Riders from Tortola, Antigua and Nevis converged on St. Croix last weekend to take on the V.I. Mountain Bike Team in the 6th annual Caribbean Cup.
There were two events held: downhill, which ran Saturday at Goat Hill near Cramers Park, and cross country, which ran on Sunday in the Creque Dam area. John Miller from Tortola took the highest honors with victories in both the men's expert downhill and cross country. The women’s cross country race was dominated by Sue Brown from St. Croix.
The downhill event was on a rocky, 1.2 mile course running from the top of Goat Hill down to Cramer's Park.
"The course was intimidating, with sharp loose turns, rock ledges and drops," said Michael McQueston, president of the V.I. Cycling Federation.
Miller had the fastest time on the course with a run of 2 minutes 19 seconds. The second fastest run came from first-time racer Bryce Scott from St. Croix.
"At just 16, Bryce shows great promise and proved that he was able to compete with the region’s top athletes," McQueston said.
The cross country race ran on a four-mile loop in the Creque Dam/Mount Victory area. The course tested the riders abilities on steep climbs, fast descents and technical rocky sections. The expert field raced for four laps with Miller taking the victory. St. Croix's Jamie Keys placed a close second while Neil Callahan, V.I., took third.
Scott again made his presence felt, easily winning the junior’s race and taking home his second gold medal. John Harper and Jamie Bate, both from St. Croix, added two more golds to the total by winning the Masters class and Sport class respectively. Sue Brown destroyed her competition in the women’s race, lapping her competitors. Her time bettered many in the men’s race.
"In all it was a great event with the V.I. team faring exceptionally well, taking home 5 of a possible 8 gold medals," McQueston said. "We would like to thank all the volunteers and spectators that came out to help with and support the event. We couldn't do it without you. Thanks also to the Frederiksted Hotel for hosting the riders."
The next Caribbean Cup event will be on St. Maarten April 8.
For anyone interested in getting involved with cycling in the territory should call Mike McQueston and the VI Cycling Federation at 772.2343. The team is preparing for more international competition with its sights set on the Pan American Mountain Bike Championships in Puerto Rico in August.
"We are still trying to develop the sport in the territory and welcome anyone who would like to get involved with racing, riding or kids programs," McQueston said.

Even though the V.I. Tourism Department has begun production of a new set of TV advertisements sure to calm local hoteliers, it must now contend with disgruntled local filmmakers.
Eric Zucker, of St. Thomas-based Flicks Productions, said his experience dealing with Tourism’s new advertising agency, international behemoth Ogilvy and Mather, has left him wondering who is in control of the latest ads that are intended to market the territory. It also has him questioning the government’s long-standing mantra of using local companies whenever possible.
On Feb. 9, Zucker’s associate producer, Deborah Quaid, began negotiations with Ogilvy and Mather to produce three 30- second spots highlighting each of the territory’s islands. After an initial consultation with the ad agency, Zucker said his company, which produced Tourism’s last TV promotion in 1997, bid $250,000.
Zucker and Quaid were told that figure was too high. So to accommodate the agency, they asked for a detailed scope of work and brought back another bid of $135,000, Zucker said. Too high again.
After yet another consultation that supposedly outlined the exact needs of the production, Zucker and Quaid brought in a final bid of $104,000 – just $4,000 above the agency’s price.
But the local filmmakers lost the bid to an Ogilvy and Mather off-island production company. The reason given, Zucker said, was because his and Quaid’s scope of work in the final bid – after consultation with the agency – was "inflexible."
"We negotiated and then all of a sudden we were told no," Quaid said. "We were led to believe we were negotiating with them and that we’d get the job."
"We bid it as a normal job," Zucker added. "We dramatically cut the numbers down but with the stipulation that we didn’t need certain things in the contract – we consulted with them. Then they told us we were too inflexible."
Zucker said he wasn’t expecting to have the job handed to his company – the only film company in the territory – on a silver platter. But it made sense to go with a hometown outfit, he said, because it is local, it has experience producing national- and international-caliber work, it understands local permitting needs and it doesn’t have to pay for travel or accommodations.
"It was the best thing at all levels," Zucker said. "I don’t want to assign blame because I haven’t quite figured it out."
Acting Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards didn’t return calls Monday and a representative from Ogilvy and Mather couldn’t be reached for comment.
However, the person who coordinates the majority of film shoots in the territory, Manny Centeno, director of the government’s Film Promotion Office, said he was left out of the loop on production of the Tourism ads. Centeno’s office is within the Tourism Department, but he said he wasn’t aware of the bidding process.
Centeno did say, though, that the territory has top-flight production professionals who could easily have taken on the Tourism job. He added that whenever possible he tries to use local production crews.
"People come to us from all over the world. My job is to prove our capabilities," Centeno said. "But unfortunately I wasn’t intimately involved with this project.
"Those people (Zucker and Quaid) are certainly capable."
Meanwhile, the filmmakers believe it was disingenuous for the ad agency to request a specific scope of work and then in the end say they were not flexible.
"In the end, in my opinion, the agency manipulated Tourism to go with its cronies," said Quaid. "I want to see what they are providing versus what work we gave for $100,000."
Zucker, born and raised on St. Thomas, said he is looking at the experience in a larger context: what it takes to stay in business in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"I want to work," he said. "But there is no point in struggling if my own government doesn’t give me a job that I am prepared for."
"Natural Forces," a video feature Zucker directed, was screened on the opening night of the Reichhold Center for the Arts premiere International Film and Video Festival last month. He's under contract to direct a full-length feature film in California later this spring.

As the Tourism Department at long last gets going on a new series of television commercials to promote the territory as a destination, local filmmakers say they were arbitarily kept from getting the contract to produce the spots.
Eric Zucker, owner of St. Thomas-based Flicks Productions, said his experience dealing with the government’s new advertising agency, international behemoth Ogilvy and Mather, has left him wondering who is in control of the Tourism ads. It also has him questioning the government’s long-standing mantra of using local companies whenever possible.
On Feb. 9, according to Zucker, his associate producer, Deborah Quaid, began negotiating with Ogilvy and Mather to produce three 30-second spots separately highlighting St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.
After an initial consultation with the agency, Flicks, which produced Tourism’s last TV spots, in 1997, and won a national Mobius Advertising Award for one it did showing Peter Holmberg sailing back in 1990, bid $250,000 for the job, he said.
They were told the figure was too high. So, to accommodate the agency, Zucker said, he and Quaid asked for a detailed scope of work and brought back another bid of $135,000. Too high again, Ogilvie and Mather said.
After yet another consultation that supposedly outlined the exact needs for the work, Zucker and Quaid submitted a final bid of $104,000, just $4,000 above the agency’s price.
The filmmakers lost the bid to an Ogilvy and Mather off-island production company. The reason given, Zucker said, was that Flicks' scope of work proposed in the final bid was "inflexible."
"We negotiated, and then all of a sudden we were told no," Quaid said. "We were led to believe we were negotiating with them and that we’d get the job."
"We bid it as a normal job," Zucker said. "We dramatically cut the numbers down, but with the stipulation that we didn’t need certain things in the contract. We consulted with them. Then they told us we were too inflexible."
Zucker said he wasn’t expecting to have the job handed to Flicks, the only full-service film production company in the territory, on a silver platter. But because it is local, has experience producing national- and international-caliber work, is familiar with local permitting needs and wouldn’t incur travel or accommodations costs, he said, it would make sense to go with the hometown outfit.
"It was the best thing at all levels," Zucker said. "I don’t want to assign blame, because I haven’t quite figured it out."
Tourism's acting commissioner, Pamela Richards, who holds the title temporarily while Acting Commissioner Monique Sibilly-Hodge is off island, didn’t return calls Monday, nor could an Ogilvy and Mather representative be reached for comment.
The person whose job it is to coordinate film shoots in the territory, Manny Centeno, director of the government’s Film Promotion Office, said he was left out of the loop on the Tourism ads project. Centeno’s office falls within the Tourism Department, but he said he wasn’t aware of the bidding process.
According to Centeno, the territory has top-flight production professionals capable of taking on the Tourism job. He said that, whenever possible, he tries to use local production crews.
"People come to us from all over the world," he said. "My job is to prove our capabilities. But, unfortunately, I wasn’t intimately involved with this project."
Zucker and Quaid, he said, "are certainly capable" of producing top-quality TV commercials.
The Flicks filmmakers said it was "disingenuous" of the ad agency to request a specific scope of work and then reject the proposal to carry it out on the grounds that the company was not flexible.
"In the end, in my opinion, the agency manipulated Tourism to go with its cronies," Quaid said. "I want to see what they are providing versus what work we gave for $100,000."
Zucker, born and raised on St. Thomas, said he is looking at the experience in a larger context: what it takes to stay in business in the Virgin Islands.
"I want to work," he said. "But there is no point in struggling if my own government doesn’t give me a job that I am prepared for."
"Natural Forces," a video feature Zucker directed, was screened on the opening night of the Reichhold Center for the Arts premiere International Film and Video Festival last month. He's under contract to direct a full-length feature film in California later this spring.

As the Tourism Department at long last gets going on a new series of television commercials to promote the territory as a destination, local filmmakers say they were arbitarily kept from getting the contract to produce the spots.
Eric Zucker, owner of St. Thomas-based Flicks Productions, said his experience dealing with the government’s new advertising agency, the international behemoth Ogilvy and Mather, has left him wondering who is in control of the Tourism ads. It also has him questioning the government’s long-standing mantra of using local companies whenever possible.
On Feb. 9, according to Zucker, his associate producer, Deborah Quaid, began negotiating with Ogilvy and Mather to produce three 30-second spots separately highlighting St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.
After an initial consultation with the agency, Flicks, which produced Tourism’s last TV spots in 1997 and won a national Mobius Advertising Award for one it did showing Peter Holmberg sailing back in 1990, bid $250,000 for the job, he said.
They were told the figure was too high.
To accommodate the agency, Zucker said, he and Quaid asked for a detailed scope of work and brought back another bid of $135,000. Too high again, Ogilvie and Mather said.
After yet another consultation that supposedly outlined the exact needs for the work, Zucker and Quaid submitted a final bid of $104,000, just $4,000 above the agency’s price.
The filmmakers lost the bid to an Ogilvy and Mather off-island production company. The reason given, Zucker said, was that Flicks' scope of work proposed in the final bid was "inflexible."
"We negotiated, and then all of a sudden we were told no," Quaid said. "We were led to believe we were negotiating with them and that we’d get the job."
"We bid it as a normal job," Zucker said. "We dramatically cut the numbers down, but with the stipulation that we didn’t need certain things in the contract. We consulted with them. Then they told us we were too inflexible."
Zucker said he wasn’t expecting to have the job handed to Flicks, the only full-service film production company in the territory, on a silver platter. But because it is local, has experience producing national and international-caliber work, is familiar with local permitting needs and wouldn’t incur travel or accommodations costs, he said, it would make sense to go with the hometown outfit.
"It was the best thing at all levels," Zucker said. "I don’t want to assign blame, because I haven’t quite figured it out."
Tourism's acting commissioner, Pamela Richards, who holds the title temporarily while Monique Sibilly-Hodge is off island, didn’t return calls Monday, nor could an Ogilvy and Mather representative be reached for comment.
The person whose job it is to coordinate film shoots in the territory, Manny Centeno, director of the government’s Film Promotion Office, said he was left out of the loop on the Tourism ads project. Centeno’s office falls within the Tourism Department, but he said he wasn’t aware of the bidding process.
According to Centeno, the territory has top-flight production professionals capable of taking on the Tourism job. He said that whenever possible, he tries to use local production crews.
"People come to us from all over the world," he said. "My job is to prove our capabilities. But unfortunately, I wasn’t intimately involved with this project."
Zucker and Quaid, he said, "are certainly capable" of producing top-quality TV commercials.
The Flicks filmmakers said it was "disingenuous" of the ad agency to request a specific scope of work and then reject the proposal to carry it out on the grounds that the company was not flexible.
"In the end, in my opinion, the agency manipulated Tourism to go with its cronies," Quaid said. "I want to see what they are providing versus what work we gave for $100,000."
Zucker, born and raised on St. Thomas, said he is looking at the experience in a larger context: what it takes to stay in business in the Virgin Islands.
"I want to work," he said. "But there is no point in struggling if my own government doesn’t give me a job that I am prepared for."
"Natural Forces," a video feature Zucker directed, was screened on the opening night of the Reichhold Center for the Arts premiere International Film and Video Festival last month. He's under contract to direct a full-length feature film in California later this spring.

The first University of the Virgin Islands Humanities Festival will open on March 19 with a reception at the Reichhold Center for the Arts. A week of activities will include lectures, scholarly presentations and performances featuring Caribbean scholars, poets, dramatists, artists and historians.
Titled "The Humanities at the Threshold of the New Millennium," the festival will feature a lecture on "Arts and Articraft" — functional artwork such as decorative woodwork — on the opening day.
It will conclude with a "Jazz on the Green" performance on Sunday, March 26, on the St. Thomas campus golf course by music faculty member Martin J. Lamkin "and friends."
According to a release, through the festival offerings, the Humanities Division "will take the university community and the Virgin Islands community at large on an artistic journey of discovery."
Humanities faculty members Gene Emanuel and Gilbert Sprauve are the festival coordinators. "This festival is a recognition of the enormous amount of talent in our midst," Emanuel said.
While most events will take place on the St. Thomas campus, several will be held on St. Croix, including a discussion with local artists and a literary workshop.
The opening night of the spring Little Theater production, "Play Mas" by Trinidadian playwright Mustapha Matura, will also be a part of the festival. Performances are set for at 8 p.m. on Friday through Sunday, March 24-27.
Among the scholars and artists coming to UVI for the festival are Virgin Islanders Gus Edwards and Clement White.
Edwards, director of the film study program at the University of Arizona, is a playwright whose works include "Black Woman's Blues" and "Louie and Ophelia." Among his cinema credits are the feature film "Go Tell it On the Mountain" and a PBS documentary on the Negro Ensemble Company.
White, who will participate in a round-table discussion with artists, is a foreign language specialist at the University of Rhode Island.
For further festival information, call Emanuel at 693-1348 or Sprauve at 693-1342.

Representatives of The West Indian Company Ltd., the V.I. Port Authority and the Tourism Department left the territory this weekend for the 16th annual Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami. The convention will open Tuesday and continue through Friday.
Seatrade is the largest gathering of cruise line owners, operators and suppliers in the world. It is expected that 100 countries will participate in the event, which features more than 900 exhibitors. The Virgin Islands will be represented with a 400-square-foot display jointly sponsored by WICO, VIPA and Tourism.
As in years past, V.I. representatives are expected to use the four-day conference to promote the territory as a premier cruise destination. Their ultimate goal is to increase cruise ship calls to the islands.
WICO's president, Edward Thomas, leads the company's delegation, which also includes operations director Alfred Lloyd and public relations person Calvin Wheatley. For the Port Authority, executive director Gordon Finch and public relations person Shirley L. Smith are among those attending. Acting Commissioner Monique Sibilly-Hodge and public information officer Kisa Harris will represent Tourism.

The V.I. Casino Control Commission will decide on Monday whether it will issue the operators of the territory’s first casino their certificate of operation.
If the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino on St. Croix receives approval, a ribbon-cutting will be held on March 14 and the doors of the casino will open to the public on March 17. Prior to next Monday’s meeting, the casino-resort must post a $1.5 million performance bond to ensure that it meets all the requirements of the V.I. Casino Control Act, including additional hotel rooms.
Before gaming can begin, the casino license holder must submit a list to the CCC so it can review 17 specific areas regarding operations, including accounting controls, collection and securing money, redemption of chips, opening and securing slot machines, handling and storage of casino equipment, salary structure and personnel practices.
"Prior to opening we will have to have all these procedures in place," said Eileen Petersen, chairwoman of the CCC.
Petersen said the commission had finally received access to the Casino Revolving Fund, which contains revenue from application and licensing fees. Access to the $100,000 fund was crucial because the commission must pay approximately $40,000 to an outside company to inspect the 300 slot machines at the Divi casino before it opens.
Of the fund’s $60,000 balance, $50,000 is earmarked for gaming enforcement while $6,000 will be used to outfit the commission’s gaming enforcement office within the casino.
Commissioner Lloyd McAlpin said that as of Feb. 25, the hotel-casino had hired 222 people. Of that number, 77 percent, or 172, are Virgin Islanders. The Casino Control Act states that at the end of the first year of operation, 65 percent of the employees at a resort-casino must be bona fide residents. The figure rises to 75 percent at the end of the second year and to 90 percent at the end of three years.
The act defines a resident as someone who has been living continuously in the V.I. for five years, or a native-born Virgin Islander.
The numbers reported by McAlpin Monday gave Petersen a chance once again to refute allegations from certain sectors of the island that the Divi wasn’t complying with local hiring laws. While McAlpin said the commission isn’t keeping track of hiring at the hotel-casino by race, Petersen emphasized that the law doesn’t call for it.
"People who have lived here more than five years don’t have to be of any one color," said Petersen. "The law says bona fide residents. It doesn’t say black bona fide residents nor white bona fide residents."
In other CCC action, commissioners approved a plan to deal with the possible fallout associated with casino gambling. The commission – in conjunction with the Department of Health’s Mental Health Division, the Department of Human Services, V.I. Partners in Recovery, and the Divi resort – will develop a plan that will address aspects of problem gambling.
The plan is based on one used in Missouri, said McAlpin. It will focus on increasing public awareness of possible problems and the fact that problems can be addressed through intervention. Initial funding will come from the National Council on Problem Gaming.
"It is by no means a complete plan," McAlpin said. "But the beginning of an effective one."

The honorees at this year's St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet cover a wide spectrum of the community — former governor Alexander Farrelly, business executive Avna Paiewonsky Cassinelli, arts presenter Rhoda Tillett, the Mongoose I and II shopping complex, and three student leaders at Charlotte Amalie High School.
Farrelly, Cassinelli and Tillett will be honored with Wilbur "Bill" LaMotta Community Service Awards. Mongoose Junction is being recognized with the Corporate Citizen Award. And students Morgan Callendar, Nahshan St. Bernard and Dwayne K. Thomas will receive Student Achievement Awards.
The presentations will take place at the chamber's annual dinner dance, set for Saturday, April 1, at the Estate St. Peter Greathouse and Botanical Garden.
Farrelly, a former Virgin Islands senator and Territorial Court judge as well as a two-term governor, was the territory's third elected chief executive. Prior to that, he was a senior partner with the late Everett Birch and John deJongh Sr. in the law firm that today is known as Birch deJongh Hindels and Hall. A moving force in the Democratic Party for more than three decades, he is now retired.
Cassinelli is the president of A.H. Riise Stores and of Isidor Paiewonsky Associates. The daughter of Isidor and Charlotte Paiewonsky, she led the fight for enactment of "Bill 0411," which gave the territory an edge as a duty-free shopping destination by granting excise tax exemptions on imports of luxury goods. She has been a strong advocate for beautification in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
Tillett moved to St. Thomas in 1959, when her late husband, Jim, started the silkscreening studio still in operation at the former farm they named Tillett Gardens. She has been presenting Arts Alive arts and crafts fairs since 1980, Classics in the Garden concerts since 1987, the annual Arts Alive/Vitelco Classical Music Competition for young people since 1990 and the Tillett Garden Series of non-classical concerts since 1997.
The upscale Mongoose Junction shopping complex broke new ground architecturally and entrepreneurally in Cruz Bay nearly two decades ago. The chamber is recognizing both Glen Speer, architect/developer for the complex and owner of what is now known as Mongoose I, and T.A. Carter, owner of the more recent adjacent development, Mongoose II.
In years past, the chamber has recognized one FBLA member. This year, chamber executive director Joe Aubain said, three seniors received such outstanding recommendations "from teachers, school administrators and people in the community who know them" that the chamber decided to honor them all. "They're all in FBLA, they're all in football, and they're all National Honor Society," he said.
The chamber has been honoring private and public sector leaders in the community with the LaMotta Awards since 1983, with recipients numbering two to four each year.
Last year, Aubain said, the chamber instituted the the practice of presenting one such award to a non-profit agency activist, with Lynn Falkenthal, executive director of the Victim Advocate program, the first honoree. It's "a way the chamber can recognize the leadership of such agencies, for what they contribute is so much a part of the community," he said.
The Corporate Citizen Award was presented at the awards banquet for the first time last year, too, with Coral World the recipient. "We have long had the award, but it had been given at a smaller function," Aubain said. It's in recognition of "the commitments a business has made to the territory by investing in esthetics and architecture, adding to the overall destination," he said.
The theme for the April 1 evening is "Celebrating the Year of the Dragon." Mario Dennis of Liberated Artists and Floral Design is in charge of the decorations, which will have an oriental motif.
"There were hints," Aubain said, tongue firmly in cheek, "that in the past, the chamber's recognition dinner dances had been. . . well, a bit boring." So, last year, the organization went all out for a "Stars, Starfish, Starlight" evening at Coral World, and this time it's opting for the oriental theme.
"It will not be boring," Aubain promises with a smile. "It's going to be a lot of fun." According to informed sources, the ambience must might even include a real Chinese New Year- type dragon making its appearance.
There will be cocktails on the poolside deck from 7 to 8 p.m. The awards presentation will follow, and after that guests will dine in the new banquet pavilion at the North Side visitor attraction. P'Your Passion will provide music for dining and dancing. Dress is "island elegant." Tickets are $100 per person; they'll be available shortly, and reservations may be made by calling the chamber offices at 776-0010.

The 13th Annual Snapple Swim-O-Thon starts at 9 a.m. Saturday at Magens Bay, Shed #2.
The event, sponsored by the St. Thomas Swimming Association Inc., will have added excitement this year, as the organization's 12-year project to construct a community pool for the islands is nearing completion.
Kathy Huttel, the Swimming Association's executive director, said she was "thrilled to report that construction began on Jan. 20." Construction of the pool, itself, should be completed this month, but the necessary infrastructure, including water, lockers, parking and other necessities, is needed before the doors can be opened, she said.
And that is the goal of this year's Swim-O-Thon. Huttel is calling all island swimmers to enter the meet, individuals, as well as teams. And, according to the number of teams already signed up, it looks like you'll hardly be able to see the water for the swimmers.
The competing teams include the Ulla Muller "Mullets," VI Montessori "Manta Rays," Eudora Kean "Devil Rays," Lockhart Swimmers, Antilles "Hurricanes," STSA "Stingrays," 1st VI Federal Savings Bank "Screaming Dollars, "WVWI Radio One Waves," Banco Popular "Stingrays"and many individual competitors.
The challenge is to complete as many 50-meter lengths in one hour's time as possible. Sponsors may pledge an individual or a team, with pledges per length.
The Swimming Association has received generous community support for the project, including Magens Bay Concession which will provide food for all preregistered swimmers. Bellows International Ltd., distributors of Snapple, which sponsors the event, will provide the drinks.
WVWI Radio One will be on hand throughout the day with live reports, and "Baby,"of Magens Bay Concessions, will keep the beat as DJ of the day. There will be raffles for all, swimmers or not, with winners announced at 4 p.m.
Since 1986, the St. Thomas Swimming Association, a nonprofit organization, has helped more than 9000 local residents, mainly children between the ages of two and 18, in a variety of programs including Learn to Swim, Swim Team and Aquatic certifications.
To register for the event, call Kathy Huttel at (340) 779-2500.

Don't Stop The Carnival! Play Mas, Play Mas!!! That is exactly what the UVI Theatre has in store for the entire community. At 8 p.m. on March 24, 25, 26 and 27, a play entitled "Play Mas" will open in the UVI Little Theatre. The play, written by Trinidadian playwright Mustapha Matura, promises an evening filled with fun and merriment. Situated in Trinidad, "Play Mas" focuses on a relationship between an East Indian tailor and his Afro-Caribbean apprentice. A theme of the play that should hit home with Virgin Islanders deals with the important role that annual carnivals play in Caribbean culture. Regardless of limited funds or political disturbances, you can't stop carnival!
Don't Stop The Carnival! Come play mas with us March 24, 25, 26 and 27. General admission is $10 and tickets for student with identification are only $5. Tickets are on sale now at the following outlets: Dockside Bookstore, Education Station, Nisky Pharmacy, UVI's Humanities Building and the UVI Bookstore.
Remember, the UVI Theatre's Mas starts on time –– 8 p.m. sharp — in the UVI
Little Theatre on the second floor of the Class Room Administration Building on UVI's St. Thomas campus.