Dec. 15, 2007 — Hundreds and hundreds of people coursed through the main artery of downtown St. Thomas Friday night, adding varied amounts of welcome cash into the coffers of retailers while enjoying myriad performers and musicians.
The celebration marked the 14th annual Miracle on Main Street holiday festival on St. Thomas, where stores keep their doors open until 9 p.m., street vendors sell traditional holiday fare and dozens of bands dot the festive streets crooning, drumming, strumming and making merry.
"Everywhere you go, there's a different band," said Tara Ashmore, a local resident. "It's so social. It's great!"
This year marked the first time the event, sponsored by the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, extended as far west as Rothschild Francis Market Square in honor of its renovation, which was dedicated in July.
The Miracle actually kicked off at 10 a.m. with a traditional arts, crafts and food fair in Emancipation Park, but it wasn't until the sun went down that the festivities truly took off.
Dusk marked the annual parade of boats in the downtown harbor, an aspect of the festivities that draws Bruce and Debbie White to the waterfront each year. This year, however, was disappointing, they said.
"Last year there were 6 (boats), the year before 8," Bruce said. "But this year there are only 3."
Nevertheless, the 3 boats were each ablaze with stylized holiday lighting as they circled around and around, to the delight of first-time island visitors Doug and Nancy Widdicombe and their two children, who hail from Niagara on the Lake in Canada. The festivities, combined with what they described as a very welcoming experience during their week-long stay, left them feeling very drawn to St. Thomas.
"It looks fantastic," Nancy said. "The passion that everybody has is amazing. And one thing we noticed about the island, it's so safe. Everybody is so friendly and so helpful."
While the streets, especially Main Street, were chock full of revelers and shoppers, at least two store owners weren't feeling the love.
"It's not spectacular," said Vashi Dadlani, 30-year owner of Dadlani's Little Europe, a jewelry store on the waterfront. Even though his small store had customers turning sideways to get through, he had seen better years. "Things are a little tight everywhere, so you find less spending and you have to go with the times," Dadlani said.
Nearby, another jewelry store owner was echoing the same.
"It's just that people don't have the money to spend, and those who have it keep it tight because they don't know what tomorrow is going to bring," said Emmanuel Alexander, co-owner of Symygy. "Today was very, very slow."
Corporal Omodoso Muhammad of the V.I. Police Department saw what he thought was a good crowd of shoppers as he made the rounds Friday evening. "If you go looking through all these stores, you'll see no less than 20 people going and coming. It's a pretty good night."
He noted that it was not quite 7 p.m.
"It's still early," he said.
Bruce White, who was disappointed at the diminishing number of boats participating in the annual parade, was still glad he came.
"Oh yeah!" he said. "I never miss it. "It's the holiday, and it's a miracle on Main Street!"
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