned as acting Health commissioner the following day. He is on leave from his position as deputy commissioner.
Hollar set a date of Feb. 15 for discovery in the case. She recused herself from further proceedings and said she would ask that the case be reassigned to another judge. Hollar did not explain her decision.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Justice Department has completed the return to the territory of 146 inmates who were housed in federal facilities since 1989.
Under an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, about a dozen prisoners, including the twice-escaped murder convict Bradley "Hurtie" Maxwell, will be among those sent back to maximum security prisons, Attorney General Iver Stridiron said Wednesday. Negotiations continue with state officials in Virginia to complete the agreement to house the more notorious V.I. criminals there.
Along with the return of the prisoners will hopefully come forgiveness of a $9.7 million debt to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Stridiron said the debt is down from the $16 million debt the Turnbull administration inherited two years ago.
He noted that the return of the prisoners has "gone without incident to date." Stridiron said most of the prisoners are pleased to be back in the Virgin Islands, in a jail that is familiar to them. "I am sure they would rather be in the V.I. than in state prisons which as I understand it, are far worse in terms of security, lockdown and discipline," he said.
On another prison-related issue, Stridiron said the $25 million expansion of the Golden Grove Correctional Facility on St. Croix is just about completed. A dedication ceremony is being planned for Feb. 20.
"It's not that we are celebrating building more jails," Stridiron noted, but that the government was compelled "to increase the prison capacity by 200 beds to ensure safe conditions at the jail in St. Croix."

Former acting Health Commissioner Lucien A. Moolenaar II pleaded not guilty Thursday after he was charged with embezzling at least $102,000 from the V.I. government from 1995 to 2000.
Attorney Frederick Watts entered the plea before Territorial Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar. He requested a trial by jury.
Agents of the government's Fraud and Corruption Task Force filed a criminal complaint against Moolenaar two weeks ago, alleging that from 1995 to 2000, more than $102,000 was illegally added to his biweekly government paycheck. Moolenaar resigned as acting Health commissioner the following day. He is on leave from his position as deputy commissioner.
Hollar set a date of Feb. 15 for discovery in the case. She recused herself from further proceedings and said she would ask that the case be reassigned to another judge. Hollar did not explain her decision.

Pick up bottles and glasses and paper and cans this weekend, and you could wind up in a villa on the beach at the Westin Resort in St. John, or on a one-day sailboat excursion, or in a cart on Mahogany Run Golf Course.
These are some of the imaginative prizes the Caribbean Film and Video Association has dreamed up for its first beach party and fund-raiser from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Linqvist Beach on Smith Bay.
Deborah Quade, event organizer, said for every bag of trash picked up, a free raffle ticket will be issued. There'll be music from noon on, and more prizes awarded at the beach. Food and drinks will be on sale.
The combined value of the raffle prizes is estimated at about $10,000, Quade said. They range from meals at several territory restaurants to helicopter rides or a photo op with the bird of your choice. The raffle will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 4 at the Frenchtown Deli. For further information and to purchase tickets, call Quade at 774-9289.
The recently formed organization seeks to develop the local film and video industry.

Kathy Huttel, executive director of the St. Thomas Swimming Association, was still "absorbing" some very good news Wednesday evening from a very unexpected source — the Virgin Islands government.
Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen said earlier in the day that she had asked the Legislature's legal counsel to draft legislation appropriating $250,000 to complete the Estate Nazareth Community Aquatic Center Pool. Hansen, Finance Committee chairwoman, has recently taken an aggressive role investigating what has happened to the territory's now-fragile marine industry. She held a public hearing last Thursday.
The swimming association, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization formed in 1986, has been working on the project for years, with countless hurdles and a lot of hard work by volunteers, Huttel said.
"I laud the senators for the effort," she said, "I'm excited. I've only had time to tell two of my 12 board members."
Huttel said she had spoken with Eddie Donoghue, a consultant in Hansen's office, on Monday when he told her of Hansen's interest in the project. "We haven't lobbied the Legislature or any other government entity for funds," Huttel said.
The association is well-known for its swimming programs run in conjunction with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Special Olympics, Lutheran Church Summer Camp and other organizations.
Huttel's focus has remained constant from the beginning: to teach local children to swim in a non-threatening environment protected from the elements. She has worked with the Kids and the Sea, or KATS, swimming program at Magens Bay for years. She has recognized the need for a pool for adults as well as for children for exercise and rehabilitation.
What the association has done over the years is a lot of fund-raising. The West Indian Co. Ltd. has been a big contributor, and for 13 years Bellows International has sponsored the association's annual Snapple Swim-O-Thon at Magens Bay.
In 1999 Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises donated $100,000 for the center, and the association added another $187,800, to pour the pool. That is phase one of a five-phase project, which eventually will encompass two pools, concession areas and dorms for visitors for international competitors in swim meets.
Hansen said, "As a tourism destination, one of our goals should be equipping our children with all manner of aquatic skills." She said children should learn to swim to prepare them for careers in the local marine industry.
"I would be remiss if I did not support this project," Hansen said.

One thing people in both the private and public sectors agree on is that tourism in the territory needs a boost. What they don’t necessarily agree on is how to do the boosting.
Hoteliers and business groups in the territory met with Gov. Charles Turnbull on Wednesday and urged him to sign off on a proposal that would create a tourism authority in the territory, said Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association. Doumeng, who was also just reelected to his second two-year term as president, said they met with the governor asking that the Tourism Department be depoliticized.
That political nature of the top tourism post was highlighted on Tuesday when Turnbull nominated long-time Assistant Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards for the job, the governor’s fourth official nominee since 1998. The last commissioner, Rafael Jackson, quit in October.
It’s that instability the private sector wants to eliminate with a tourism authority. The proposal would create a semi-autonomous agency similar to the V.I. Port Authority and the West Indian Co. Ltd. As proposed, the authority would be made up of nine members — three from government and six from the private sector. All nominees would have to be approved by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. It would involve such government agencies as the Departments of Public Works, Police, and Housing, Parks and Recreation.
The board would have the authority to issue bonds and would have an executive director responsible for managing day-to-day affairs and the $11-million-a-year generated by the territory’s 8 percent hotel occupancy tax. The tax is supposed to used to market the territory, long a bone of contention between the private sector and the government.
"We’re not crying wolf," Doumeng said. "Even though we brought people down to our properties, it’s not at a level of profitability."
He noted that while hotels on St. Croix were running at close to 90 percent occupancies over the last several months, it wasn’t due to tourists. The coker project at the Hovensa oil refinery accounts for the vast majority of that percentage. In the height of tourism season, only about 10 percent of the occupancy on St. Croix is tourism generated, Doumeng said.
Neither Turnbull or Richards, however, have weighed in publicly on the tourism authority issue. She did say Turnbull is aware of the condition of the tourism industry in the territory.
"The governor is very concerned about the state of tourism. He has pledged his support," she said. "I’m very confident . . . we’ll get what we need."
And even though she may view the current state of health of the industry differently than Doumeng, Richards was optimistic about the future. Especially if both the private and public sectors move forward together with marketing and advertising efforts.
"Our numbers are up. They are not where they used to be. They are up," she said. "We need to work more with each other. There are a lot of resources we both have."
While members of the Turnbull administration have been quiet on the tourism authority proposal – although former commissioner Jackson was openly opposed to the idea – members of the territory’s business community believe the apprehension is about control.
In their policy agenda, members Senate majority said the tourism proposal awaiting Turnbull’s approval would "remove the government from any significant role in shaping tourism policy" and place "power" in the "hands of the hotel associations and chambers of commerce."
Doumeng, however, took exception to that notion. He said a vibrant tourism economy not only benefits businesses and tourists, but also the residents of the territory.
"The tourism authority is talking about the destination: the infrastructure, having parks and public safety. It enhances the product. It’s talking about the whole concept." Doumeng said. "It’s not just about the people of the hotel association or the chamber of commerce want control of the advertising budget."
Normally, the governor has 10 working days to sign or veto a bill. But because the Legislature submitted it after adjourning last year, he has 30 working days to act on it. That gives him until Feb. 13.