From Doug Miller’s collection, and what a difference a half a century makes.

This is the entrance to Red Hook, in 1960, above, and in 2011, below with the Ritz Carlton on the left.

This is Lola, very recently adopted from the ACC (where her name was Alpha) by Massachusetts resident Yvonne Brooks. And Yvonne wants help in getting Lola’s best friend Bobbi sprung from the shelter and moved up to Massachusetts to live with her.

Specifically, she’s looking for anyone traveling in the near future from St. John to Hartford, Conn. or Albany, NY and willing to carry on a puppy. She’ll meet you at the airport and be very grateful.

ACC adoptions have become kind of a regular thing for Yvonne. She has two shelter cats, Elwood and P-nut, and another dog, Teko, also from the shelter.

“I swore I wouldn’t come home with another animal this year, but I went to the Blues Festival, and the shelter had some puppies there and when I saw Lola, it was love at first sight,” says Yvonne, who’s been visiting St. John for several months at a time for the last five years. “I picked her up and she licked all over me. We bonded immediately.”

If Bobbi gets to make the trip, he’ll be moving to the Berkshires, where Yvonne says her St. John pets have plenty of room to roam.

“Bobbi will have to get used to the snow though,” she says. (Can you help Bobbi get out? Call 340-774-1625.)

We signed up for the VI Territorial Emergency Management Agency’s VI-Alert service last year, and since we did, we’ve been bombarded with earthquake alerts from the U.S. Geological Survey folks.

It’s a bit unnerving. They come daily. Several times a day. We’re thinking about unsubscribing!

Like most folks, we’re well aware of the earthquake risks in the Virgin Islands, but we could go about our business without being reminded every day before these alerts.

USGS also includes some cheery little maps on its site. The top one is how many earthquakes there have been already this year. The bottom one is since 1990.

From Victor’s daugher, Yassin:

Music was Victor’s passion, in celebration of his life and his passion there will be a Memorial Service honoring Victor on Monday, April 4th at 10:00am at the Frederick Lutheran Church in Cruz bay. If anyone would like to say a tribute to him please contact his daughter Yassin Hall at 786-309-5191.

Victor Hall’s daughter Yassin is not going to let her father’s memory fade quickly away. She is working on a musical memorial tribute to him, and would like to put together a scrapbook full of comments from those who knew him.

Victor, pictured here with his only granddaughter Yamisha, died March 18, on Yamisha’s 10th birthday.

“He was a legend in my eyes, with his stories, his music his passion,” says Yassin. “It was a shock to all who loved him.”

If you’d like to contribute your memories of Victor for Yassin’s scrapbook, she asks that you send her an email.

What do you do when you have limited shelf space, but your customers are clamoring for dry dog food? You find floor space.

It’s a big decision for a small retail store like St. Johnimals to carry bulky bags of merchandise.

“Many of our local customers have told us they want high-quality dry dog food, and after considerable research, we chose to carry VF, or Veterinarian Formulated,” says St. Johnimals co-owner Ken Schadegg. “This holistic, highest quality food is all natural without artificial color, preservatives or unidentified by-products and its first ingredient is protein dense chicken meal with no corn, wheat, gluten or soy.”

They’re carrying puppy and adult food in 17 and 33 pound bags. And they’ll do curbside delivery at Wharfside.

Read that headline again. You won’t get that kind of breaking news anyplace else.

Doug Miller sends in another set of vintage pictures, these showing the coal refueling in the 1920′s and earlier.

“One strong reason the USA bought the Danish West Indies was the coaling port for the newly opened Panama Canal – the Bremen Hamburg steam line monopoly,” says Doug. “And for the established labor custom of cheap, strong, coal carrying women.”

St. Thomas was also the ideal stop for the provisioning and repairing of ships of the time, and as a free port, it had limited customs duties.

Here’s some history, including the famous coal women of St. Thomas who could coal a large steamer in 4 hours…for a penny a basket, from the Canadian Nautical Research Society.

On-StJohn.com reader Richard Brown from Massachusetts found this 1986 picture of The Kite, in Peter Bay, long before Peter Bay was home to mansions. It was run by Victor Hall, aka the Bush Tea Man, before it burned down years ago.

Victor passed away recently.

We were lucky enough to interview him a couple of years ago, and thought we’d share that interview again.

This year’s 8 Tuff Miles was three week’s ago, and Skinny Legs owner Moe Chabuz used the race to raise a little money for Team River Runner’s 2011 trip to St. John.

Moe raised thousands but hasn’t hit his goal yet, and he’s keeping the donation door open for a bit longer. If you’ve got a buck or two, chip in, here.

Don’t know what Team River Runner is? Check out this video by John Schuld, a veteran who lives on St. John and has taken the cause to heart.

Our four legged mascot Maddy hiked the Ram Head trail for a picnic, sunset and a view of last night’s Super Full Moon.  What a lucky mutt Maddy is.

Today, Captain Brandi schools us on how Jost van Dyke’s beautiful White Bay got its name. And you won’t believe the story.

Really. You won’t. The latest Shot of Brandi, below!

This is Mongie, the winner of On-StJohn.com’s Villa Vittles: Chicken contest.

It turns out it is really Jonathan Mongie, pictured here with his wife Eva, and Jonathan has a very interesting St. John history.

Jonathan spent a couple of years as a baby on St. John, and has a father who still lives on island. He moved back as an adult for a few years, and his own two children were born on St. John.  It’s a great story.  Read Mongie’s tale, here.

As for his Ritz Cracker coated chicken breasts with mustard and mayonnaise, “I am an engineer by education, so I am best when following a recipe,” Jonathan says. “I just made Martha Stewart’s paella recipe for my wife’s birthday. It took me eight hours, but it blew her away.”