Hitchhiking
When a Beaconite was hitchhiking into Road Town one morning last week, she got a ride from a kind driver who identified herself as a “born and raised” Virgin Islander. As the reporter rode down the hill and through Huntums Ghut, she and the driver chatted casually along the way. When the driver turned onto Main Street and was passing the Elmore Stoutt High School, she slowed and rolled down her window. She then waved and said good morning to a man who was walking with a closed umbrella in hand. The man smiled and waved back. As they continued, the driver told the reporter that the man is 102 years old. “He’s a centenarian, and still he always goes for walks,” she said. Such moments remind the Beaconite about the joys of being part of a small community. It is hard to move about the territory and not recognise at least one person throughout the day. The reporter has also noticed that drivers often honk not to chastise other drivers but to say hello to pedestrians they recognise. Such pleasantries are integral to this small community, the reporter believes.
Marching forward
A Beaconite was extremely pleased with the impressive re-enactment that the Premier’s Office organised on Sunday in observance of the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Great March. Hundreds participated in the event, which included a procession down Main Street and an interesting historical programme at the Sir Olva Georges Plaza. Along the way, he suspects that many residents — and young people in particular — learned a lot about the important protest that led to the restoration of the territory’s Legislative Council in 1950 and laid the groundwork for the modern Virgin Islands. The Beaconite hopes that a similar event will be held each year to observe Great March and Restoration Day, which unfortunately hasn’t been observed consistently since it became an official public holiday in 2021 along with Virgin Islands Day and Heroes and Foreparents Day. Sunday’s march, he hopes, will mark a major change in how the VI celebrates all these holidays. Robust annual observances would doubtlessly help the territory continue to reclaim key parts of its history that have been largely overlooked under generations of colonial governance.
Wrecked
Returning home from a community meeting on Tuesday night, a Beaconite came across a scooter rider he recognised sitting bloodied in the middle of the road. The reporter wasn’t the first to arrive on the scene, but he stayed nearby and signaled cars to slow down before passing by. Something about that situation left a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. There must have been more he could have done if he were better trained in administering emergency medical aid. Instead, he had to wait for an ambulance to arrive. It took just minutes for the Ford van to make it halfway up the hill to the wreck, but, still, nobody deserves to sit bloody in the road. The rider was lucky to be alive: If he had been wearing a helmet, it was thrown down the hill in the incident. The Beaconite doesn’t know what caused the wreck, but given the poor state of the territory’s roads right now, he encourages all drivers to take their time and use extra caution. It’s also a good idea to take a first aid class, which can be done through the BVI Red Cross. Such skills can save lives.