July 27, 2008 — The street in Red Hook is remarkably clean. Trash receptacles are in use. That's not a coincidence — it's one of the ongoing housekeeping chores of the Red Hook Community Alliance.
Andrea King, Alliance president, makes certain the receptacles are emptied and maintained. After all, she says, it is her "front yard."
King and her husband, Skip, run Island Yachts. "We moved to Red Hook in the late '90s,"she says, "and I was distressed by the look of the neighborhood, roads potholed in need of repair, trash everywhere, abandoned cars with trees growing out of them — actual trees!
"I lived here, I worked here, and it was a dump."
Never given to idle speculation, King rounded up some neighbors to decide the best way of going about cleaning the potentially beautiful area. King is a slender woman with shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes. She looks more the model than the activist, at first glance.
"We called Janet Gross at Public Works, I had no idea who she was. She got Daryl Lewis and within days they were out here," King says.
"They removed 12 to 15 cars the first day," King says. "There was no official abandoned car task force at the time," she says. "They just came out and worked. Janet Gross still keeps in touch with us today, and Daryl Lewis, they've remained our supporters."
She continues, "When we saw what we'd managed to get started," she says, "we decided to organize. Why not?" Thus the alliance was born in 2000.
It was accredited as a nonprofit organization in 2005 and is now listed by the Community Foundation of the V.I. Members number about 200, King says, "but an average monthly meeting is about 25."
In the eight or so years since that day, the alliance has fought for improved infrastructure – road paving, cross-walks, trash removal – and has tackled environmental concerns, taking on the V.I. government.
Working with other civic groups, the alliance spearheaded a 10-month fight to have the government acquire Vessup and Muller beaches after then-Gov. Charles Turnbull vetoed a $3 million Senate appropriation to acquire the properties, culminating in a street demonstration before the Earl B. Ottley Legislative Hall. (See "Horns Herald Vote to Override Vessup Funding Veto.")
That was in 2004, but the government has yet to act. Vessup and Muller beaches now belong to Lionstone Hotel and Resorts, part of the acquisition of Cabrita Point by Alfredo Lowenstein. "He should be put on notice that the property will be acquired by eminent domain," King says.
On a brighter note, King talks about something dear to her heart — the completion of the Red Hook Salt Pond Restoration project, something the group had on its agenda for years. "We're actually having a ribbon-cutting next month," she says, "one month under deadline."
In 2005, King heard about a Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Partnership grant. "The grant seemed ideal for us," she says. It is funded by the NOAA Community-based Restoration program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program.
"I'd never written a grant proposal before," King says, "I was about to have my baby, and I figured I'd have time after the baby to work on it, so I emailed it to them. I never thought we'd get it. In about a month they said we were being considered, and then we finally got it in 2006."
The alliance partnered with the V.I. Division of Fish and Wildlife on the project, with several cleanups. Wetlands expert Denise Rennis and the Coastal Research Firm of South Carolina have been consultants on the project. They have built a boardwalk, tow viewing platforms a small bridge, and put up interpretive signage.
King's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Earlier this year, she was honored by the Rotary Club of St. Thomas East as one of the prestigious 2008 Paul Harris Fellows for community work.
Though very appreciative of the recognition, she says, "There's always so much we need to do. We still haven't gotten the government to install sidewalks. About 1,000 students go to Kean (high school) every day, and they have to walk in the road."
King also has worked closely with Anna Francis, director of the Environmental Rangers, for years and sits on the organization's board. The Rangers are a youth group dedicated to saving the environment.
"With all the current fuss about who is a Virgin Islander, Andrea is a true Virgin Islander at heart," Francis says. "She has made this her home. My kids always want to help the alliance. She is the spirit of the Kwanzaa principle Kuumba: 'To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.'"
King is always looking for members; sign up using the alliance's online application form.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
