With smiles just as dazzling as the blazing sun overhead, hundreds of kids – from tots to teens – showed off everything from colorful costumes to their best dance moves as they marched into Post Office Square on Friday for this year’s Carnival Children’s Parade.
Leading the pack as usual was the parade grand marshal, Alfred "Chubby" Lockhart, who was followed by Carnival Princess Sh’Nyah Bacon and her royal court. Pageantry is always a staple of the parade and, despite the heat, every convertible on the route carried a prince or princess decked out in everything from a crown to a gown. Bacon’s dress, a mint green ballgown, was the first outfit to catch the eye of the crowd and, from the sidelines, everyone was cheering and waving her on.
Many of the local elementary schools also sent their royal courts up the route, which began at the Western Cementary and ended at the Lionel Roberts Stadium. In a car about the middle of the parade, Joseph Sibilly Elementary School’s princess, duke and duchess, also waved glittering septers at the crowd.
“Our students look forward to this every year, and I know they’re having a ball,” Sibilly third-grade teacher Patrice Hendricks said as the royal car moved up. Following behind was Sibilly School’s Sun Rays steel pan orchestra, whose trolley bounced up and down with 43 students all playing the latest soca and calypso tunes, including Pressure’s “V.I. Nice.”
“We’ve been practicing for this since October,” said Sibilly’s steel pan coordinator, Francis Wenner. “It’s seven hours a week – Monday, Wednesday and Saturday – and the students really look forward to coming out each year and showing off what they can do.”
“I’m just a little disappointed there is not more of a crowd out here. We’re always talking about the negative things our young people do, but when they’re doing something positive, like this, there’s hardly anyone out to see them do it,” Wenner said.
Down the road, Yaritza Tirado, Miss Charlotte Amalie High, was leading her school’s group, the award-winning CAHS Marching Hawks band.
As the group moved up the route, CAHS Principal Carmen Howell said, “This year, we’ve decided to enter our Marching Hawks as we commemorate the Carnival theme with our own ‘Musical Fete for Carnival 2014.’ We’re clad in our new orange shirts, khakis, white sneakers and sombreros, so we’re prepared for the parade and prepared to entertain the crowd.”
Along with the the royals and the bands, another popular parade staple are the majorette groups. Leading the charge this year was the Sebastien majorettes, dressed in their traditional blue and gold, while the advanced twirlers danced into the square decked out in blue and white. A few groups down, the Charming Twirlers Majorettes and the St. Thomas Majorettes put up a more colorful showing, pairing bright blues and greens with oranges and pinks.
“We have four different sections this year: our tiny twirlers, the toddlers, the juniors and the intermediates,” said Charming Twirlers coordinator Takina Hodge. “Every time we come out, we spend months practicing our tricks and dances, and we try to put on a unique presentation for the audience.”
Hodge said they tried to keep the Carnival theme and show off the spirit of the season with silver and lime green, two sections of pink and two sections of turquoise. “I know the kids loved the costumes and I think everyone’s having a lot of fun,” she said.
Several other school groups also came out with unique presentations, including Ulla F. Muller Elementary School’s Garden Club, whose coordinator said that the students were armed with packets of homegrown bush tea to give out to the crowd.
“We’ve been in existence since about 2009 and we’re just out here to thank the community for their continuous support for all that they do,” Jessica John Baptiste said. “Our bush tea packets include lemongrass, balsamic and some eucalyptus, and we’re exited to show this off. And we hope our residents like it.”
A few groups back, Antilles School’s students also got the crowd going with a unique tropical bird themed presentation thought up and put together by the school’s parents, PTA and staff leader Verna Araujo.
“Our PTA helped fund the costmes. Some of them even have actual ostrich feathers that came in from off-island,” explained Antilles headmaster Michael Hughes. “We’re proud of what we came up with, the students look great and we’re having a lot of fun. Our contingent gets a little bigger every year and we’re just so excited to be out here and part of all of this.”
One of the last groups to round out the parade, the V.I. Montessori School and Peter Gruber International Academy lit up the route with a “Golden Party” themed set of costumes. The school is celebrating 50 years on St. Thomas and celebrated Friday by paying homage to all the hardworking men and women within the community and at the school.
Students in the first section, for example, were dressed as security guards, while students in the third section were dressed as the hostesses that come out to volunteer at annual Montessori events, including Las Vegas Night and Taste of the Nations.
The school also had a Queen of Band, whose costume depicted a boiling pot of kallaloo, and the group was brought up in the rear by a student dressed as a giant lobster. The school’s theme was thought up this year by Montessori parent Patrick “DeSoljah” Farrell, who was also recently crowned the 2014 Calypso Monarch.