For the past couple of weeks, the air over St. Thomas has been charged and full of the excitement that only Carnival vibes can bring. We began our journey with the Queen Show held in the early part of this year’s schedule. What a joy to watch Savannah Lyons Anthony present her gorgeous cultural costume and then showcase her talents. All of us in the audience felt the confined bird in us set free when Savannah broke out of her cage to dance across the stage after “singing” to the audience through her flute. How she danced on point for as long and as exquisitely as she did is still a marvel. At the evening’s end, she walked away with many accolades, including Miss Intellect and Best Talent. So it was no surprise when she captured the coveted title of Carnival Queen 2012. Among those who witnessed the excitement were Savannah’s mom, Kim Lyons, and her grandma, Maria Wesselhoft. Their pride in her accomplishment knew no bounds. Well done, Queen Savannah!
One of the highlights of this year’s Queen Show was the parade of past queens, many of whom returned to the territory for this special 60th anniversary celebration. None was more regal than the very first Carnival Queen, Carmen Nicholson Sibilly. All hail Queen Carmen!
The opening of Carnival Village is always great fun. The newness of all of the freshly painted and decorated booths, the smells from the many pots wafting to entice patrons to purchase their tasty victuals and the endless stream of drinks of all sorts are just a part. Possibly the most fun is running into old friends with whom we can reconnect after a long time apart. And of course, there is the music and the dancing or should we say ‘de wukkin up.’ This year’s Carnival Village was named for Zeathea Patsy Milliner, who for many, many years was the “chief cook and bottle washer” as chairperson of the Village committee. This well deserved honor was reflected in images across Patsy-Ville. It was wonderful to see our old and dear friend, Harold Thomas, who was home for the celebrations. We spotted Kris and Tom Brunt with their family sporting the newest MSI Carnival tee shirt, a collector’s item each year. Enjoying the opening were, the Jesters Carnival troupe leaders, Whoopsie, Judi, Aurea, Juanita and Claudette, as well as Bernard Van Sluytman and his wife, Gail.
Among those enjoying the ever popular Milo and the Kings were Gwen Blake, Loan Sewer with her sister, Zenzi, her dad, Larry, and Velma Abramsen; also, Steve Bornn, who reps Grucci fireworks every year, Catherine Kean, Giovanni Rochester, Frankie and Cynthia Osborne visiting from Florida, and the indefatigable Louellen Brown.
On the first day of the Village, most booth owners are just getting geared up so the real food is not usually ready. Not so with Waseen Dominic’s booth. They were ready with some delicious hot and tasty soup, which was perfect to sit on the stomach before sipping into the newest entry to Carnival – Captain Morgan. The look-alike who sashayed around the Village and tried out his Carnival dance moves with patrons was quite remarkable. Promoters of the brand distributed bright red Cap’n Morgan hats, which we saw all over the j’ouvert.
The Cultural Fair was the bomb this year and was named in honor of Essalita Fleming, a long time participant. St. Thomians who were back home took time to remind their taste buds of those foods and snacks from their childhood. We saw Reynaldo Raymo, Tammy Dorsey, Simon Caines, Elba Mc Intosh, her daughter, Tynnetta Mc Intosh with Matt Probasco and Henry Williams, who looks great after his ordeal. We had brief chats with Lois Habteyes, Jennifer Nugent Hill, Cynthia Syms, Violette Lisa Roach Browne, Jennifer Litwin and Judy Wheatley, who was with Lydia Ricardo’s sister, Grace, her daughter, Joanne and her fiancé, James. We missed having Lydia and Rick join in the fete-ing and hope to see them soon.
Since we were still recuperating from the early activities, we caught the parades on television. Jesters, the troupe looked spectacular this year! Hope I can rejoin you next year. The fireworks over the Charlotte Amalie harbor was the perfect topper to this birthday cake. All in all, this year’s Carnival celebrations were what a party!
SCENE…..!!!
Invitations to public and private events may be sent to [email protected] or [email protected].