Traditional games, Greased Pig contest, Toddlers Derby, and "Best Dressed as a Doll" are on the list for afternoon Carnival fun Sunday, April 7, starting at 1 p.m. at Lionel Roberts Stadium.
A host of old-time games will be followed by the Greased Pig contest, the Toddlers Derby with several races for infants to seven-year-olds, and the "Best Dressed as a Doll" competition.
Admission is free. Ervin "Brownie" Brown presides over the ceremonies.

The St. Thomas/St. John hotel & Tourism Association's Queen Talent & Selection Show will take place at Lionel Roberts Stadium.
For information call (340)774-0255.
Not only a queen, but also a king will be crowned.

April 2, 2002 – The Carnival Queen Talent and Selection Show, sponsored by the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, will crown not only a queen but — in honor of the 50th anniversary — a king as well.
The show is to start at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Lionel Roberts Stadium. Music will be by P'your Passion.
Competing for queen are Michelle Creque, Cubie-Ayah George, Bernie James and Nisha Jones.
Competing for king will be Corey Davis, Kishorn Henry, Richard Vialet Jr., Jerome White and Calvern Williams.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the gate. They can be purchased at Family Health Center, International Records & Tapes, Krystal & Gifts Galore, Modern Music/Havensight, Nisky Pharmacy, Parrot Fish Music, St. John Drug Center and T&P Cash & Carry.
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Carnival booth owners are to meet at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, at the Lockhart Elementary School cafeteria. The V.I. Carnival Committee urges attendance, as information regarding safety features and the judging criteria will be discussed.

April 2, 2002 – Trumpeter Marcus Rabb with VI Art Ensemble will be making the music at this Sunday's Jazz Vespers concert — a tribute to legendary horn man Lee Morgan — at the St. Croix Reformed Church.
Rabb, who has performed with such jazz luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Milt Jackson and Joe Henderson, has been teaching music and performing on St. Croix for five years. He grew up in Baltimore, where he studied piano and trumpet as a child and played the horn in local jazz bands while in high school — not unlike Lee Morgan.
Called by some "the quintessential hard bopper," Morgan was born in 1938 in Philadelphia and by the age of 18 was playing with the biggest names in the jazz business. That summer he sat in for two weeks with Art Blakey's Jazz Messsengers while they were in Philadelphia but he declined to sign the proffered contract. Instead, he was soon a sideman with Dizzy Gillespie, who gave him the nod to solo — brilliantly — in "A Night in Tunisia."
Morgan did join the Jazz Messengers later, then was replaced by Freddie Hubbard in 1961, then came back in 1964. Signed early on to the Blue Note label, he gained his greatest recording success with "The Sidewinder." His life ended prematurely in 1972, when his common-law wife shot him.
In 1961, Morgan said of his personal musical vision: "Miles Davis is a beautiful example of simplicity, but that's not what I want. I want to play all over the horn and have a big, beautiful sound."
At the height of his 16-year career, Morgan said, "I don't think I have a completely original style, though I do have an identity. An identity is when someone who knows jazz can say, 'That's Lee Morgan playing.'" He described his own "basic style" as being "composed of a strong Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown influence, and Miles and Dizzy, and then again a Bud [Powell] and Bird [Charlie Parker] thing. I think a definite style comes with living and experience and traveling until you play what you are, you play yourself on the horn."
Marcus Rabb will be paying tribute to that vision and identity with VI Art Ensemble on Sunday evening.
Rabb's musical education has included exposure to a broad variety of musical forms, both performing and composing. He attended Howard University on a full music scholarship, went on to earn his master of music degree from Howard and later was awarded a Lucy Moten Fellowship for study abroad. With it, he chose to study chamber music at the American Conservatory of Music in Fontainebleau, France. He currently teaches music privately and at Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School.
The VI Art Ensemble consists of founder and music director Fred Williams on bass, Benjamin Jacobs-el on piano, Dimitri "Pikey" Copeman on saxophone, David McKean on drums and Rene Encarnacion on percussion.
Williams, who formed VI Art Ensemble in 1995, got his first music education as a youngster from his father, Ohaldo Williams, St. Croix's stellar saxophonist. He studied music at Berklee College, North Carolina Central University and City College of New York — where he got his undergraduate degree. Then he went on to earn his master's in educational leadership from Winthrop University. He has performed and recorded with numerous New York jazz artists including Ornett Coleman, Leon Thomas and Pharoah Sanders and James "Blood" Ulmer. He recently completed work on a music textbook titled "Our Heritage," for the elementary level with a focus on Caribbean people and music.
Benjamin "Bennie" Jacobs-el, born in Brooklyn, played trombone with the prestigious Newport Youth Band — and then with The New York Jazz Septet, a spinoff of the Newport band. He enrolled at the Juilliard School in 1958 but three years later left to go on the road with Slide Hampton and Lloyd Price. Then he got a gig with the Coker Camble Band, the Motown backup group for such superstars as Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and The Temptations. It was while touring with Lionel Hampton's band in 1963 that he first set foot on St. Croix. He took up permanent residence on the island in 1974, and it was as a Crucian transplant that he made the transition from trombone to piano.
Dimitri "Pikey" Copeman," a self-taught saxophonist and founder of the Native Rhythm Band, got into jazz in his Central High School days. He has performed with Jamesie and the Happy Seven, Free Association, and Taco and the Playboys. His studio credits include work with Joe Paris and the Hot Shots Vol. 4 with King Derby, and the Zoop Zoop anthology with Paris; coming out soon is a CD with Rico and The All-Stars. A visual art educator by vocation, he teaches at Lew Muckle School and is an accomplished painter. He's also a published poet; his work appears in "Yellow Seed Is Blooming," an anthology of Virgin Islands poetry.
David McKean, a member of the group Rhythmix for the last seven years as well as a mainstay of VI Art Ensemble, came to St. Croix for the jazz festival in 1994 and decided to stay. He started playing drums professionally at the age of 15, attended the Army/Navy School of Music in Norfolk, Va., and played with the Army band in the state of Washington for two years. Then he toured the West Coast with Forecast and Suite 7 and work at LA Golden West Studio, recording music tracks for commercials. He has worked with Hank Crawford, been house drummer at Jimmy Smith's club in Los Angeles, and taught percussion with the Tacoma Symphony's Youth Development Program.
Rene Encarnacion is best known as a conga drummer/percussionist, although he also is an accomplished bass player. His first instrument was steelpan, and his first formal musical training was at St. Croix's Seventh Day Adventist School. ("Everyone else at school had guitars, so I decided to play bongos," he recalls.) Rene was the leader of Conjunto Topico de Santa Cruz for a decade and played with Sonora Santa Cruz with Ruben Santana and the legendary sax man Scypio. He worked with the late Tito Puente and has appeared with Jovani, regarded as the No. 1 conga player in Latin America. His work can be heard on The Mighty Sparrow's "Saltfish" album.
Jazz Vespers concerts, held on the first Sunday of each month in the Reformed Church sanctuary, are family-oriented programs in an environment that's alcohol-free and smoke-free. Admission is free, too, although an offering is taken. Following the performance, refreshments are served and young people, especially, are invited to engage the musicians in dialogue.
Upcoming Jazz Vespers concerts will feature drummer Dave McKean on May 5 and trumpeter Stan Joines on June 2. After taking a break in July, the series will move into its second season, featuring flutist Dianne Russell on Aug. 4, "Marcus Rabb with Strings" on Sept. 1 and pianist Otto James on Oct. 6.
Sunday's concert begins at 5:30 p.m. The church is in Estate La Reine on the hill above the Kingshill post office. For more information, call Willard Fields at 719-3672 or Pastor Rod Koopmans at 778-0520 or email to Jazz Vespers.

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April 1, 2002 – The V.I. National Park has written a set of regulations governing use of St. John's Hurricane Hole during major storms. But if the V.I. government's challenge to the federal designation of the area as part of the Coral Reef National Monument isn't resolved before the next big storm hits, the park won't implement the regulations.
Hurricane season begins in two months, on June 1.
Following a community meeting Monday at the Marketplace shopping complex to discuss the park's proposed Vessel Management Plan, Park Superintendent John King said he does not know when the matter will be resolved.
President Bill Clinton in the closing days of his office designated Hurricane Hole and waters off the south shore covering 12,700 acres as a national monument. The V.I. government contends that the submerged land belongs to the territory because President Gerald Ford in 1974 transferred it to the Virgin Islands. King said the federal General Accounting Office is reviewing the matter.
"But we've been told that GAO opinions are just that — opinions," King said. He said the Interior Department, which has jurisdiction over national parks and national monuments, could concur with the GAO's opinion or ignore it.
King said if the matter is resolved in favor of the federal government, the park will enforce the new regulations. They allow boats to preregister for a space in Hurricane Hole. The park will charge a fee for this service, but King did not know what it will be, other than that "it depends on the size of the boat."
He said boaters may put down ground tackle after they register, but must remove it when hurricane season ends on Nov. 30.
When a major storm is five days away from possibly hitting the territory, boaters will be allowed to enter Hurricane Hole. They must leave within two days of the storm's passage.
King said that eventually, if the federal government prevails in the monument designation dispute, the Friends of the V.I. National Park organization expects to install a hurricane mooring system. This system of moored chains allows boaters to hook their anchors to the chains to prevent damage to the marine and land environments surrounding Hurricane Hole's bays.
The Friends group has raised $60,000 of the $140,000 needed for the mooring system, King said. He said the Friends may install the system in just one of Hurricane Hole's four bays if it is economically feasible to do so. If not, the group will wait until it has enough money to do all four bays.
Vessel Management Plan not ready for review
While King had expected to have the Vessel Management Plan ready for public review Monday, it has been held up in the park's regional office. He said he expects it to be made public within the next few days.
The major change for local recreational boaters comes in the extension to 30 days of the 14-day limit on stays within park waters. However, boats may use moorings or drop anchor only 14 consecutive days in any one bay.
When the mooring fee program begins later this spring or in the summer, boaters will have to pay $15 a night to use the moorings. They may anchor seaward of the moorings only if no moorings are available. There will be no charge for anchoring.
While boats 12 feet and under are now allowed to anchor on the south shore, the proposed vessel management plan will prohibit their doing so.
"Small boats do a lot of damage to sea grass," said Jim Owens, the park's former acting planner and author of the vessel management plan. He said the only exception to the prohibition will be during blue runner season. Larger vessels already are prohibited from anchoring on the south shore and must use moorings.
About half a dozen people showed up for Monday's meeting. King said many of the proposals in the Vessel Management Plan were aired during the discussion of the recently-adopted Commercial Services Plan and many people had already had their say.
A similar meeting on the Vessel Management Plan will be held at 8a.m. Wednesday in the Marketplace third-floor meeting room.

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April 2, 2002 – Despite the economic after-effects of Sept. 11, United Way of St. Thomas-St. John has met its largest-ever fund-raising goal of $650,000. A corporate pledge of $5,000 from FirstBank's executive vice president, Fernando Battle, put it over the edge.
We are "amazed, thrilled, gratified," said Thyra Hammond, executive director of the local United Way. "Our community has come through for us."
The goal was set 24 percent higher than last year in a decision taken at board meetings before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At a board meeting the week of the disaster, it was decided that United Way would contribute $10,000 to the September 11th Fund from its reserve funds. Upon learning of this, The West Indian Co. donated beyond its intent in order to replenish the reserve fund.
Despite the disaster, United Way held its long-planned kickoff event on Sept. 29. This traditional event is an opportunity to thank donors and volunteers from the previous campaign, and to invite donors to give early, ahead of the open campaign. The agency usually tries to get pledges for 30 percent of the year's goal; this year, the largest-ever amount of kickoff donations, $234,000, was received.
The campaign then concentrated on employees in recognition of the major economic suffering of V.I. businesses at the time. United Way held more special events than usual, with Angelika Balkarran bringing in that sector over goal. It reintroduced its "Celebration of Life" lights downtown at the annual "Miracle on Main Street" event. The third annual walk/fun run and the seventh annual Emancipation Garden flea market were held. Two vacations were raffled — a combo cruise/hotel stay and a penthouse suite cruise.
The communications committee did a good job, Hammond said, getting the United Way campaign thermometer and banners visible around the island.
This year's campaign chair, Susan Laura Lugo, said corporate donations like FirstBank's have a far-reaching effect by "inspiring others to give on the corporate level, which in turn sends a clear message to employees that United Way's fund raising is supported not only in the workplace but by the workplace."
More than half of United Way's donations each year come directly from employees who donate through payroll deduction programs at their place of employment.
In announcing the goal has been met, Lugo repeated her message of appreciation delivered at United Way's annual meeting last Wednesday at the Hard Rock Café. She praised the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who "make up the heart and soul of this United Way," and in particular, the members of her campaign committee.
The committee members and their divisions were: Shirley Quetel Hendricks, Business I; Winthrop Maduro, Business II; Raymond Fournier, Major Accounts; attorney Micol Morgan and Dr. Margaret Sprauve, Professionals; Geraldine Heath, Residentials; Louis Hill, Government I; Judy George, Government II; Leona Thomas, St. John; Muriel and Wingrove Fenton and Michael Cabacungan, Membership; Angelika Balkarran, Special Events; Silvia Campbell, Education; and the United Way staff who handled the Combined Federal Campaign.
Hammond said United Way is a network of autonomous local organizations, not a large organization with branches. The local board makes all decisions concerning which agencies will receive what amount of funds. The United Way of America and United Way International both offer technical assistance upon request, something the St. Thomas-St. John United Way has taken advantage of. After Hurricane Marilyn, the local organization contacted every other United Way group asking for donations, knowing the community could not provide that year, when the need was greater than ever. Many organizations which had earlier suffered natural disasters sent donations which kept the local United Way afloat.
The local group plans to seek expert assistance, Hammond said, in the areas of grant-writing, teaching grant-writing to member agencies, and in setting up a volunteer management program.
Thanks to the "incredible generosity of the community," Hammond said, United Way is ready for another year of helping agencies which make the community a better place in which to live. "United Way has a good reputation in the community," she said, "due to the fact that potential givers hear where the money's going and how much accountability we provide."
Every campaign dollar raised by the local United Way stays on St. Thomas and St. John. This year almost $500,000 will be distributed to the member agencies in the form of allocations, technical assistance and access to an emergency fund.
Hammond hopes to build the emergency fund to $36,000. It's used in part to tide over agencies which depend to an extent on government allotments which often fail to materialize in the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year.
The amounts approved for direct allocation to agencies in 2002 are:
American Red Cross, $45,000
Boy Scout Council, $46,000
Carabana Ensemble Theater, $4,500
Catholic Charities, $55,000
Civil Air Patrol, $12,000
Dial-A-Ride St. John, $15,000
Dial-A-Ride St. Thomas, $50,000
Downstreet People's Youth In Action, $25,000
Ebenezer Gardens, $25,000
Friends of Volunteers in Public Schools, $4,000
Girl Scout Council, $43,000
Legal Services of the V.I., $35,000
Lutheran Reformation Summer Camp, $5,000
St. Thomas Reformed Church Summer Program, $5,000.
Shaky Acres, $30,000
Victim Advocates, $20,000

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.

April 2, 2002 – Despite the economic after-effects of Sept. 11, United Way of St. Thomas-St. John has met its largest-ever fund-raising goal of $650,000. A corporate pledge of $5,000 from FirstBank's executive vice president, Fernando Battle, put it over the edge.
We are "amazed, thrilled, gratified," said Thyra Hammond, executive director of the local United Way. "Our community has come through for us."
The goal was set 24 percent higher than last year in a decision taken at board meetings before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At a board meeting the week of the disaster, it was decided that United Way would contribute $10,000 to the September 11th Fund from its reserve funds. Upon learning of this, The West Indian Co. donated beyond its intent in order to replenish the reserve fund.
Despite the disaster, United Way held its long-planned kickoff event on Sept. 29. This traditional event is an opportunity to thank donors and volunteers from the previous campaign, and to invite donors to give early, ahead of the open campaign. The agency usually tries to get pledges for 30 percent of the year's goal; this year, the largest-ever amount of kickoff donations, $234,000, was received.
The campaign then concentrated on employees in recognition of the major economic suffering of V.I. businesses at the time. United Way held more special events than usual, with Angelika Balkarran bringing in that sector over goal. It reintroduced its "Celebration of Life" lights downtown at the annual "Miracle on Main Street" event. The third annual walk/fun run and the seventh annual Emancipation Garden flea market were held. Two vacations were raffled — a combo cruise/hotel stay and a penthouse suite cruise.
The communications committee did a good job, Hammond said, getting the United Way campaign thermometer and banners visible around the island.
This year's campaign chair, Susan Laura Lugo, said corporate donations like FirstBank's have a far-reaching effect by "inspiring others to give on the corporate level, which in turn sends a clear message to employees that United Way's fund raising is supported not only in the workplace but by the workplace."
More than half of United Way's donations each year come directly from employees who donate through payroll deduction programs at their place of employment.
In announcing the goal has been met, Lugo repeated her message of appreciation delivered at United Way's annual meeting last Wednesday at the Hard Rock Café. She praised the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who "make up the heart and soul of this United Way," and in particular, the members of her campaign committee.
The committee members and their divisions were: Shirley Quetel Hendricks, Business I; Winthrop Maduro, Business II; Raymond Fournier, Major Accounts; attorney Micol Morgan and Dr. Margaret Sprauve, Professionals; Geraldine Heath, Residentials; Louis Hill, Government I; Judy George, Government II; Leona Thomas, St. John; Muriel and Wingrove Fenton and Michael Cabacungan, Membership; Angelika Balkarran, Special Events; Silvia Campbell, Education; and the United Way staff who handled the Combined Federal Campaign.
Hammond said United Way is a network of autonomous local organizations, not a large organization with branches. The local board makes all decisions concerning which agencies will receive what amount of funds. The United Way of America and United Way International both offer technical assistance upon request, something the St. Thomas-St. John United Way has taken advantage of. After Hurricane Marilyn, the local organization contacted every other United Way group asking for donations, knowing the community could not provide that year, when the need was greater than ever. Many organizations which had earlier suffered natural disasters sent donations which kept the local United Way afloat.
The local group plans to seek expert assistance, Hammond said, in the areas of grant-writing, teaching grant-writing to member agencies, and in setting up a volunteer management program.
Thanks to the "incredible generosity of the community," Hammond said, United Way is ready for another year of helping agencies which make the community a better place in which to live. "United Way has a good reputation in the community," she said, "due to the fact that potential givers hear where the money's going and how much accountability we provide."
Every campaign dollar raised by the local United Way stays on St. Thomas and St. John. This year almost $500,000 will be distributed to the member agencies in the form of allocations, technical assistance and access to an emergency fund.
Hammond hopes to build the emergency fund to $36,000. It's used in part to tide over agencies which depend to an extent on government allotments which often fail to materialize in the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year.
The amounts approved for direct allocation to agencies in 2002 are:
American Red Cross, $45,000
Boy Scout Council, $46,000
Carabana Ensemble Theater, $4,500
Catholic Charities, $55,000
Civil Air Patrol, $12,000
Dial-A-Ride St. John, $15,000
Dial-A-Ride St. Thomas, $50,000
Downstreet People's Youth In Action, $25,000
Ebenezer Gardens, $25,000
Friends of Volunteers in Public Schools, $4,000
Girl Scout Council, $43,000
Legal Services of the V.I., $35,000
Lutheran Reformation Summer Camp, $5,000
St. Thomas Reformed Church Summer Program, $5,000.
Shaky Acres, $30,000
Victim Advocates, $20,000

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April 1, 2002- The Virgin Islands News Association will hold a general membership meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday on the St. Thomas campus of the University of the Virgin Islands in Teacher Education Building Room T102.
The meeting will address a variety of issues, including the recent Police Department press conference at which it was announced that news media representatives will be required to present police-issued identification cards that will cost $11 each in order to enter any V.I. government building.
Non-members working in the news media and related fields who are interested in learning more about the organization are encouraged to attend.
Following the general meeting, the board will meet to elect officers.
Previous VINA meetings have been teleconferenced between the UVI St. Thomas campus and meeting facilities on St. Croix. Saturday's gathering, however, will take place only on St. Thomas.
The V.I. News Association, formed last year, has adopted bylaws and recently elected its first board of directors — Michael Burton (TV2), Jean Greaux (WVWI News), Patrice Johnson (UVI Public Relations), Will Jones (The Avis) and Shaun Pennington (V.I. Source).
The organization was founded to promote excellence in the practice of journalism and advance the development of responsible journalism in the Virgin Islands; to foster freedom of information and actively oppose all actions tending to limit or curtail that freedom; and to encourage fellowship among those active locally in the mass media.
Membership in VINA is by application. There are four categories of members:
– News media members: individuals engaged locally in news gathering and reporting for the media.
– Charter members: news media members who join the organization within a year of ratification of the bylaws (Aug. 11, 2001).
– Allied members: individuals working in other mass communications or media-related fields (these members have no vote).
– Business, corporate, association or agency members (these members have no vote).
Individual dues are $50 per year for news-media members and $25 for allied members. Organizational dues are on a sliding scale based on number of employees.
For further information about VINA, telephone 693-1058 or e-mail to newsdog@viaccess.net.

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April 1, 2002- The Virgin Islands News Association will hold a general membership meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday on the St. Thomas campus of the University of the Virgin Islands in Teacher Education Building Room T102.
The meeting will address a variety of issues, including the recent Police Department press conference at which it was announced that news media representatives will be required to present police-issued identification cards that will cost $11 each in order to enter any V.I. government building.
Non-members working in the news media and related fields who are interested in learning more about the organization are encouraged to attend.
Following the general meeting, the board will meet to elect officers.
Previous VINA meetings have been teleconferenced between the UVI St. Thomas campus and meeting facilities on St. Croix. Saturday's gathering, however, will take place only on St. Thomas.
The V.I. News Association, formed last year, has adopted bylaws and recently elected its first board of directors — Michael Burton (TV2), Jean Greaux (WVWI News), Patrice Johnson (UVI Public Relations), Will Jones (The Avis) and Shaun Pennington (V.I. Source).
The organization was founded to promote excellence in the practice of journalism and advance the development of responsible journalism in the Virgin Islands; to foster freedom of information and actively oppose all actions tending to limit or curtail that freedom; and to encourage fellowship among those active locally in the mass media.
Membership in VINA is by application. There are four categories of members:
– News media members: individuals engaged locally in news gathering and reporting for the media.
– Charter members: news media members who join the organization within a year of ratification of the bylaws (Aug. 11, 2001).
– Allied members: individuals working in other mass communications or media-related fields (these members have no vote).
– Business, corporate, association or agency members (these members have no vote).
Individual dues are $50 per year for news-media members and $25 for allied members. Organizational dues are on a sliding scale based on number of employees.
For further information about VINA, telephone 693-1058 or e-mail to newsdog@viaccess.net.

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