Jan. 1, 2009 — It's the dream people share every time they buy a lottery ticket, the dream of instant wealth, and Wednesday night hundreds of dreamers shared it at the Virgin Islands Lottery Commission's big party in Frederiksted's Buddhoe Park.
"That'd be nice, start the new year with a bang!" said Victor Edney as he looked up from where he was carving pork for the hundreds of people who gathered to watch the drawing of the Power Ball numbers.
Like most of the adults in the park, Edney had his ticket for the estimated $80 million drawing, which was being held on the Anne E. Abramson Pier and broadcast to the world. And for those who didn't come with a ticket, lottery workers were filtering through the crowd handing them out for free.
There was also free food and drink, and a giant television showing a movie for the families that gathered. Then, when the lottery drawing took place on the pier, the results were shown on the park's screen as it was broadcast across the nation to the 29 states and the District of Columbia which share the game with the territory.
People sat on benches around the park or on the wall overlooking the harbor, eating, drinking and talking quietly while a jazz band played "Happy Days Are Here Again." The musicians played other songs as well, but "Happy Days" seemed most appropriate.
Mervelle Sage brought her four-year-old son Ellijah for the event, and said it was a nice way to see in 2009.
"It's a nice family event," she said. "Better than a big drunken party."
Matse Jenkins started the night as a winner, regardless of whether her number is picked or not. She's visiting family on St. Croix, vacationing from her job at the public works department in Scarsdale, N.Y., where her fellow employees are busy clearing roads from the latest snowstorm to hit the area.
Asked if she was going to win the drawing, she replied firmly, "That's my intention." She had competition, though, from the other three women on the bench with her, her aunt Vilma Johnson from St. Croix and Marva Malone and Linda Gill Thomas, both of whom had journeyed with Jenkins from frozen New York to balmy St. Croix.
All four women insisted they had the winning ticket.
Kyle Lee, who lives in Judith's Fancy, has been coming to the festival village since the 1970s. He said the lottery's party this year was nice, a great addition, but added that he was a little surprised. Publicity before the event had indicated the activity would be on the pier. But the pier was closed for a private party for lottery employees.
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