Sept. 2, 2002 – It was a Roogoodoo sunrise early Monday morning on Veterans Drive as a somewhat small but determined crowd of about 200, celebrated a Labor Day J'ouvert, tramping behind the Imagination Brass from Emancipation Park to Addelita Cancryn Junior High School.
What they lacked in number they made up for in spirit, as the mostly young revelers tramped, danced, boogied, jumped up and, in general, just swayed to "Happy Birthday, Carnival," in tribute to the continuing 50th anniversary celebration of the V. I. Carnival Committee.
Several speedboats packed full of early morning fans cheered the crowd on from the water, as the walls lining the parking lot by the USO were dotted with onlookers awaiting the group. Posted at the entrance to Frenchtown in his bright, blue truck, Jimmy Magras and his daughter, Jessica, waited patiently for the procession to approach. "Where are they now? Are they down to the Windward Passage yet?" As is the custom, the 5 a.m. tramp got off to a late start, but got rolling about 6 a.m.
And the event received international media attention as a German film crew from the German Vox TV network ran alongside the merrymakers. "This is wonderful," one of them said, "This is what we want to get." They are filming a documentary on the Virgin Islands, concentrating on human interest stories. It is not known presently when or if it will be aired in the Virgin Islands.
An industrious crew toting bright yellow plastic bags followed along after the crowd, cleaning up bottles and cans as fast as they were discarded. Fred Stevens, Public Works Department director of roads and highways, stood by his white DPW pickup truck observing his crew of 12 with a big smile. "We've got to have a clean J'ouvert," he said.
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