May 29, 2005 – "Where is the crowd?" George Farchette was asking that question as the St. Croix Foundation was holding a block party on Sunday Market Square.
He asked it about 3 p.m. on Sunday. The event was scheduled to go until 7 p.m. The band had not started yet, and there was hope that more people would show up.
And by four p.m. a little crowd was starting to form in the recently renovated area in downtown Christiansted.
Aasma Safqat who sells Indian and Pakistani foods with her mother Amna and sister Fatima, however, said, "This is nothing."
The family has been selling its food at the Starving Artists Sale and at events in the Botanical Garden and was used to bigger crowds.
Delegate Donna Christensen did make the event. She said she had to because she had been away and could not make the February celebration when the Square was opened after renovation (See "Times Square Dedicated as Sunday Square Again").
However, she pointed out that she had spent many hours on Sunday Square. She said she went to Alexander Theater just about every week, back when movies only costs 35 cents.
The theater was not part of the Sunday Square revitalization project but the building on the edge of the Square is on the planning board for the St. Croix Foundation. Plans are to turn it into a performing arts center.
The only other government official spotted at the event was Sen. Ronald Russell. Officers from the police bicycle patrol, which received funding from the St. Croix Foundation, were on hand watching that everything went smoothly
Residents will have more opportunities to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend.
On Monday morning at 6 a.m. the 22nd annual Memorial Day Two-Mile Road Race begins at Beeston Hill. Registration starts at 5:15 a.m. at the V.I. Family Sports and Fitness Center.
Christiansted's Memorial Day parade begins at Basin Triangle, where marchers are set to assemble at 8 a.m. for a procession to the Christiansted Cemetery and later to the National Park waterfront for grave side and seaside tributes. Marchers will then join the public at the Christiansted bandstand at 10 a.m. for the official ceremony.
Besides selling somasa and pakoras at community events, Aasma Safqat says her family, which has been on St. Croix for just over two years, also caters to small groups. She said their food is popular with people who are vegetarians. She said their dishes can be made with or without meat.
For more information call 772-4277.
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