The official caterer of Villa Vittles
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
This is Susie Christy, of Christy’s of St. John. She is quite a character, and she is the official sponsor of On-StJohn’s Villa Vittles feature. Here’s what happened in round one. Jeff: I need gobs of stuff and we’ll be in the house tomorrow. Susie: Can you email me a list? Jeff: Done. Susie (by e-mail reply): Not a problem. There was stuff on that list that we would’ve had trouble finding at Whole Foods, let alone on St. John. All of it, every single thing (with the exception of Pink Lemonade), was not only at the house less than 24 hours later, but put away in cupboards, freezers and refrigerators. And bonus: She also delivered huge plates of her prepared food for us to sample. London Broil. Homemade salsa. Stuffed mushrooms. Rum cake. Shrimps, fruit, bread, even flowers. All of it excellent. (The flowers were pretty, but we didn’t eat them.) Susie was born in Roswell, New Mexico and we’re not sure if she was really BORN there or just dropped off there, but that is totally part of her charm. She’s crazy fun and if you’re looking for full-service, what-do-you-need, kind of provisioning, do business here. Christy’s of St. John gets the On-StJohn seal of approval.
Scotiabank is expected to close on its $95 million deal to buy a 10 percent stake in First Bank in the next few weeks. Scotiabank (officially Bank of Nova Scotia) calls it an investment. Some banking analysts say it’s the first step in a takeover. (”We would not be surprised to see Scotiabank bid for First BanCorp in its entirety,” Bloomberg News quotes Genuity Capital Markets analysts, who cover Scotia, as saying.) Part of the deal gives Scotiabank first right of refusal if First Bank decides to put itself up for sale in the next 18 months. First Bank is busy 
Meada’s Plaza, the retail space you walk through to get to Rhumblines is looking good. This is the building that burned in September, 2005 and its scorched façade remained an eyesore for much of 2006. Here’s what it looks like now, almost ready to re-open. Still some work to do, but it looks great! (Why can you get away with pink and peach on an island? Can you imagine getting this color past your homeowners association?) We hear Maho Bay and Concordia Campgrounds will open an outpost here with a store selling pottery, art glass and other things made at Maho’s arts and crafts center. There are a 
We’ve moved our server to another beach. We’ve had some problems with our Website host lately, and we apologize. For now, we’ll stay with the same host, but are promised we’re on a much better server. (I am not making this up. Recent email from said host: “The server you are on appears to have become unstable. If you’d like we can move your sites to a more stable server.”) No, no! Please, leave us on the unstable one. We’re also anxious to know if the switch from Windows Media Player to Flash has been an improvement. It seems a BIG improvement from where we sit, but let us know if it’s better for you. 
The Post Office is all dolled up with a fresh coat of paint. Whoopee! But they forgot to paint smiley faces on the people who work there. There are people on island who are married to the Post Office because that’s where their PO Box is, but you should really just avoid this place. If you want to mail yourself a frozen ham (don’t get us started on the whole ‘bringing food’ thing…) or whatever, mail it to Connections in Cruz Bay or Coral Bay, or, our favorite, The Mail Center. It gets there. It’s waiting for you, and you don’t have to deal with the mess at the Post Office. If and when the Post Office gets relocated, maybe things will be better.
Ahh, nothing like a little nap in the middle of the afternoon. Here’s Cruz Bay fixture Patrina catching a few winks, smack dab in the middle of the road. Spitting on people takes a lot out of you, after all. (She recovered just fine from her brief break).We think she’d be a fascinating interview. Not being sarcastic. Really, she must have a great story. We just don’t know if we could get the story out of her. We’ll have our people call her people. 
Cruz Bay’s jazz and martini bar was a short-lived experiment. Infusions, which opened last fall with comfy leather sofas, air conditioning and photos of Hollywood stars on the walls at the old Oscar’s location (across from Lime Inn) is now officially gutted and gone. But wait! Look at this. No sooner was it gutted, than something new is happening there. What’s next? We’ll ask around. 
Hey, advertisers can make news, too. The Virgin Islands Pale Ale guys are coming out with a new beer. “Island Summer Ale” will be released in bottles starting in May. Meantime, Virgin Islands Pale Ale is now available in New Jersey. That means the boys have conquered three states now. It’s already available in California and Rhode Island (some bars in Rhode Island even have it on tap). 47 states to go until complete continental dominance. They plan growth in the states throughout the year. If you’re in New Jersey, see if VIPA is available at a store near you 
Since yesterday’s Beach Break was Maho, a little update on preserving that area of the island. Remember the rich guy that almost bought hundreds of acres of land across the road from Maho and was going to build a think tank resort and put a big dock in the bay? That fell through last year. But saving this land isn’t quite a done deal yet. The Trust for Public Land is THIS CLOSE (use your best Maxwell Smart accent) to buying all this land. (Most of it is owned by heirs to the original owner, who have tried for years to subdivide and sell it.) TPL has raised $24.5 million to buy the 415 acres of untouched land that rolls over several hillsides and down to the beach. It says it doesn’t yet have quite enough (not specific). TPL intends to donate that land to the VINP and, if it pulls it off, it’d be the biggest land deal for the Park since the Rockefeller deal in the ‘50’s. Read a little about the Trust for Public Land’s vision, and maybe consider the pledge form to support it, 
There are a couple of kids on the island you should know about. Sailing champions, and brother and sister Hugo and Mimi Roller. Hugo just qualified for the Youth Volvo World Cup in Canada this summer, one of only 30 kids in the whole world to make the cut. Mimi, who just turned 16, has now qualified for the sailing World Championships and the Pan American Games. Mimi hopes to compete in the 2008 Olympics and Hugo’s gunning for the 2012 Olympics. And their mother is none other than Bongo Bongo landscaper Josephine Roller. If you’re at a villa and happen to run across a landscaper named Josephine, ask about her kids. It will make her day.
