Tuesday before Chrsitmas Day

DEO+ on STX #19
21 December 2009
Saint Thomas the Apostle

Longest Night Shortest Day
Today we celebrated the winter equinox viewing the earliest Sunrise in the territorial and continental United States at Point Udall the eastern most position at 6:45am Atlantic Standard Time! Today is the shortest day and longest night!

Auto license Tags:
BAYSIDE, Eddy’s Ice Cream Truck: ICE CREAME 3

Family here for Christmas!
Dr. Robin Ogier Warren, PhD; son-in-law, Wally Warren, and grand-daughter, Phoebe (age 3), all arrived on Tuesday, December 22nd, staying thru Christmas until December 29th. We will experience a tee shirt & flip-flop holiday together!
Christmas Trees are trimmed; door wreathes hung; all is ready for Christmas in the Tropics! We have told Phoebe the Mongoose are Santa’s local creature helpers on Saint Croix.

Traditional Mid-night High Mass and Christmas Morning Holy Communion
At St. Peter’s our Steel Pan Orchestra played for the late night worship;
It was a packed house with chairs in the aisle and into the parish Hall. Christmas morning was a quiet service with organ and Carols. We have an Island beat and lovely decorations.

Banquets are part of the local culture
Churches, local civic groups, charities and assorted organizations hold banquets to both honor folks and raise needed money. These social fund raisers follow the same format with admissions tickets, printed booklets with “Advertisements”, and honorees.” The printed souvenir booklets are the money makers and source of most of the income. Usually there will be music, some times a live band. Predictable “Cruzan cuisine” and a cash bar. St. Peter’s ECW and Deanery awards Dinners banquets followed the same format. Folks dress up. The honorees friends and family come to support the honored ones. The banquets usually last about three or four hours with speeches and testimonials. Babs and I usually are invited to sit at the head table. Guest who frequently is requested to offer prayers, Invocation, Blessing of the Food, and Benediction? It’s all part of the duties and “showing up.”

NEW WINDOWS for St. Peter’s
A long over due delayed maintenance item is now under renovations.
Our fortieth anniversary has pushed the decision; more later after project
Is completed!

More “Names” on autos and Taxi:
See U Later, Get Down on It, Supra, Seek It, What’s up Doc?,Sheerah
Warrior Love, Who Run It, 100% Fisherman, Time is $, SR & A, De Original,
U Be True, Problem Child, Ginger and Spice, The Deacon, Let Be,
Awards Man, Adventure, Forward Look’in, No Budget, Pay Who?, Noah
Hustler’s Ambition, The Princes, Lion of Judea, One Love, Cruzan Runner,
Tal Steel, Best Friend, Heard be Weard, Beautiful & Deadly, I am Pisces,
Come will Try, Peace and Counting, Mr. Love Adventure, Time will Tell,
Smile for Me Now, El Bandelero, Sunny Isle #0, Shuama, Royal Ark,
Eternal Life+ , Deadliest Dan, Be Mr. Guest, Soul Jah, Eddie’s Land,
Cutans, SH…

Oasis of the Seas
The world’s largest cruise ship arrived on St. Thomas on Tuesday, December 8th;
She was built in Finland, now on her maiden cruise (departing Dec. 5th); she will be based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. The Oasis carries over 6,000 passengers!
Thousands of sight-seers flooded the Charlotte-Amelie downtown, St. Thomas just to get a glimpse. The local government changed traffic patterns, creating some One-way streets.
Here are some facts about her: Flag of registration: Bahamas. Captain: William Wright. Builder: STX Europe of Turku. Cost: $1,400,000,000. Size: 225,282 gross tons (five times larger than the Titanic). Length: 1,181 feet. Draught: 31 feet. Width: 198 feet. Height: 236 feet above waterline. Passenger Capacity: 6,296. Crew: 2.394.

More “numbers” about The Oasis of the Sea: 150,000 square feet of solar array. 97,020 kilowatts power produced. 60,000 napkins used main dinning room per voyage. $16,659 cost of most expensive cabin, per person. 12,000 number of plants aboard, including 56 trees. 4,100 Toilets: 4,100, Lounge chairs: 2,700, Seats in main theatre: 1,380, “Hairspray” is booked for three years. Speed: 22.6 knots (26 miles per hour on land), Length of zip-line: 82 feet, Bars: 37, Restaurants: 25, Passenger elevators: 24, Depth of swim pool: 17.9 feet, Number decks: 16, Two Flow-Riders --- pools for surfing. 0.43 miles of jogging track. Two rock-climbing walls: 43 feet tall. One cupcake shop open 24 hours daily… Elevator bar: “Rising Tide” moves between three decks.
The Oasis of the Seas will call on St. Thomas every other Tuesday until the summer months. When she is in port, tourists flood ashore, bringing money and boost the economy. Cruise ship visitors spend dollars.

NO SNOW or ICE on Saint Croix!
There is NO SNOW here. The lowest temperature ever recorded is 66 degrees.

Come see us, Mon! Merry Christmas AND a blessed New Year. DWIGHT OGIER+