Jan. 5, 2004 – The annual meeting of the Friends of the V.I. National Park is set for Jan. 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Cinnamon Bay Campground's T'ree Lizards Restaurant on St. John.
"It's the main Friends event of the year," the organization's president, Joe Kessler, said, giving members and guests a chance to meet and greet while also providing an overview of the park and the group's activities.
Park Superintendent Art Frederick will give the annual state of the park address, and Kessler will give his annual report. Tom Kiernan, president of the National Park Conservation Organization, will be the keynote speaker. He is expected to discuss the role Friends members can play in advocating for resources within the V.I. National Park.
St. John photographer Steve Simonsen will be present to sign copies of his new coffee-table book of St. John images, "Living Art." A portion of the proceeds benefits the Friends group.
Light refreshments will follow the meeting.
Since parking at Cinnamon Bay is limited, Kessler urged people planning to attend the meeting to use the shuttle that will be operating that afternoon from the park's Cruz Bay maintenance facility, located next to Mongoose Junction. The shuttle will leave the maintenance facility at 1:30 p.m. and return when the meeting is over.
According to Kessler, the Friends group has about 3,000 members — 20 percent of them V.I. residents. The others come from all 50 states and 10 foreign countries. For more information, call the Friends office at 779-4940.
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