It may not be Times Square, but the fish were dropping on New Year's Eve in Frenchtown on Sunday night.
A new Frenchtown tradition is a-borning, according to Henry Richardson, president of the Frenchtown Civic Organization. Instead of the Times Square ball dropping to mark the new year, the organization initiated its new concept one year ago by dropping at midnight—more or less—a bunch of coconuts from a brightly decorated pole topped by a Christmas tree in the Joseph Aubain Ballpark parking lot. The drop was accompanied by much fanfare, dance, food and drink.
The group decided to go the coconuts one better this year and have something for everyone. They hooked up about 150 frozen old wife, yellowtail and other fish into a brightly lighted fish trap suspended from the pole, and at midnight—more or less—let them drop.
And drop the critters did into a multitude of ready hands.
The multilingual New Year's countdown sounded simultaneously in French, German, Spanish, Filipino, Creole and English. With about 100 pounds more of fish to give away, the party, already on its way, switched into high gear with the music of Smalls and the Merrymakers, New Year's horns and hats, souse and potato salad, kallaloo, turkey, guavaberry and a little rum.
Everyone from Willy the postman to V.I. Police Chief Jose Garcia joined in the fun, with a large party exiting nearby Craig and Sally's restaurant to come over and celebrate the stroke of midnight.
The pole was executed by Alan Richardson, the architect for many years of the Moby Dick committee's imaginative Carnival floats. Henry Richardson said the group hasn't decided what's going to be dropped next year. The sky, or at least the 40-foot-or-so pole, is the limit. New York, look out!
