Crossover
The BVI Beacon would like to inform its loyal crossword fans that the feature’s format changed this week. The puzzle will now have the answers for the current week printed upside down alongside the clues. So, no peeking. Unfortunately, the answers for last week’s puzzle are not available and will not be published. Beaconites apologise for the inconvenience, but they are optimistic that the new format will continue uninterrupted and provide a challenge for readers.
On Kingstown
An article in last week’s Beacon explained the efforts of the Association for the Preservation of Virgin Islands Heritage to renovate the burial grounds outside St. Philip’s Church in Kingstown. After the article appeared, a Beaconite received a note from Dr. Patricia Turnbull, who has researched the church and village extensively (readers may be familiar with her book on the subject, Can These Stones Talk). Dr. Turnbull noted that Kingstown was formally established by British authorities, who hoped to keep the liberated Africans as a community separate from the already existing communities on Tortola. The church building itself also has a colonial origin, Dr. Turnbull noted: The building of the church was ordered by the Church of England, with financial support from missionary groups like the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and the Incorporated Society for the Conversion and Religious Instruction and Education of Negro Slaves in the British West India Islands. Beaconites thank Dr. Turnbull and others for providing historical details that can sometimes get neglected in the news.
VI generosity
A Beaconite who enjoys interviewing senior citizens was especially pleased with her Friday chat with Margarita Barry of Sea Cows Bay (see “In their Words” in the Island Weekend & Culture section). After talking at length about growing up in the Virgin Islands, the mother of six handed the Beaconite a jar of gooseberry stew. It wasn’t the first snack the reporter has received from the territory’s seniors. In the past, she’s been offered coconut tarts, crackers, water, tea and other treats. In fact, the taxi driver who drove the Beaconite to Ms. Barry’s house — who was also a senior — gave her a fresh mango. Such acts of generosity are part of what make living and reporting in the Virgin Islands memorable and enjoyable.
Adventure
Over the weekend, a Beaconite was invited by her friends to join them in a walk from the West End ferry terminal to Beef Island. Without thinking too hard about the challenge, she accepted. By 5:30 a.m., the group of five had set out. They weren’t moved by the rain showers that poured on them as they made their way into Road Town. In fact, the reporter found walking in the rain to be one of the highlights of the nearly 16-mile walk. In the future, she might consider going on such an ambitious walk again, but for now she’s still nursing aching muscles.
Customer service
A Beaconite often hears complaints about the public utilities in the territory, but he is happy to say that he had a positive experience Monday night with BVI Cable TV. The Beaconite went to his girlfriend’s apartment after work around 6:30 p.m. to find that the cable wasn’t working. They called the cable company and were told that technical difficulties were causing outages throughout East End, but that technicians would soon have service back up and running. The woman on the phone also said she’d call them back to make sure that everything was fixed. The Beaconite honestly didn’t expect the woman to call back, but he was pleasantly surprised when she did so less than an hour later to report that the cable was then working, which allowed the Beaconite to watch his Jeopardy. He would like to thank the workers at the cable company for their swift and efficient response to the outage.
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