Oct. 15, 2007 — Music comes as naturally as — well, as education or law to Polly and Fred Watts: Their ear for an autoharp tune has enriched the island's musical life for the past 30 years, when, on one Sunday in October, folks come together to play and sing.
The heartening harmonies will fill the air again at this year's Magens Bay bash from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at shed No. 4, where the annual celebration of music, fun, generosity of spirit and talent, good food and whatever else is handy and makes music will abound.
This year for the first time, a youth showcase run by veteran performer and musician Larry Benjamin has been added with its own tent next to shed No. 4. This year's event is part of the activities for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and is in support of the Family Resource Center.
The movable Sunday feast has become second only to Carnival in staying power for island celebrations. It has gone through many incarnations — including a Cajun touch, a Carenage Cajun Fete in Frenchtown featuring Cajun chefs and a Louisiana band — reaching audiences numbering 10,000 and involving myriad musical groups and benefiting numerous charities.
Nowadays, Polly Watts says, it's "back to the roots, a family affair, a gathering of musicians and friends who share a passion for traditional music of all kinds." The logistics of arranging the event had begun to take its toll, demanding months of organization for a group of very busy volunteers, she says.
In 2000, the organizers decided it was time to get back to the basics: music, food, good fellowship, as Polly Watts puts it. The Watts, Loveland, Bill Grogan of the late and lamented Barnacle Bills, Nicky Russell Watts and her husband, Fred, got the whole phenomenon going and along with Bill Grogan and Jimmy Loveland.
It all started when a bunch of musically inclined friends on a St. Thomas Dive Club party on Virgin Gorda, joined educator Polly and attorney Fred Watts, as they sang Watts family music from the American mountains, which preserved traditional tunes of England, Scotland and Ireland.
"Fred and I were part of the '60s folk movement," Polly says, recalling her days at Swarthmore College when Fred was in law school; she played the mandolin to Fred's autoharp.
On the trip back home from Virgin Gorda, Capt. Jimmy Loveland, who had just taken over Sibs' Mountain Restaurant, suggested that Sibs' parking lot would be a fine place to continue the singing with an evening of music for everyone.
Thus October Sunday was born, and it hasn't missed a beat since. The event has changed venues, grown too big for Sibs many moons ago and moved to other locales, including Crown Bay landfill, the Reichhold Center parking lot, the Joseph Aubain ballpark in Frenchtown, and to its current home at Magens Bay beach.
In true show-business tradition, the show has gone on in the aftermath of two major hurricanes which all but finished off any fun on the island, leaving many residents living under a blue FEMA tarp, some ready to sell their soul for a cup of ice or a hot meal.
Staging the event only five weeks after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, Polly Watts says the storm "brought out the best in many of us." She continued, "A large tent was flown to St. Thomas gratis by Four Star Aviation."
By that time, she says, the event had sponsors Heineken Beer and St. Thomas Foods, which "immensely strengthened" the event. Money was raised for those left without. Of the proceeds, Watts says, $3,000 was immediately given to Lutheran Social Services for bridge loans to people awaiting insurance settlements.
In 1995, when Hurricane Marilyn stuck with its vicious winds, the only place in town with electricity for the sound system was Emancipation Garden. "Even though, the power didn't come through, it was still a great day to forget buying generator gas or foraging for ice," Watts says. The event raised $3,880 for the Red Cross.
This year, once again, is in support of the Family Resource Center, Watts says.
"The center celebrated its 25th birthday last year with the island's biggest birthday cake," she says. "In fact, it was far too big. We were very busy afterwards looking for mouths to feed, even after the usual donations."
This year will feed a more modest sweet tooth, she says. Food and drink will be available for a donation, but, in the spirit of the day, Watts urges everyone to bring a potluck dish to share.
Youngsters will strut their stuff for the first time this years in the Youth Showcase, featuring the Lockhart School Quadrille Dancers, Antilles School Ace Dance Group, Suzuki FiddleKids, VIIPA Dancers, Kashif Freeman on Steel Pan, and the Brass Ensemble.
Along with Harmony Dem with Polly and Fred, familiar faces will greet the sunshine Sunday.
The ubiquitous Nicky Russell, one of the original group, Janice Reiter, Jason Jones, Gi, Sun Kings, Encore Band, Barefoot Davis, Women of Note, Tim West, and lots of others will play all afternoon.
"It's more spontaneous than it used to be," Watts says. "Every hour there's an anchor group — Harmony Dem from 12:30 to 2, Jones from 3 to 4, Sun Kings from 4 to 5.We end up with the Encore Band. We don't schedule as rigidly as we did in the past."
There is no admission charge, Watts stressed, but "donations will be welcomed." For more information, call Watts at 775-2814, Nicky Russell or Janet Reiter at 774-0572, Larry Benjamin at 774-8046, or Yolanda Osaro at the Family Resource Center at 776-3966.
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