When Dion Parson comes home to the Virgin Islands to perform, he brings a lot of baggage. It goes with the territory when you're a drummer.
But when he heads back home to New York, he travels light.
That's because he leaves his drums behind – by design.
"It started two years ago," Parson says. "Every time I come home, I donate a set of my drums to a school." He's given sets to Eudora Kean and Charlotte Amalie High and helped Central High get a set. After Saturday night's concert at the Reichhold Center for the Arts by 21st Century, his New York-based jazz band, he'll be donating the set he uses to a school to be announced.
Each set he gives away is "the set I actually play on for the concert," he explains. "I get some drums, I tour the world with them, then, when I come back home, I leave them and go back and get a new set." While he does have some personal drums that "I would never give away," the ones he uses on tours "are drums I get for the purpose of giving them away." It's not too painful parting with them, he says, because "I have endorsement companies now" that supply the instruments he plays.
The idea of donating drums was a natural outgrowth of Parson's commitment from hi college years to conducting school music workshops when he's on island. He still has this memory from when he was doing one at then-Bertha C. Boschulte Junior High School of "drums held together with strings, sticks broken." He says, matter-of-factly, "When I was a kid, I would've spent my lunch money to buy new sticks, but that's not how it is today."
Now, don't get the idea that Dion Parson is a totally selfless musician. It's important to him that he get credit where credit is due, and he makes the point in talking about 21st Century, the jazz band he and saxophonist and fellow St. Thomian Ron Blake started three years ago.
21st Century came about, Parson says, through "an ongoing process" that led to the "actual formation of the band when we did the first CD" – released in 1998 and titled simply "21st Century." The process got a jump start nine years earlier, when Blake, a graduate student at Northwestern University, and Parson, an undergrad at Rutgers, spent a week playing in a pickup quartet with fellow Virgin Islander Bryce Sebastien, in from New York, on string bass and University of the Virgin Islands faculty member Martin Lamkin on trombone.
The occasion was the Premier Virgin Islands Jazz Festival, which had saxophonist Gary Bartz as one of the headliners. Blake and Parson sat in with the Bartz trio and a relationship resulted which has continued through the years.
Parson, son of the late Niels "Sonny" Parson and Winifred Sullivan, and Blake, son of Tommy and Gwendolyn Blake, have also performed with Nancy Wilson, David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard and Diana Reeves and appear on more than 50 recordings in addition to the two 21st Century Cds to date.
On St. Thomas, 21st Century made its debut at Insomnia with Blake doing most of the introductions and fellow St. Thomian Reuben Rogers playing bass. The CD that came out soon thereafter has nine songs, three written by Blake and three by Parson. The CD itself and the spine of the plastic jacket read simply "21st Century / Dion Parson and Ron Blake." It was clearly a crediting of equals.
Now, things have changed.
The concert Saturday night is officially called "Dion Parson Project 2001 with 21st Century and Ron Blake on Sax."
"It's my band," Parson says. "I'm the band leader. Ron is the featured artist of the band."
The new album, recorded in New York last March, is titled "People Music." The cover is a photograph of drums, with the title words across the top and "Dion Parson" in capital letters and "featuring the 21st Century Band" in smaller letters across the bottom.
Although Saturday is the official release date for the album, Parson will be at the Modern Music store in Nisky Center at 6 p.m. on Friday to sign copies – and sell his own "Musicwear" line of T-shirts and hats. "The Musicwear logo is the logo for both 21st Century and for Dion Parson," he says. "It doesn't say either; it promotes the band and it promotes me."
The other members of the band are Carlton Holmes (piano), St. Thomian Reuben Rogers (bass), Ron Jackson (guitar), Robert Thomas Jr. (percussion), Denise Jannah (vocals) and St. Thomian Rashawn Ross (trumpet).
All "have some kind of Caribbean connections or tropical descent," Parson says. Thomas is from the Bahamas, Jackson is from the Philippines and Holmes is someone he has known "for 10 years, since I've been in NewYork; I just introduced him to Jon Lucien and they've been having a wonderful time."
What's on the new album
For "People Music," Parson says, he "basically wrote eight of the nine songs (he composes at the piano), did all of the pre-production, designed the graphics myself." He offers these brief descriptions of the tracks:
– "'Promise to the Future' is a song about a world filled with laughter where our kids can grow strong … Music is the answer." Although he's not a parent, he says, "I have personal meanings behind it." The song was "written for kids and parents. You do what you have to do today so tomorrow will be better."
As explanation, he offers: "When I was a kid, I used to have constant dreams, used to see stadiums with hundreds of thousands of people going berserk. I would always see them from behind drums, a band playing." That was odd, he says, because at that time "I wasn't even playing drums. I was playing trombone." The dreams, he recalls, "stopped once I got into playing the drums."
– "'The River Rolls On' is the song (St. Thomas jazz vocalist) Cynthia Saunders did at last year's Reichhold concert. She recorded it on her CD that just came out. Jon Lucien produced the CD, and I was a part of that."
– "'Little Melonae' is a song that sax player Jackie McClean wrote for his daughter … I just couldn't get it out of my head, so I made an arrangement."
– "'Mellow D' I kinda wrote for myself. It's a reggae song, nice vibes."
– "'Lullaby for Belle' I wrote for a very dear friend of mine when she had gotten sick."
– "'To Us' is one my guitar player wrote when he was 19 years old; it's a contemporary fusion song."
– "'N.G.P., for Sonny' is my father's initials. It's my tribute to my father, who passed away last year. Niels Gerald Parson – on St. Thomas, everybody called him ‘Sonny P.'" Although his mother "knows my every more," he adds, "she doesn't know I wrote the song for my father, since nobody has heard this new CD."
– "Brazilia" is a samba he wrote after playing for a week in Rio de Janeiro and "checking out Brazilian rhythms, then hanging out in New York with newfound friends from Brazil."
– "'Child's Play' is a soca with a little twist, in six beats to the bar. I experimented with organ, a 12-string guitar and different instruments, trying to get different sounds."
Parson says he took up drums because "I had no choice. I got a lot of resistance, but every time I couldn't play the drums, the more I heard ‘no,' the more I said ‘yes!'"
Leroy Trotman was his music teacher in elementary and junior high school. Austin Venzen taught him at Charlotte Amalie until his senior year, when Georgia Francis took over the band. "My main influence was all the drummers who played in the calypso bands," he recalls, citing Freddie Canton, Lenny Monsanto, Alvin Baptiste, T
ommy Pilgrim. "They're the guys I first heard. None of them are really jazz drummers."
But the early jazz influences were there. "Seeing people do it made it more intriguing," he recalls. "I had no idea what it took." At 15, he was playing with pianists Louis Taylor, Roan Creque and the late Windsor Rhoden, "who took me under his wing."
The making of musicians
He and Blake, who is two years older and attended high school at the Interlochen Academy in Michigan, didn't meet until Parson's junior hear in high school. "One day I was playing at Magens Point with Windsor Rhoden, and Ron's father dropped him off. That's where I met Gary Bartz, who was just back from the Berlin Jazz Festival."
After getting a degree in music education from Rutgers, Parson moved to New York, and when Blake, too, made the move in the early 1990s, they became roommates for a year.
Parson got to know Rogers, several years his junior, while teaching in band programs on St. Thomas. "When I first met Reuben, he was a clarinet player. He doesn't like anybody to know it. To go from clarinet to the bass is a wonderful thing – he's a natural."
Ross "is one of the kids I used to teach in summer workshops. He just graduated from Berklee (School of Music in Boston). Now he says, ‘Man, all that stuff you and Ron used to tell me about music, I didn't take you seriously, but it's true.' He turned out to be one of the kids that took our advice and made it work for him." One element of that advice was, "You've got to prove yourself. You can't graduate with a music degree with a 4-point-0 and get a job."
In addition to his work in 21st Century, Parson performs regularly with pianist Joanne Brakeen (and recently performed in Isreal with her); Jon Faddis, director of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band; and flautist Sherry Winston. On Fridays, he's got a regular gig at St. Nich's Pub, "one of the last remaining organ clubs in Harlem," where he plays in the Bill Saxton organ trio. His 2001 calendar includes playing in South Africa in March with Fatimah Benjamin, and in Paris and Corsica in May with a French band.
One thing Parson would like his home community to know is that "St. Thomas is a very rich culture musically. I travel the world, I hear about it. I've never been anywhere that I haven't met somebody who's been there and loved it and wants to go back."
Concert time Saturday is 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 in the covered section and $18 in the open air. They're available at Krystal & Gifts Galore, Modern Music/Havensight, Parrot Fish Music, the UVI bookstore and the Reichhold box office on St. Thomas, and at Connections on St. John. For charge card purchases, call 693-1559.

The Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture, Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program announces the availability of approximately $70,000 in grant money to be awarded through the 2001 Challenge Cost-Share Grant Program.
Awards will be allocated on a competitive basis. All federally granted funds must be matched at least equally (dollar for dollar) with non-federal source funds.
This match may include in-kind donations, volunteer assistance, and private and public (non-federal) monetary contributions. The recommended range for proposals is $1,000 – $10,000. The maximum funding to a single applicant will be $10,000.
Applicants may submit and be funded for multiple projects. Any non-federal organization operating within the United States Virgin Islands may apply for a Challenge Cost-Share Grant, such as communities, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood associations, civic groups, educational institutions, volunteer groups, and the local government. Deadline for proposal submission is May 1, 2001.
The primary goal of the U&CF Assistance Program is to encourage citizen involvement in creating and supporting long-term and sustainable Urban and Community Forestry programs throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands. Urban forestry activities include all those practices employed to plan for and ensure the protection, establishment, and maintenance of community trees, forests, and related natural resources.
To obtain more information and a 2001 Proposal Packet and Application for Assistance, all interested and eligible persons/organizations should contact:
Belinda Esham, U&CF Coordinator
Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture
#1Estate Lower Love
Kingshill, VI 00850
(340) 778-0998 or 0997 Ext. 233 esham@viaccess.net

Whether Gov. Charles Turnbull’s veto of a tourism authority stands, members of the Senate majority hinted Tuesday that they will propose a revised version.
At a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, Chairwoman Alicia "Chucky" Hansen grilled acting Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards and Assistant Commissioner Monique Sibilly-Hodge on what advice they gave Turnbull on the tourism authority and a proposal to raise the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent.
Richards and Sibilly-Hodge said they opposed raising the tax from 8 percent to 10 percent, which Turnbull approved, and they were against creating the authority. Such a move would dismantle the Tourism Department and institute a public-private board to implement and manage the territory’s tourism policies.
Richards said the issue of control over the territory’s marketing efforts was one of the issues that caused her to oppose the authority proposal. She also said that control over how the territory, particularly St. Croix, is portrayed in advertising was a concern.
"Control of the marketing message is better controlled by the government with the input of the private sector," Richards said, adding that some in the tourism industry want St. Croix to be showcased as a Danish island.
"There is a lot of background there," she said, regarding colonialism and slavery.
Hansen and Sen. Norma Samuels, however, pressed Richards on who is pushing the Danish connection. Richards said it was primarily the cruise ship industry and her concern over that issue was just an example of her overall problems with a tourism authority.
Hansen said Turnbull’s decisions on the authority and the tax hike, which were directly opposite what the private sector wanted, proved that a new approach is needed in government.
"It’s a great example of why it is we need an authority," she said.
How a future tourism authority would be structured, though, remains a question. Richards said another problem with the proposal Turnbull vetoed was that the commissioner of Finance would have retained control of funds generated by the room tax used to market the territory. That, she said, is one of the problems faced now by the commissioner of Tourism.
"It is the same as it is now," Richards said. "What is the difference?"
Sen. Carlton Dowe said he would consider moving legislation that addressed the control issue and financing. He asked the president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, Richard Doumeng, if the private sector would spend more to market the territory if the tax increase was repealed and an authority approved.
"The stakeholders want input on how their investment is marketed," Doumeng replied. "I think the difference in the 2 percent can be more than made up if there was a true public-private partnership."
In its policy agenda released prior to the veto of the tourism authority, the Senate majority said it would propose its own concept. The majority wants to see an "equitable balance between the public and private sectors in setting tourism policy."
The composition of the authority board in the bill Turnbull vetoed was six private-sector members and three government officials. A revised bill could tilt control to the public sector, or at least create a five-four split.

An audit of the V.I. Legislature has found that it violated the V.I. Code by spending $1.16 million more than was allotted in Fiscal Year 1999, thus contributing to the government's operating deficit, and circumvented Finance Department rules by using its imprest fund "as a revolving expense account" to pay hundreds of thousands for salary advances, travel items and other services.
Conducted by the U.S. Interior Department's Office of Inspector General, the audit covered the fiscal years 1997-99. It found that in 1999, the Legislature underspent its appropriation by $373,602 but overspent how much was actually allotted to it by the V.I. Office of Management and Budget by $1,158,541.
"The Legislature's director of Business and Financial Management told us that the Legislature adopted the position that it was entitled to its full appropriation," the audit states, "because the Legislature believed the government's executive branch did not have the authority to reduce its appropriation."
But the audit goes on to cite the V.I. Code, which explicitly states that no government officer or employee can spend more than is apportioned. And the Legislature's business director informed then-Senate President Vargrave Richards at least twice of impending overspending, according to the audit, imploring him to institute cost-cutting measures.
"The realities are that the Legislature cannot continue to spend without regard to the financial woes that the government is experiencing at this time," the audit quotes the letter as saying. In addition, at least three memos outlining cost-cutting measures for the Senate were drafted by the business director but never signed or issued by Richards.
The Legislature dipped into the General Fund when its allotment ran out, the audit said, contributing to the government's operating deficit for 1999.
In his response to the audit, Richards did not concur with its findings and again insisted that the Legislature can spend as much as it appropriates for itself, regardless of whether the Management and Budget Office actually gives it the money. He cited in support a section of the V.I. Code that he said prohibits the OMB director from unilaterally reducing how much is allotted to the Legislature.
Regarding the imprest fund, which works like petty cash, the audit found it was used to pay for senators' expenses and legislative operations "regardless of dollar amount or purpose," in transactions totaling more than $1.2 million from 1997 to 1999.
"The director of Business and Financial Management told us that the Legislature adopted the practice of paying for day-to-day Legislature operations from the imprest fund because local vendors did not always accept government purchase requisitions and because the Department of Finance did not always process payment requests in a timely manner," the audit said.
It found four instances in which advance payments to various contractors, which were to be repaid to the imprest fund once payment was received from Finance, were never repaid, for a total of $23,000. In his response, Richards detailed how all but one of the payments (for $5,000) had been researched and repaid.
In all, the Legislature concurred with eight of the audit's 12 recommendations; the Inspector General's office has asked that the Legislature reconsider its position on the four others.

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Alicia "Chucky" Hansen vowed Tuesday to undo Gov. Charles Turnbull’s veto of a tourism authority proposal and his increase in the hotel occupancy tax.
Tuesday's committee’s hearing on the state of the V.I. tourism industry had been scheduled for weeks but Turnbull’s veto of a public-private tourism authority and his decision to increase the hotel room tax from 8 percent to 10 percent made the six-hour plus session even more timely.
The tourism industry's distress over the governor’s decisions has not been lost on Hansen, who has vowed "radical" changes to knock the industry out of a decade-long malaise.
And even though Hansen, a member of the Senate’s eight-member majority bloc, is two votes shy of the 10 needed to override Turnbull’s veto, she remained steadfast.
"Win, lose or draw, I’m moving it," she said. "We should not look at it as a dead issue."
Despite the political rancor between the majority bloc and the remaining seven – mostly Democrat – senators, Hansen may have a shot at an override. While Sen. Emmett Hansen II, a Democrat and not a Finance Committee member, didn’t say outright that he would support an override attempt, he did sit in on the hearing and commiserated with the hoteliers and tourism-dependent business owners outraged by the governor’s actions.
It is unclear whether Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, a committee member and non-aligned senator, would support an override.
Chucky Hansen, who repeated her intent to shake up the government’s approach to tourism, said she would also move to repeal the 2 percent increase of the room tax.
"It seems like everyone is singing the same songs relating to what happened in the past," she said. "This is a new direction and new leadership from this Legislature’s majority."
Such statements were well-received by individuals in the tourism industry who lamented the Tourism Department’s lack of a long-term plan to promote the territory. Wendell Snider, president of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, quoted Bureau of Economic Research statistics that for every dollar spent on advertising the territory, the government receives $15 in return.
"There has to be a five-year marketing plan," Snider said. "There is none. When there has not been a (Tourism commissioner) in 36 months, how can there be any?"
Chucky Hansen said the $11 million collected annually in hotel occupancy taxes, which by law is supposed to be used only for marketing the territory, should be increased to $14 million, although she didn’t say where the additional funds would come from.
The $11 million, Hansen said, "is simply not competitive with what other jurisdictions are spending."
"If we do not increase the money, we will not have any more business," Hansen said.
Of the $14 million, she said, $2 million should go to advertise St. Croix exclusively and $2 million to promote the territory’s marine industry.
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, said that other than covering the expenses incurred by the Tourism Department with General Fund monies, the V.I. government relies entirely on hotel occupancy taxes to promote the Virgin Islands as a tourist destination. In turn, he said the government's lack of a larger investment to attract visitors is keeping the amount collected from hotel room taxes low.
"We as a people don’t spend one red cent promoting the territory," he said. "It’s not that 8 percent is too low. There aren’t enough people coming here to pay it."
Doumeng also agreed with Hansen that St. Croix needed extra help.
"I think St. Croix deserves a special fund to get on the map," he said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Alicia "Chucky" Hansen vowed Tuesday to undo Gov. Charles Turnbull’s veto of a tourism authority proposal and his increase in the hotel occupancy tax.
Tuesday's committee’s hearing on the state of the V.I. tourism industry had been scheduled for weeks but Turnbull’s veto of a public-private tourism authority and his decision to increase the hotel room tax from 8 percent to 10 percent made the six-hour plus session even more timely.
The tourism industry's distress over the governor’s decisions has not been lost on Hansen, who has vowed "radical" changes to knock the industry out of a decade-long malaise.
And even though Hansen, a member of the Senate’s eight-member majority bloc, is two votes shy of the 10 needed to override Turnbull’s veto, she remained steadfast.
"Win, lose or draw, I’m moving it," she said. "We should not look at it as a dead issue."
Despite the political rancor between the majority bloc and the remaining seven – mostly Democrat – senators, Hansen may have a shot at an override. While Sen. Emmett Hansen II, a Democrat and not a Finance Committee member, didn’t say outright that he would support an override attempt, he did sit in on the hearing and commiserated with the hoteliers and tourism-dependent business owners outraged by the governor’s actions.
It is unclear whether Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, a committee member and non-aligned senator, would support an override.
Chucky Hansen, who repeated her intent to shake up the government’s approach to tourism, said she would also move to repeal the 2 percent increase of the room tax.
"It seems like everyone is singing the same songs relating to what happened in the past," she said. "This is a new direction and new leadership from this Legislature’s majority."
Such statements were well-received by individuals in the tourism industry who lamented the Tourism Department’s lack of a long-term plan to promote the territory. Wendell Snider, president of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, quoted Bureau of Economic Research statistics that for every dollar spent on advertising the territory, the government receives $15 in return.
"There has to be a five-year marketing plan," Snider said. "There is none. When there has not been a (Tourism commissioner) in 36 months, how can there be any?"
Chucky Hansen said the $11 million collected annually in hotel occupancy taxes, which by law is supposed to be used only for marketing the territory, should be increased to $14 million, although she didn’t say where the additional funds would come from.
The $11 million, Hansen said, "is simply not competitive with what other jurisdictions are spending."
"If we do not increase the money, we will not have any more business," Hansen said.
Of the $14 million, she said, $2 million should go to advertise St. Croix exclusively and $2 million to promote the territory’s marine industry.
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, said that other than covering the expenses incurred by the Tourism Department with General Fund monies, the V.I. government relies entirely on hotel occupancy taxes to promote the Virgin Islands as a tourist destination. In turn, he said the government's lack of a larger investment to attract visitors is keeping the amount collected from hotel room taxes low.
"We as a people don’t spend one red cent promoting the territory," he said. "It’s not that 8 percent is too low. There aren’t enough people coming here to pay it."
Doumeng also agreed with Hansen that St. Croix needed extra help.
"I think St. Croix deserves a special fund to get on the map," he said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Alicia "Chucky" Hansen vowed Tuesday to undo Gov. Charles Turnbull’s veto of a tourism authority proposal and his increase in the hotel occupancy tax.
Tuesday's committee’s hearing on the state of the V.I. tourism industry had been scheduled for weeks but Turnbull’s veto of a public-private tourism authority and his decision to increase the hotel room tax from 8 percent to 10 percent made the six-hour plus session even more timely.
The tourism industry's distress over the governor’s decisions has not been lost on Hansen, who has vowed "radical" changes to knock the industry out of a decade-long malaise.
And even though Hansen, a member of the Senate’s eight-member majority bloc, is two votes shy of the 10 needed to override Turnbull’s veto, she remained steadfast.
"Win, lose or draw, I’m moving it," she said. "We should not look at it as a dead issue."
Despite the political rancor between the majority bloc and the remaining seven – mostly Democrat – senators, Hansen may have a shot at an override. While Sen. Emmett Hansen II, a Democrat and not a Finance Committee member, didn’t say outright that he would support an override attempt, he did sit in on the hearing and commiserated with the hoteliers and tourism-dependent business owners outraged by the governor’s actions.
It is unclear whether Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, a committee member and non-aligned senator, would support an override.
Chucky Hansen, who repeated her intent to shake up the government’s approach to tourism, said she would also move to repeal the 2 percent increase of the room tax.
"It seems like everyone is singing the same songs relating to what happened in the past," she said. "This is a new direction and new leadership from this Legislature’s majority."
Such statements were well-received by individuals in the tourism industry who lamented the Tourism Department’s lack of a long-term plan to promote the territory. Wendell Snider, president of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, quoted Bureau of Economic Research statistics that for every dollar spent on advertising the territory, the government receives $15 in return.
"There has to be a five-year marketing plan," Snider said. "There is none. When there has not been a (Tourism commissioner) in 36 months, how can there be any?"
Chucky Hansen said the $11 million collected annually in hotel occupancy taxes, which by law is supposed to be used only for marketing the territory, should be increased to $14 million, although she didn’t say where the additional funds would come from.
The $11 million, Hansen said, "is simply not competitive with what other jurisdictions are spending."
"If we do not increase the money, we will not have any more business," Hansen said.
Of the $14 million, she said, $2 million should go to advertise St. Croix exclusively and $2 million to promote the territory’s marine industry.
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, said that other than covering the expenses incurred by the Tourism Department with General Fund monies, the V.I. government relies entirely on hotel occupancy taxes to promote the Virgin Islands as a tourist destination. In turn, he said the government's lack of a larger investment to attract visitors is keeping the amount collected from hotel room taxes low.
"We as a people don’t spend one red cent promoting the territory," he said. "It’s not that 8 percent is too low. There aren’t enough people coming here to pay it."
Doumeng also agreed with Hansen that St. Croix needed extra help.
"I think St. Croix deserves a special fund to get on the map," he said.

A high-ranking official in the administration of Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has tentatively indicated the V.I. government has gone from budget deficit to budget surplus.
Special Assistant to the Governor for Policy Initiatives James O'Bryan Jr. was asked on Tuesday about reports that directives had been issued by fiscal officers of the administration that the surplus revelation be kept secret.
"I can confirm that at the last cabinet meeting on St. John, Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull indicated that based on a preliminary review of the government's books, we ended with a $20 million surplus," he said. O'Bryan said that despite the surplus, accounts must still be reconciled and there are still outstanding bills to be paid.
When asked why the information was not to be divulged publicly, O'Bryan said the administration did not want to mislead the public about the true financial situation of the government. Still, he said, "there is no question that the government finished the Fiscal Year 2001 in very good shape."
If indeed there is a budget surplus, it would mean that deficit spending has been reversed for the first time in many years.

Sunday's 19th Annual Ultrasprint will commemorate Black History Month for the benefit of the Special Olympics. Conducted by the St. Thomas Association of Roadrunners (STAR), it will take place at a different time and in a different place from Ultrasprint in recent years. To accommodate the larger field expected, Ultrasprint will start on Veterans' Drive, loop through Frenchtown and finish where it started. The distance will be 1 mile and the race starts promptly at 4:30 p.m. There will also be a ½-mile run for children.
Special Olympics T-shirts will be given to all finishers. Registration will take place starting at 3:00 p.m. on the Waterfront apron across from the Windward Passage Hotel. The fee is $8 with all proceeds going to the Special Olympics.
For additional information, call 777-8183.

James Schleifer, director of marketing for Absolut vodka, will address the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands at its February speakers meetings at noon on Feb. 13 at Chickie's Place in Frenchtown on St. Thomas, and at 6:30 p.m. the following day at the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino on St. Croix.
Schleifer has been director of marketing for Absolut vodka at Seagram Americas since 1998. He oversees all national and regional marketing initiatives for Absolut, today the number one imported vodka in the USA with sales of more than 4 million cases annually. In 1999-2000, Mr. Schleifer led the introduction and national rollout of Absolut Mandarin, the most successful spirits launch in Seagram's history. In 2000, he also oversaw the brand's 20th Anniversary advertising and marketing campaign, which celebrated the brand and its milestones since the launch of Absolut in the USA in 1980.