Nov. 22, 2008 — The sloping green grounds of the University of the Virgin Islands Reichhold Center for the Arts fairly pulsed with life, color and energy Saturday, the first day of the 26th annual Agriculture and Food Fair.
The gentle hillside was filled with a maze of flowering plants, table upon table of vegetables in every color or the spectrum — and maybe a few never before seen — bright orange and red peppers, huge green squashes, bright pink bougainvillea, hibiscus, and Christmas pots of poinsettias.
French farmers from the north side and Bordeaux farmers filled their stands with wonderfully scented basil, mint, fresh thyme in neatly tied bundles, or in pots. The bounty was without end.
V.I. Farmers Cooperative president Dale Brown from St. Croix, showing for the first time on St. Thomas, held out a light green butternut squash, shaped like a gourd.
"You cut the top off like this," he said to a young woman listening intently. "Then you stuff it, put the top back on and stick it in the oven."
Ok, stuff with what? "Oh," said Brown, "whatever you have at hand — onions and rice is good."
Brown said the organization has 73 members, mostly on St. Croix where there's more arable land.
Fintrac Senior Agronomist and Entomologist Richard Pluke stood in the midst of the fresh vegetable and plant worlds, intrigued by a 23-pound watermelon grown by Ras Amaha of the We Grow Food Bordeaux cooperative.
"I've never seen anything like this — we don't grow watermelons in England," he said. Pluke has been on St. Thomas since 2006, offering Fintrac's technical and financial help to local farmers.
Fintrac sponsored the awards presented Saturday at the 2 p.m. opening ceremony featuring remarks by Gov. John deJongh Jr., UVI president LaVerne Ragster, Agriculture Commissioner Louis E. Petersen and UVI extension service state director Kwame N. Garcia.
This year's awards went to: Michael Bryan, for crop farmer of the year; top livestock farmer Nathaniel Tuitt; and Malcolm Meyers for home gardener.
And what would a fair be without animals? Solberg Farm had pens of everything from baby chicks to serious looking cattle, goats, rabbits and one ferret. For one dollar, kids were allowed to climb in the pens and pet their favorite bunnies or chicks.
Sequoia Bonney, a comely eight-year-old, made herself perfectly at home in the chick pen. "Look," she said, holding up a tiny yellow chick, "I can make him go to sleep." With a proud smile, she turned the peeper on its back, rubbed its tummy, and to sleep it went. With a satisfied smile, she said, "See?"
But the emphasis was more on health Saturday, as witnessed by the lines forming for the Department of Health tent, which was more popular than the tempting aromas wafting over from the nearby food booths.
It looked like flu shots were outselling pates, pork, potato stuffing and johnnycake. Folks were happily standing for a bit to get a free flu shots, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar screenings by the DOH staff, donned in bright white T-shirts with the "Wellness is our Way of Life" motto.
Among those taking care of their health were several members of the territory's finest. Garfield Gideon, auxiliary policeman, said, "It's a good thing to do, and it's been a long time since my last checkup." Last seen, Gideon was corralling some fellow officers to the tent.
In addition, Dr. Bert Petersen, medical director of the local DOH early detection program and head of breast oncology at the Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, lectured on what people need to know about breast and cervical cancer. Dr. Audria Thomas, DOH medical director, then spoke on asthma.
Elsewhere on the grounds, the 10 members of the St. Thomas-St. John Woodworkers Association made their second appearance at the fair. William Johnson, who just started his craft five years ago, had his works on display along with master craftsman Avelino Samuel. Samuel displayed his beautiful bowls along with a few fanciful spinning tops.
The whimsical also caught Johnson's fancy, with a display of spurtles — 15th century wooden utensils. "It's very good for stirring cream of wheat," Johnson said.
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