Dear Source,
Rarely before have I seen such a clear and cogent statement of St. Croix's situation [as in the Source editorial, St. Croix Needs a Reality Check, Not a Ferry].
I have made much the same observation many times over the years, but to no avail. The powers that be still persist in lumping St. Croix with St. Thomas, to the detriment of both islands.
Why is not St. Croix marketed for what it is? There are tens of thousands of people who would love to discover a Caribbean island where they can have a beach virtually to themselves, where they can stroll through town without stumbling over hawkers and hustlers, where they can take a walk in the "bush" and see historic ruins. There are thousands and thousands more who would come for the history alone. And untold numbers of scuba divers who have no idea that fantastic wall dives are only a brief swim from the beach rather than a time-consuming and expensive boat ride. Yes, St. Croix certainly has the resources to offer. Unfortunately, we fail to advertise them properly and we hide them with garbage, derelicts and crime.
Possibly there are outside investors who would make the effort to clean up some of our problems, but they are so thoroughly discouraged by the anti-business sentiment of the government and its politicians that one cannot fault them for taking their business elsewhere. It seems that the Virgin Islands government is interested only in enticing cruise ships to visit St. Thomas, and cares little about St. Croix.
Yet the same politicians get elected and re-elected year after year. We are in another election year now. Perhaps this year the voters will do what needs to be done, though nothing in our history indicates that this will be the case.
The St. Croix Renaissance Group has laid out a lavish yet believable program for revitalizing a significant aspect of St. Croix, one that appears to address significant problems and proposes some real-world solutions. It would seem to be in the best interests of all Crucians to get behind this effort and help it become a reality. It is through the creative efforts of people like the Renaissance Group that St. Croix has the best chance for a meaningful economic future. The public needs to voice its support for efforts such as this to discourage the politicians from interfering to the point of stifling progress.
All of us help the situation by making our own parts of the island as clean and beautiful as possible, and by taking a minute to exchange a few friendly words with the visitors we do have. In today's high-speed and anonymous world, it takes only those few friendly words to make a stranger feel welcome and want to come back. Many other locations in the world have learned the value of friendliness, can we afford not to? Besides, once it becomes a habit, life is much more pleasant for all of us, with or without visitors. That, alone, is more than sufficient reason.
Rich Waugh
St. Croix
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

Dear Source,
Rarely before have I seen such a clear and cogent statement of St. Croix's situation [as in the Source editorial, St. Croix Needs a Reality Check, Not a Ferry].
I have made much the same observation many times over the years, but to no avail. The powers that be still persist in lumping St. Croix with St. Thomas, to the detriment of both islands.
Why is not St. Croix marketed for what it is? There are tens of thousands of people who would love to discover a Caribbean island where they can have a beach virtually to themselves, where they can stroll through town without stumbling over hawkers and hustlers, where they can take a walk in the "bush" and see historic ruins. There are thousands and thousands more who would come for the history alone. And untold numbers of scuba divers who have no idea that fantastic wall dives are only a brief swim from the beach rather than a time-consuming and expensive boat ride. Yes, St. Croix certainly has the resources to offer. Unfortunately, we fail to advertise them properly and we hide them with garbage, derelicts and crime.
Possibly there are outside investors who would make the effort to clean up some of our problems, but they are so thoroughly discouraged by the anti-business sentiment of the government and its politicians that one cannot fault them for taking their business elsewhere. It seems that the Virgin Islands government is interested only in enticing cruise ships to visit St. Thomas, and cares little about St. Croix.
Yet the same politicians get elected and re-elected year after year. We are in another election year now. Perhaps this year the voters will do what needs to be done, though nothing in our history indicates that this will be the case.
The St. Croix Renaissance Group has laid out a lavish yet believable program for revitalizing a significant aspect of St. Croix, one that appears to address significant problems and proposes some real-world solutions. It would seem to be in the best interests of all Crucians to get behind this effort and help it become a reality. It is through the creative efforts of people like the Renaissance Group that St. Croix has the best chance for a meaningful economic future. The public needs to voice its support for efforts such as this to discourage the politicians from interfering to the point of stifling progress.
All of us help the situation by making our own parts of the island as clean and beautiful as possible, and by taking a minute to exchange a few friendly words with the visitors we do have. In today's high-speed and anonymous world, it takes only those few friendly words to make a stranger feel welcome and want to come back. Many other locations in the world have learned the value of friendliness, can we afford not to? Besides, once it becomes a habit, life is much more pleasant for all of us, with or without visitors. That, alone, is more than sufficient reason.
Rich Waugh
St. Croix
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 24, 2002 – Ariel Melchior Sr., the dominant media force in the Virgin Islands for more than four decades, died Tuesday night at Roy L. Schneider Hospital. He was 93.
Melchior was best known as the founder, with educator and poet J. Antonio Jarvis, of the The Daily News in 1930. Melchior bought out Jarvis's share of the newspaper in 1940.
He was a crusading newspaperman, taking strong editorial stands on issues and holding firm even in the face of threatened boycotts. He remained the top executive at the newspaper, directing its day-to-day operations and editorials, until he sold it in 1978 to the Gannett Co. Inc.
Even after that, Melchior Sr. remained involved and interested in the newspaper's daily performance, often offering story ideas and critiques and rejoicing when the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1995.
He also remained an astute observer of the islands' political scene. Although retired, he maintained an office in downtown Charlotte Amalie and went there daily. One of his projects after he retired was the 1981 publication of "Thoughts Along the Way," a compilation of Daily News editorials.
Melchior's health had deteriorated in recent years, and he and his wife, Gertrude Dudley Melchior, moved last year to Seaview Nursing Home. Gertrude Melchior died in February.
Ariel Melchior Sr. was born Feb. 22, 1909, on St. Thomas. He attended public schools on the island and launched his newspaper career in the 1920s as a printer with the old St. Thomas Mail Notes. During the first decade of his association with Jarvis in the Daily News, Melchior worked mainly as its business manager.
In 1975, the Legislature honored Melchior with a resolution that called the Daily News a "viable force in influencing the economic and political development" of the Virgin Islands.
Survivors include sons Ariel Melchior Jr., publisher and editor of the Daily News, and Earl Melchior; six daughters, Marjorie Preston, Valerie Wade, Rita Watley, Norma Gomez, Laurel Melchior and Juel Love; stepchildren George Dudley Jr. and Rita Grant; sister Zelina Petersen; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 24, 2002 – Ariel Melchior Sr., the dominant media force in the Virgin Islands for more than four decades, died Tuesday night at Roy L. Schneider Hospital. He was 93.
Melchior was best known as the founder, with educator and poet J. Antonio Jarvis, of the The Daily News in 1930. Melchior bought out Jarvis's share of the newspaper in 1940.
He was a crusading newspaperman, taking strong editorial stands on issues and holding firm even in the face of threatened boycotts. He remained the top executive at the newspaper, directing its day-to-day operations and editorials, until he sold it in 1978 to the Gannett Co. Inc.
Even after that, Melchior Sr. remained involved and interested in the newspaper's daily performance, often offering story ideas and critiques and rejoicing when the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1995.
He also remained an astute observer of the islands' political scene. Although retired, he maintained an office in downtown Charlotte Amalie and went there daily. One of his projects after he retired was the 1981 publication of "Thoughts Along the Way," a compilation of Daily News editorials.
Melchior's health had deteriorated in recent years, and he and his wife, Gertrude Dudley Melchior, moved last year to Seaview Nursing Home. Gertrude Melchior died in February.
Ariel Melchior Sr. was born Feb. 22, 1909, on St. Thomas. He attended public schools on the island and launched his newspaper career in the 1920s as a printer with the old St. Thomas Mail Notes. During the first decade of his association with Jarvis in the Daily News, Melchior worked mainly as its business manager.
In 1975, the Legislature honored Melchior with a resolution that called the Daily News a "viable force in influencing the economic and political development" of the Virgin Islands.
Survivors include sons Ariel Melchior Jr., publisher and editor of the Daily News, and Earl Melchior; six daughters, Marjorie Preston, Valerie Wade, Rita Watley, Norma Gomez, Laurel Melchior and Juel Love; stepchildren George Dudley Jr. and Rita Grant; sister Zelina Petersen; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 24, 2002 – Ariel Melchior Sr., the dominant media force in the Virgin Islands for more than four decades, died Tuesday night at Roy L. Schneider Hospital. He was 93.
Melchior was best known as the founder, with educator and poet J. Antonio Jarvis, of the The Daily News in 1930. Melchior bought out Jarvis's share of the newspaper in 1940.
He was a crusading newspaperman, taking strong editorial stands on issues and holding firm even in the face of threatened boycotts. He remained the top executive at the newspaper, directing its day-to-day operations and editorials, until he sold it in 1978 to the Gannett Co. Inc.
Even after that, Melchior Sr. remained involved and interested in the newspaper's daily performance, often offering story ideas and critiques and rejoicing when the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1995.
He also remained an astute observer of the islands' political scene. Although retired, he maintained an office in downtown Charlotte Amalie and went there daily. One of his projects after he retired was the 1981 publication of "Thoughts Along the Way," a compilation of Daily News editorials.
Melchior's health had deteriorated in recent years, and he and his wife, Gertrude Dudley Melchior, moved last year to Seaview Nursing Home. Gertrude Melchior died in February.
Ariel Melchior Sr. was born Feb. 22, 1909, on St. Thomas. He attended public schools on the island and launched his newspaper career in the 1920s as a printer with the old St. Thomas Mail Notes. During the first decade of his association with Jarvis in the Daily News, Melchior worked mainly as its business manager.
In 1975, the Legislature honored Melchior with a resolution that called the Daily News a "viable force in influencing the economic and political development" of the Virgin Islands.
Survivors include sons Ariel Melchior Jr., publisher and editor of the Daily News, and Earl Melchior; six daughters, Marjorie Preston, Valerie Wade, Rita Watley, Norma Gomez, Laurel Melchior and Juel Love; stepchildren George Dudley Jr. and Rita Grant; sister Zelina Petersen; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 23, 2002 – Storyteller Elaine Jacobs and puppetmaker Dorothy Hassfeld are conducting puppet workshops for 5th and 6th grade students on Wednesday and Friday mornings over the next three weeks at the Enid M. Baa Library.
The "Ketch-an-Keep" puppet workshop sessions will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. July 24, 26, 29 and 31; and Aug. 2, 5 and 7. The students will present their own storytelling puppet show on Aug. 9.
"I've seen the puppets that Dorothy has produced, and they are amazing," Baa head librarian Diane Moody says. "Elaine loves telling stories, and she herself attends workshops on storytelling to enhance her own skills."
The workshops, which are being funded by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, are free, but registration is required and only 15 students can be accommodated. To learn more and to register, call Moody at 774-0630 or stop by the Baa Library on Main Street.

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July 23, 2002 – St. Croix resident Leia LaPlace, 20, will receive the first Friends of the V.I. National Park annual scholarship for students majoring in environmental studies.
"The scholarship is a key part of our effort to help develop the future conservationists of the Virgin Islands," Joe Kessler, Friends president, said in a press release.
LaPlace will receive $1,000 to defray tuition at the University of the Virgin Islands. With a double major in marine biology and business administration, she is in the fourth year of a five-year program on the St. Thomas campus. Next year, she will participate in an exchange program with a college in Hawaii.
LaPlace was eligible for a summer internship with the Friends, but she already had accepted a job, Friends development director Kim Lyons said.
Scholarship recipients must be Virgin Islands residents, have graduated from a high school in the territory, have completed coursework for a major in marine biology or biology with an emphasis on environmental studies, and have at least a B average for their first three semesters at UVI.

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July 23, 2002 – Seven 2002 graduates of V.I. public high schools have been awarded four-year college scholarships by Hovensa.
Three are St. Croix Educational Complex graduates: Hannah Jacobs-El, who will study biology at the University of the Virgin Islands; Sakira Navarro, who will major in pre-medicine at the University of Tampa; and Makeda Okolo, who will pursue a degree in political science at American University.
Two are Ivanna Eudora Kean High School graduates: Raquel Hill, who will pursue a degree in business administration from Florida A&M University; and Bambi Lettsome, who will study computer engineering at Florida Institute of Technology.
One is a Charlotte Amalie High School graduate: Chevell Leonard, who will major in English at Tallahassee Community College.
One is a Central High School graduate: Arianne A. Oliver, who will pursue a degree in criminology at Johnson and Wales University.
Hovensa has funded scholarships for 18 other beginning college students over the last three years and has renewed the awards in successive years. Those scholarships will continue for the 2002-2003 school year.
Efforts to learn the amount of the scholarships were unsuccessful.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 23, 2002 – St. Croix resident Leia LaPlace, 20, will receive the first Friends of the V.I. National Park annual scholarship for students majoring in environmental studies.
"The scholarship is a key part of our effort to help develop the future conservationists of the Virgin Islands," Joe Kessler, Friends president, said in a press release.
LaPlace will receive $1,000 to defray tuition at the University of the Virgin Islands. With a double major in marine biology and business administration, she is in the fourth year of a five-year program on the St. Thomas campus. Next year, she will participate in an exchange program with a college in Hawaii.
LaPlace was eligible for a summer internship with the Friends, but she already had accepted a job, Friends development director Kim Lyons said.
Scholarship recipients must be Virgin Islands residents, have graduated from a high school in the territory, have completed coursework for a major in marine biology or biology with an emphasis on environmental studies, and have at least a B average for their first three semesters at UVI.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

July 16, 2002 – Kernita E. David, a 1999 graduate of St. Joseph High School, is the winner of this year’s scholarship awarded by the V.I. National Guard Enlisted Association and USAA, the Insurance and Financial Services Company for the military.
Kernita, currently a senior at Marshall University in West Virginia, is majoring in clinical laboratory science with a minor in math and chemistry. Her goal, said a release, is to become a neurosurgeon or cardiac surgeon.
Kernita is the daughter of V.I. National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Charles David and Althea Garvey, St. Croix residents. Her father is a member of the Enlisted Association and a member of the 210th Regional Training Institute of the V.I. National Guard.
The $1000 scholarship is awarded annually to a Virgin Islands National Guard Enlisted Association (VINGEA) member, or a dependent child or spouse of a VINGEA member. Unmarried sons and daughters of VINGEA members, spouses of VINGEA members, or unmarried spouses and unmarried dependent sons and daughters of deceased VINGEA members who were in good standing at the time of their death are also eligible for the scholarship.
Scholarships have been awarded to dependents and members of the Virgin Islands National Guard Enlisted Association for the past three years.
The USAA recognizes the significant contributions of the National Guard in support of the national defense and its assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters. Since its founding in 1922, USAA has grown to become a worldwide and diversified financial institution committed to service and education. Funding scholarship programs that promote leadership development and academic achievement is one way that USAA continues to support the needs of military personnel and their families.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.