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Parade Brings Together Residents and Visitors

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Parade Brings Together Residents and Visitors

Friday was the day to mix and mingle, and St. John residents, those from other nearby islands and visitors gathered to watch the island celebrate the 60th anniversary of its annual celebration, now called Festival, with a parade through the streets of Cruz Bay.

“I’ve been having a good time since I’ve been here and this is the icing on the cake,” said Burnett A. Davis Jr. as he gathered with four generations of his Columbus, Ohio, family to watch the parade.

The Davis family rented three vacation villas on St. John to celebrate the family patriarch’s 91st birthday on Sunday.

With a little assistance, Davis was quick to get up and pose with Shaka Zulu, a St. Thomas troupe that, for years, made the trip across Pillsbury Sound for the parade.

The parade is a big tourism draw, Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said as she made her way up the parade route with Property and Procurement Commissioner Lynn Millin-Maduro. Nicholson-Doty said the Virgin Islands celebrates July 4th a bit differently than on the mainland, and promoting the territory’s culture is part of the department’s strategy.

“We are pushing beyond the beach,” she said.

Troupe after troupe of youthful majorettes got lots of attention from the parade attendees. Most hailed from St. Thomas, but one group of majorettes born on one of the Virgin Islands or with deep roots to the territory made the trip to celebrate the 60th anniversary.

“For the 60th we wanted to make the trip back home,” said Nicole Roebuck, daughter of the late Sen. Elmo D. Roebuck and organizer of the V.I. All Stars of Atlanta majorette troupe.

Several floats passed out goodies to the crowd. As they have done for years, St. John Brewers staff distributed small plastic cups of its ale. And the V.I. Water and Power Authority handed out small microfiber towels in WAPA’s gold and blue colors.

WAPA controller Leslie Smith said that the float’s theme was “changing the game…from one generation to the next” to signify WAPA’s evolution from diesel oil to propane ,as well as the addition of solar power to the utility’s grid.

This being the 60th anniversary, the St. John Festival and Cultural Committee sponsored two floats filled with royalty from many years past. Elsie Trotman was the first queen, named Miss Independence in 1961 and now 70 years old, she said she got the title because she sold the most tickets.

“I feel those days were a little more family oriented,” she said a bit wistfully, waiting for the parade to start.

Trotman served as grand marshal, riding near the front of the parade. She returned later in the parade to take her place on the float filled with former queens.

A combined group of children from Julius E. Sprauve School and the now-closed Guy Benjamin School came decked out in red, white and blue and waving American flags.

“Put your hands up in the air,” said Sprauve School Principal Dionne Wells as the students all moved to the rhythm.

St. John’s youthful Hibiscus Cultural Dancers, decked out in orange and yellow madras, made a splash with the parade watchers.

“It’s to keep our culture and tradition alive,” organizer Ivy Moses said, summing up what St. John Festival is all about.

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