Although Coral Bay is a thriving community with numerous natural attractions, it doesn't have a public park. The St. John Community Foundation has plans to change that, and a series of guided botanical walks in coming weeks is a part of the "friend- and fund-raising" process toward bringing those plans to fruition.
The park will encompass not only "green space," but well-tended botanical gardens. From her own experience, Community Foundation executive director Mary Blazine knows the designated space adjacent to the rum distillery is just right for the project. It's what was once called The Sisters' Gardens, land with a long tradition of care-full cultivation.
Sisters Gerda and Florence Marsh "used to have gardens there, and that's what it was called," Blazine said of the land. Gerda Marsh's grandson Elvis Marsh did some preliminary clearing of the land last fall, and "We have already tagged a lot of the plants that are still there," Blazine said.
The foundation is hosting five Saturday "Botanical Walks" along Lameshur and Europa Bays "to get the garden project in people's faces," Blazine says. The walks, all covering the same terrain, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 24, March 10 and 24, and April 7 and 21. Each will be guided either by native botanist Eleanor Gibney or by her husband, University of the Virgin Islands assistant professor of biology Gary Ray.
There's a fee for the outing of $30 for adults and teens and $15 for children 12 and under. The fee – technically a tax-deductible donation to benefit The Sisters' Gardens Park – includes transportation from either Coral or Cruz Bay to Lameshur Bay and back from Europa Bay, and lunch at the end of the walk at the V.I. Environment Resources Station.
Walk participants should gather in Coral Bay at The Sisters' Gardens, across from Savers Grocery, at 9 a.m. for pickup. For those needing transportation from Cruz Bay, a taxi will depart waterfront at 8:30 a.m. Anyone traveling from St. Thomas should take the 8 a.m. ferry to make connections.
Participants need not be seasoned hikers but should wear comfortable shoes and appropriate sun protection. "It's an easy walk, nothing difficult in terms of terrain," Blazine said. "There's been no development in the area, so there are lots of lovely native plants to see, many of them rare today."
Each walk will be limited to 10 participants. "Reservations are required," Blazine says. "As long as we have openings, we'll take them, but I think the space will fill up fast." Payment may be over the telephone by charge card, or by cash or check. To reserve space, or to learn more, telephone the foundation office at 693-9410.
Blazine explained that the Coral Bay park site is on property donated "to the people of St. John" more than a decade ago by Gerda Marsh, land that included the bay rum distillery and "all the property extending to the main road."
Blazine got to know the site well in recent years as the coordinator of Project Green-up, a federally funded afterschool program in Coral Bay to teach youngsters organic gardening and the propagation of native trees. "I would walk by the property every day and think, 'What a perfect place to have a park,'" she recalled.
She applied for and won a grant from the federal Urban and Community Forestry Assistance program for a demonstration project to cultivate indigenous plants in Cruz Bay. The project was intended to motivate community fund-raising for a botanical gardens project. The grant required matching funds from the V.I. Agriculture Department.
"After we 'got' the grant, it took two years to get the money released," she said. Given that delay, the foundation has now received approval to rechannel the money "and put it into physically working the Coral Bay gardens."
The project will require "very intensive hand-work," Blazine noted. The $10,000 grant will be used in a unique new employment program patterned after a.highly successful project in Norway that was begun by relatives of her husband, artist Les Anderson. The money will be used to hire the physically and mentally challenged through the Human Services Department and V.I. Find, a not-for-profit advocacy agency for the disabled.
Blazine and Anderson saw the Norway project in operation last summer when they visited his family in that country. With stipends from the Norwegian government, his aunt and her husband manage two villages they founded as centers of self-sufficiency for disabled people – the first now housing 150 people and a newer one serving about 20.
"Instead of people being in institutions, they are working – they have a life," Blazine said. "They work the farms, raising sheep, raising food for the sheep, shearing, dyeing, spinning and weaving the wool to create fabrics and dolls. They have a pottery studio where they make their own dishes. They grow their own wheat, grind it, and make fresh bread and pasta."
In addition to giving the participants a sense of worth and accomplishment, she said, the program "costs the government less than having people institutionalized."
While those hired to work in The Sisters' Garden will be doing just basic gardening, it's the start of something that could flourish in the territory, Blazine said. "The only people who are handicapped are people who think these people are not capable of having as productive and fulfilling a life as the rest of us have," she said.
The foundation has applied for another grant to construct a shade house – an open-air wooden structure with shade fabric stretched across the top – for cultivating plants in The Sisters' Gardens. And it is seeking a major Coastal Zone Management permit to build a small structure to house office space for the St. John Community Foundation and the V.I. Agriculture Department.
The bottom line for Blazine is this: "Coral Bay doesn't have a park, and there's no botanical garden on St. John. This will give St. John a new attraction – and the people of St. John a beautiful park."
