Sept. 26, 2001 – Nearly 200 workers laid off on St. Thomas and St. John in the two weeks since the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., have filed for unemployment compensation, Labor Commissioner Cecil Benjamin said Wednesday night at a meeting hosted by the Labor Department.
"We have been inundated with these workers coming into our small offices, filling the place," he said at a forum held in the Holiday Inn Windward Passage Hotel on St. Thomas to disseminate information to hospitality workers. About 40 people were in attendance, including a number of Labor officials whose presentations took about an hour and a half at the start of the meeting.
Benjamin told the gathering that his department has "deep concerns about the effects of the tragedy. We will be affected, but we don't know how far, if it will be temporary or not." H added that it is his feeling "that people will fly again, but we don't know when."
He also said Labor will seek to determine whether some hotels have used the terrorism as an excuse to cut back their labor forces. He said his suspicions were aroused by evidence of "one or more" hotels advertising vacant job positions while also laying people off.
But he also said that most hotels have been cooperating with his department to weather the crisis and that the investigations are not meant to put his department in an adversarial relationship with the hotels.
In the first two hours of the forum, no one attending claimed to have been laid off under questionable circumstances.
Most of those who have filed unemployment claims in the last two weeks worked in the hotel industry, Benjamin said, and so far, there has not been a rush of applicants from other tourism-related sectors such as retail and restaurants.
David Yamada, general manager of the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort, said Wednesday that the resort has not laid anyone off but that employees have been encouraged to take their vacations now to trim back on staff size.
Booking of reservations has slowed down dramatically, but "we hope it will rebound," Yamada said. "Layoffs are the last thing we want to do."
Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, said member hotels recorded a grand total of 80 bookings in the week of Sept. 18-25, compared with 389 in the same time period last year.
Because of fear of flying, the downturn in the economy and uncertainty of what is going to happen if America begins a military campaign, "People are just not making the commitment to travel," she said. "We're not seeing people's confidence returning yet."
Benjamin indicated that the Labor Department would be able to handle all claims for unemployment benefits and that the department had enough funds to cover the increase in claims.
In fact, the pool for jobless payouts, V.I. Unemployment Trust Fund, into which employers pay taxes annually, is considered excessively large by federal standards. It was recently calculated at $61 million, enough money to pay 3.71 years of benefit checks under normal circumstances. The federal Labor Department regards a 2-year cushion as adequate. The maximum payout is $233 a week.
At Wednesday night's meeting, Benjamin and Nicholson gave no public indication of the verbal blows they had traded earlier. Tuesday's V.I. Daily News carried a letter from Nicholson criticizing the Labor commissioner for having "recently stated to the press that the hotel industry had used Sept. 11 as a means to get rid of employees" and calling his comments "irresponsible." She posed the question, "Is it possible that Mr. Benjamin has not read a newspaper or turned on a television in the past 11 days?"
She then cited statistics: "More than 100,000 individuals in the U.S. airline industry, 10,000 at Boeing and a half-million hotel employees nationwide have lost their jobs … A recent poll indicated that only 30 percent of Americans would fly if necessary. And only 7 percent would do so willingly." St. Thomas and St. John hotels, she said, "have lost 18,000 room nights over the next 60 days, resulting in more than $4 million in lost business. In September of 2000 hotel occupancy for St. Thomas and St. John was 42 percent; we would be surprised if occupancy this September reaches 15 percent."
Her letter also stated that the hotel association "contacted that department to see how we could be of assistance" with the forum. But "instead of conversing with us to determine how we could work together to get through this very difficult period, the commissioner found it more expedient to set up an adversarial situation," she wrote. "This is so pointless at a time when we should be working together."
In response, Benjamin issued a press release Wednesday afternoon saying he was "appalled at the unwarranted personal attack on his character and integrity." Nicholson, he charged, "did not even have the common decency or respect to contact me with her concerns. And to further indicate that I was oblivious to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, is downright absurd …"
In the release, Benjamin noted that the meeting had been planned months earlier as part of an ongoing series. It was, he said, intended as a forum for sharing information with all hospitality industry employees "and not only with those that are affected by layoff or reduced hours."
Addressing his earlier accusation that hoteliers were using the terrorist situation as an excuse to lay off workers, he said, "We suspect that there are some businesses that have taken advantage of this sad situation, and our department can validate this."
"We in no way intend to cause an affront to any business," he stated in the release. "The Virgin Islands Department of Labor is Business Friendly." He said he plans to work closely with the private sector "in our mission to promote economic stability and protect and develop the territory's workforce through establishing partnerships with businesses."
Jean Etsinger also contributed to this report.

Sept. 26, 2001 – Eric Christian, known by residents and visitors as "Mr. Eric," died Tuesday. He was 71.
Christian was well-known as the onetime proprietor of Eric's Hilltop Restaurant, located in Cruz Bay at what is now the Legislature Building. The restaurant operated in the 1960s and early 1970s.
"Conch is what people came for," St. John resident Rosa Samuel recalled. In recent years, Christian cooked up his specialties for West Indian Night at the Inn at Tamarind Court.
"I'll always remember him smiling out the kitchen window," owner Betty Berlin said. She said that his heart was as big as his smile.
Christian's brother, Lambert Christian, said he was a "very nice fellow" who always tried to help everybody.
He is survived by his children Eric Jr., Ellis, Roane, Alvis Sr. and Joan Christian; his brothers Lambert, Randolph and John Christian; and his sisters Delphine Boynes, Ina Christian Sullivan, Charlotte Harley and Louisa Encarnacion.
Information on services was not immediately available. Arrangements are by Creque's Funeral Home.

Sept. 26, 2001 — Two weeks after the terrorist attacks on the mainland, cruise line industry officials are keeping an optimistic eye on the start of the cruise season in November.
The International Council of Cruise Lines is a non-profit trade association based in Virginia that represents the interests of 16 cruise lines in the North American market. Its president, Michael Crye, told the British Broadcasting Company on Wednesday that despite terrorism's crippling effects on mass travel, he doesn’t believe Caribbean cruises will be severely impacted in the coming months.
"We anticipate that the ships that will be going from South Florida and San Juan to the Caribbean destinations should not be affected substantially," Crye said.
Because of the perception that the Caribbean is a traditionally friendly region, Crye said, American vacationers won’t be as averse to leaving home to go that route. And to circumvent the new fear of flying and the logistical complications of doing so, he said, two major cruise lines, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, will be setting sail from new "drive-up markets," such as Galveston and Houston in Texas, New Orleans and Tampa.
This approach, Crye said, will not only ease the need for cruise passengers to fly to their embarkation points and back, but also reduce the overall cost of a cruise because no airfare will be involved.
The Caribbean "will be one of the best vacations," Crye said.
Adding to the industry’s rosy picture for the region are recent capacity reports from major cruise lines. For departures Sept. 19-23, Carnival Corp. ships operated at an occupancy level of 97.7 percent, according to the company. During this period, the company's six fleets — Carnival, Holland America, Windstar, Seabourn, Costa and Cunard — carried a total of 58,718 guests.
"The strengthening in occupancy levels is very encouraging and clearly indicates that consumers are resuming their vacation plans, including returning to the airways," Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison said in a release. Despite the increased security at airports and seaports, he said, delays have been less than anticipated, and consumers are demonstrating a desire to begin traveling again.
"It's apparent that, based on these numbers, Americans are heeding the advice of our elected officials and returning to their normal activities, which includes taking vacations," Arison said.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced that occupancy on its Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises ships was 92 percent for Sept. 20-24. And it was 97 percent for the company’s seven-night Caribbean cruises, according to a company release.
"Concerns regarding the safety of traveling are easing on a daily basis," Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises, said. "We will do whatever we can as a company to speed that recovery."
That recovery is crucial to the Virgin Islands, particularly the St. Thomas-St. John district, where earlier projections envisioned 1.9 million passengers visiting this calendar year, with two million expected in 2002. Those passengers and the ships' crew pump $1.2 billion into the islands' economy, mainly in the retail and tour sectors.
On Tuesday, one cruise line halted all operations and filed for federal bankruptcy protection — but it was a company offering itineraries in the Mediterranean and the South Pacific, not in the Caribbean. Renaissance Cruises, a privately held firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., operated eight ships.
It was the second indication this week that the Mediterranean and Asia's loss as a result of heightened security concerns may be the Caribbean's gain. On Monday, it was announced locally that the Norway, which had been scheduled to leave the Eastern Caribbean after two decades to begin service in Asia this winter, will instead return to the region for at least another year, continuing to call weekly at St. Thomas and St. John.
There are 719 cruise ship calls scheduled for St. Thomas-St. John this coming season, while St. Croix is expected to see about 110.

Sept. 26, 2001 – A subdued and attentive luncheon crowd listened Wednesday as Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, told them the stark facts of the territory's current tourism crisis.
"My talk was originally scheduled before Sept. 11 — and even at that time the situation was grim," Doumeng said. "I was prepared then to say we were experiencing the worst September and October in our history." The months are traditionally the slowest time of year for tourism in the territory.
"Today," he told his audience, the weekly meeting of Rotary II at Marriott Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort, "you could take all the tourists on St. Thomas and St. John and put them into the Reef's 500 rooms and probably have rooms left over."
Graphically describing the territory's plummeting economy since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland, Doumeng said, "It's worse than a hurricane. It's devastating, but you can't see the devastation yet." Then, he added, "There are some who seem to refuse to admit there's something wrong.
"There is something wrong."
Doumeng said the emphasis right now within the territory's hospitality sector is on surviving the next 90 days. From an occupancy standpoint, "No hotel in the territory should be open now, but what would the message be if it got out that the V.I. hotels were closing?" he said.
In the last two weeks, at his property alone, he said, "We've had 500 room nights of cancellations. That's $60,000." He is the general manager of Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, which is owned by his family. He and they have been in the hotel business on St. Thomas for more than two decades.
All told, "St. Thomas and St. John have received 23,000 room cancellations for September and October," he said. "That's 11,500 taxi rides, if the guests just use a taxi every other day." He added, "Some major properties on the island [of St. Thomas] could close."
And on St. Croix, he continued, the Divi Carina Bay Resort "had nine guests last night, out of 150 rooms."
Even in such dire straits, however, Doumeng was not without hope or suggested solutions. "The answer is partnering with the airlines and getting some temporary economic relief from the government," he said.
Last Friday, representatives of the territory's four major business associations, the two Chambers of Commerce and the two Hotel and Tourism Associations, took an emergency disaster relief proposal to the executive branch. On Wednesday morning, Doumeng told the Rotarians, representatives of the four groups had a follow-up meeting with Tourism Department officials and the administration's top financial officers. "It was a good cross-section," he said. "I'm more encouraged today than I was yesterday."
To date, no statements solidarity with or proposals of assistance for the territory's hospitality industry have been forthcoming from Government House, the Tourism Department or the Legislature. Gov. Charles W. Turnbull did not attend Friday's meeting and is in New York City this week.
Doumeng said those at Wednesday morning's meeting discussed getting some kind of a relief package from the government for the hotel industry. "We need some kind of tax relief, or a moratorium on WAPA payments," he said. "We're looking to people who hold our insurance policies and the banks who hold our mortgages."
On Friday, the business leaders proposed a four-month postponement on the payment WAPA bills and gross receipts taxes.
However, he noted, the government is bound by the $300 million bond indebtedness the administration took on two years ago to bail the territory out of an economic crisis. "Because of that, we can't waive taxes," he said.
"I'm not a finance guy," Doumeng continued, "but everything is tied up in the bond issue of the past. We have leveraged our future. It's trickier to do something now because of our bond obligations."
He expressed dismay at actions in the Legislature this week. On Tuesday, the body added an extra $2.8 million to the record $551 million Fiscal Year 2002 budget through overrides of earlier Turnbull vetoes. "Where do they think the money is coming from? When are they going to look at the numbers and see what they're doing?" he asked.
"Look at other governments all around the country. They're cutting back. And they're working together."
For the local private sector, working with the airlines to get people to the territory is "what we have to do," Doumeng said. "We have to locally find ways to help American Airlines and others to keep the flights we have coming into the territory."
It's still too soon after the terrorist attacks to start an aggressive marketing campaign, he said. But "when the time is appropriate, we will extend an offer to the rescue workers in New York to come to the territory. We will work with airline partners to try to finance 500 hotel rooms with 1,000 paid airline tickets."
While other Caribbean islands such as St. Kitts and Nevis have already announced such free stays to New York and Washington firefighters and police officers and their families, he said, they "aren't offering airfare. The difficulty is absorbing that cost. But we will do this, somehow."
Another initiative under consideration, he said, is an idea borrowed from the cruise lines, which offer passengers free airfare to their ports of embarkation. "They're great promotions," he said. "We'll do something similar. Say, if you book two passengers, the second one flies free, with the second one paid for by the government."
He said he has established a "dialogue" with Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, and he hopes she will be receptive to the private sector's ideas.
"We've got to promote the infrastructure in the V.I.," Doumeng said. "There was a time when I got sick of hearing constantly 'America's Caribbean.' Now, we've got to use it. We have to show that the infrastructure is in place, we have the U.S. Coast Guard, we are a safe American destination."
After his speech, Doumeng was asked about Labor Commissioner Cecil Benjamin's public remarks to the effect of the hotels laying people off to take advantage of the mainland tragedy. Doumeng almost couldn't answer. "That is so profoundly beyond what is going on," he said. "Don't these people look around? The hotels are empty. It's certainly not a political move."

Sept. 26. 2001 – Funeral arrangements are pending for Calvert C. Marsh, who died Monday on St. John. A native St. Johnian, he was 55.
Marsh, a building appraiser with the Tax Assessor's Office, started work in that agency in the 1970s. Before that, he worked as a police officer. "He was a dedicated worker. He was very soft spoken but firm," Tax Assessor Roy Martin said from his St. Thomas office.
Marsh's sister, Eglah Clendinen, said that her brother was always willing to bring the family together and to help people." He was a good, kind-hearted person," she said.
St. John resident Robert O'Connor recalled Marsh as a "regular guy." He said the two of them played baseball together and that Marsh served several times as president of the St. John Lions Club.
Longtime friend J. Brion Morrisette said that Marsh was a person who made the transition from the old St. John to the new. Born in Coral Bay, he grew up in a time when horses were the only land transportation from there to Cruz Bay.
"He had his feet in both worlds," Morrisette said, adding that his friend had the social graces typical of old-time St. Johnians, but the business skills needed for today's world.
As St. John moved into a tourism-based economy, Marsh became an entrepreneur, opening a restaurant called The Still on the Coral Bay waterfront. When the establishment closed, he leased the property, and Morrisette said he had recently converted part of it to short-term rental apartments. "He had wonderful business vision," Morrisette said.
Marsh is survived by his wife, Augusta Marsh; son David Marsh; daughter Liz Yvonne Tanner Marsh; brothers Kenneth and Meredith Marsh; sisters Eglah Clendenin, Myrine Hodge, Minerva Marsh Jacobs and Joan Marsh Krigger; and many other relatives and friends.
Funeral arrangements are by Creque's Funeral Home.

Sept. 26, 2001 – When her telephone rings with messages about exposure opportunities for the territory, Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards doesn't call back, say two people who have been frustrated in their efforts to set up events on St. Thomas that could reach a wide audience of potential visitors.
"We need the enthusiastic endorsement of the Tourism Department," said Mike Gautreaux, who didn't get it.
Gautreaux hoped to film a segment of the Billfishing Xtreme Release League tournament here in August. But when Richards failed to call him back with a decision on the Tourism Department's help, he moved the segment to Tortola.
The tournament, filmed on location at five different sites, is in the midst of airing on ESPN. Each show lasts a half hour.
"The real benefit is that it repeats over and over," said Michael Bornn, a former acting Tourism commissioner, who made the initial contact with Gautreaux. Bornn said the people who watch such television shows come from all walks of life, and they are people who might book a trip to the Virgin Islands after seeing footage on television. "It lights their fire," he said.
Gautreaux said he started trying to work with Tourism in January on plans for the fishing tournament. He met once with Assistant Commissioner Monique Sibilly-Hodge in May, but when Richards failed to follow through with a decision by July, he changed the locale.
"I couldn't wait any more," he said, adding that the British Virgin Islands government was very receptive to his proposal.
He said that when he learned about the Tourism Department's dire financial straits from other sources, he was willing to cut a deal that called for three shows to air this year and three next year. While he needed $40,000 from the department to make it happen, the money could be paid after the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1. He said the money was needed for airline transportation and tournament expenses.
Gautreaux said he would love to shoot a fishing tournament segment on St. Thomas, but it will take cooperation from the Tourism Department to make it happen.
Nels Hawkinson is going ahead with plans to hold the University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments, but he's doing it with no help from the Tourism Department.
"They haven't even bothered to return one phone call," he said, adding that he called Richards at least six times.
He said this was especially bothersome given the state of the tourism industry since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The tournaments will run Nov. 17-26. Eleven women's teams and six men's teams, all from mainland colleges, will play at the new UVI Sports and Fitness Center. Hawkinson said that video coverage of the games will air on television stations in the hometowns of the 17 teams. The areas include major markets from the East Coast to the central states.
"This is unbelievable advertising for the Virgin Islands," he said, adding that ESPN is touting the tournament.
Hawkinson said he wanted to do joint local marketing with Tourism in order to sell local tickets to the tournament games. And he hoped the department would help with finding donors of goods and services to help defray expenses.
Richards' response to the comments made by Hawkinson and Gautreaux would not surprise them. She didn't return a phone call to the Source, either.

Sept. 26, 2001 – When her telephone rings with messages about exposure opportunities for the territory, Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards doesn't call back, say two people who have been frustrated in their efforts to set up events on St. Thomas that could reach a wide audience of potential visitors.
"We need the enthusiastic endorsement of the Tourism Department," said Mike Gautreaux, who didn't get it.
Gautreaux hoped to film a segment of the Billfishing Xtreme Release League tournament here in August. But when Richards failed to call him back with a decision on the Tourism Department's help, he moved the segment to Tortola.
The tournament, filmed on location at five different sites, is in the midst of airing on ESPN. Each show lasts a half hour.
"The real benefit is that it repeats over and over," said Michael Bornn, a former acting Tourism commissioner, who made the initial contact with Gautreaux. Bornn said the people who watch such television shows come from all walks of life, and they are people who might book a trip to the Virgin Islands after seeing footage on television. "It lights their fire," he said.
Gautreaux said he started trying to work with Tourism in January on plans for the fishing tournament. He met once with Assistant Commissioner Monique Sibilly-Hodge in May, but when Richards failed to follow through with a decision by July, he changed the locale.
"I couldn't wait any more," he said, adding that the British Virgin Islands government was very receptive to his proposal.
He said that when he learned about the Tourism Department's dire financial straits from other sources, he was willing to cut a deal that called for three shows to air this year and three next year. While he needed $40,000 from the department to make it happen, the money could be paid after the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1. He said the money was needed for airline transportation and tournament expenses.
Gautreaux said he would love to shoot a fishing tournament segment on St. Thomas, but it will take cooperation from the Tourism Department to make it happen.
Nels Hawkinson is going ahead with plans to hold the University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments, but he's doing it with no help from the Tourism Department.
"They haven't even bothered to return one phone call," he said, adding that he called Richards at least six times.
He said this was especially bothersome given the state of the tourism industry since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The tournaments will run Nov. 17-26. Eleven women's teams and six men's teams, all from mainland colleges, will play at the new UVI Sports and Fitness Center. Hawkinson said that video coverage of the games will air on television stations in the hometowns of the 17 teams. The areas include major markets from the East Coast to the central states.
"This is unbelievable advertising for the Virgin Islands," he said, adding that ESPN is touting the tournament.
Hawkinson said he wanted to do joint local marketing with Tourism in order to sell local tickets to the tournament games. And he hoped the department would help with finding donors of goods and services to help defray expenses.
Richards' response to the comments made by Hawkinson and Gautreaux would not surprise them. She didn't return a phone call to the Source, either.

Sept. 26, 2001 – V.I. firefighters received more good financial news, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a new award of $415,754 to purchase firefighting equipment. Funds are for personal protective equipment, fire prevention programs, wellness and fitness programs, firefighting equipment and vehicles. V.I. Fire Services is among 158 fire departments to receive grants in the latest round of awards.
Two earlier FEMA awards totaling almost $500,000 for trucks and firefighting equipment were announced in August and early September. A U.S. Agriculture Department wildland grant of $138,000, to help with special problems of fighting fires in wild and rural areas, was announced last week. And Fire Services grants writer Donald Charles Sr. reports that a grant of $49,870 from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department will go to retrofit the fireboat.
Charles is pleased with the success of grant applications and says the community will see the results in the coming months.
Delegate Donna Christian Christensen, in a release announcing the latest FEMA award, credited FEMA Region II officials with working with V.I. Fire Services to submit grant applications. "We have recently seen the importance that firefighters play in our communities," she said. "I am elated that they have been provided with this level of support."

Sept. 26, 2001 – V.I. firefighters received more good financial news, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a new award of $415,754 to purchase firefighting equipment. Funds are for personal protective equipment, fire prevention programs, wellness and fitness programs, firefighting equipment and vehicles. V.I. Fire Services is among 158 fire departments to receive grants in the latest round of awards.
Two earlier FEMA awards totaling almost $500,000 for trucks and firefighting equipment were announced in August and early September. A U.S. Agriculture Department wildland grant of $138,000, to help with special problems of fighting fires in wild and rural areas, was announced last week. And Fire Services grants writer Donald Charles Sr. reports that a grant of $49,870 from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department will go to retrofit the fireboat.
Charles is pleased with the success of grant applications and says the community will see the results in the coming months.
Delegate Donna Christian Christensen, in a release announcing the latest FEMA award, credited FEMA Region II officials with working with V.I. Fire Services to submit grant applications. "We have recently seen the importance that firefighters play in our communities," she said. "I am elated that they have been provided with this level of support."

Sept. 26, 2001 – The weekend before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, St. John was the center of attention at a one-night event just outside the nation's capital that could have a positive impact in attracting visitors to the island for years to come.
While the dancers and musicians were the stars, the V.I. National Park served as the backdrop for the Sept. 8 "Face of America" performance at Wolf Trap, the only performing arts national park in the nation. Located in Vienna, Va., the facility is operated by the National Park Service and the Wolf Trap Foundation.
"It was pretty darn exciting," said V.I. National Park Supt. John King said.
Scenes shot on St. John in the spring were splashed across two large screens during live performances premiering new works by the dance troupes Donald Byrd/The Group and Ronald K. Browne/Evidence and jazz musician Steve Turre and his band Sanctified Shells. The program also featured a storyteller, Alice McGill, with tales based on Virgin Islands culture and a video presentation shot on St. John of a choreographed performance by members of the U.S. Olympic Synchronized Swim Team.
Those in attendance at the performance, King said, also included other park top brass, park staff, Friends of the Park staff, Friends members who live in the Washington area, former V.I. National Park Supt. Russ Berry and Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. They were in the company of some 3,300 other ticket holders, many of them likely candidates for a vacation in the Virgin Islands, King suggested.
"I can't help but believe this will influence their planning," he said.
A documentary on the making of the production may be in the works, Wolf Trap spokeswoman Danette Willis said. If it materializes, millions of people could be exposed to St. John's enticements. "We're trying to get a television series," Willis said.
Wolf Trap also plans to create a video using the footage shot on St. John. It will be shown at the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay.
And while a picture of St. John scenery may be worth a thousand words, members of the national press corps and listeners to National Public Radio did hear about the performance, too, when Wolf Trap's director, Terrence D. Jones, spoke.
The St. John project was only the second for the "Face of America" series. The first, last year, focused on Yosemite National Park in California. Willis said Wolf Trap picked St. John's national park this time because, unlike Yosemite, it was one that few people had heard about.
Wolf Trap plans to continue its "Faces of America" series. "Just as our national parks showcase and preserve for future generations some of America's finest natural resources and places of cultural heritage, it is our unique role as America's national park for the performing arts to expand upon the artistic heritage with contemporary voices interpreting the world for future generations," Jones said in a press release.
He said the "Face of America" series supports the Wolf Trap park's commitment to the preservation of natural and cultural resources. It uses the performing arts to celebrate the diverse people, histories and landscapes that exist within America's national parks.
Sites announced to date for coming years are Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park in 2002, a three-site "Celebration of Flight" in 2003, three Hawaiian sites in 2004, the Southwest's Grand Canyon National Park in 2005 and Virginia's Shenandoah National Park in 2006.
One of the adjunct activities in connection with the development of this year's program was a contest to create a poster to promote the event. The winning entry, by Elizabeth Miles, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design, is pictured here. Miles incorporated themes of the performances into her work, evoking the feel of the V.I. National Park and Coral Reefs National Monument on the island, the "Face of America" web site states.
Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards did not return a telephone call requesting comment a about the program.
For more information about the Sept. 8 presentation and the series, see Wolf Trap's "Face of America" web site.