Thursday, December 26, 2019 was the Opening of Stanleyville. The Crucian Christmas Festival Village, named Stanleyville in honor of the iconic quelbe band. The opening ceremonies set the tone of preserving Crucian heritage by honoring culture bearers Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights and Frederiksted stalwart Leona Schulterbrandt, posthumously. Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett and the other leaders praised Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a band.
The village boasted 36 food booths presenting an array of culinary styles for all tastes. The colorful booths with lighted decorations and food samples attracted visitors. Read more on the St. Croix Source.
Former UNICEF worker and writer Horst Cerni who lives in the Virgin Islands shares his adventurous journey in his new autobiography “Journeying to Paradise”. The book is filed with filled with anecdotes about Cerni’s travels around the world, his family, the war and working with people like Marlon Brando, Roger Moore, Victor Borge, Dustin Hoffman, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Pele and Boris Becker.
On January 4, 2020, the Adult’s Parade of the Crucian Christmas Festival featured troupes dancing through the streets wearing beautifully hand crafted, vibrant, feathery costumes. Participants showcased the culture and traditions of the island.
The USVI Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte announced St Croix will soon have three daily flights from the Miami market. In midst of a tourism revival, St Croix will have an additional daily American Airlines flight coming from Miami starting next summer.
The first section of the St. Croix Bike Path opened Wednesday at the crest of the Christiansted Bypass by the AARP national president and others involved with the project.
The V.I. Trail Alliance, a nonprofit organization, received a $22,500 AARP challenge grant – the first awarded in the territory by AARP – to design and implement the one-mile bikeway. The path begins at the Gallows Bay stoplight and goes west to the turn to Bassin Triangle.
An archaeologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and nineteen middle and high school students from the Caribbean Center for Boys & Girls of the Virgin Islands in Christiansted take a close look at Estate Little Princess on St. Croix. The excavation findings in the little house reveals artifacts that offer an intimate look into some of the most enigmatic lives in modern history: those of the enslaved Africans who once lived here.
Enslaved Africans lived and worked on Estate Little Princess starting from the plantation’s founding in 1749 until slavery was abolished on St. Croix in 1848. At the plantation’s peak in 1772, documents record 141 enslaved people living there.
