Some of you swear by the Mosquito Magnet.

This picture comes from Roger Lauer, a sales rep at Budget Marine on St. Thomas.

“Just thought you’d get a kick out of the first emptying of our Mosquito Magnet at Budget Marine in Independent Boat Yard [two years ago],” says Roger.  “It has been two years plus and counting and I can verify the results are quite amazing. You can tell when the unit is out of propane just days after by the return of the blood sucking devils.”

So what are you supposed to do with the collected carcasses of dead mosquitoes?

“Just imagine the recipe possibilities!” Roger says.

We missed this party, but judging by the crowd, we’re about the only ones that missed it.  Soggy Dollar’s 40th anniversary.

“People came with a smile, received a smile and left with an even bigger smile,” Soggy Dollar owner Jerry O’Connell tells us. “Forty years is impressive. By some estimates, over 1.5 million Painkillers have been served at this tiny bar.”

The Soggy Dollar and Sandcastle Hotel was founded in 1970 by George and Marie Myrick. Now in their late 80’s, and living in Florida, they enjoyed the party via the SoggyCam.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would last this long,” George says. “Long live the Soggy Dollar Bar.”

Proceeds from the party went to support Virgin Islands Search and Rescue and the Jost van Dykes Preservation Society.

Here’s a peak peek at the party from Captain John. Thanks Captain!

Last week’s Chamber-sponsored meeting to talk about the future of Cruz Bay’s waterfront brought out a lot of ideas. Grandiose visions aside, the changes that are really at the top of most wish lists are reasonable and small, some needed, and many inexpensive.

If you visit St. John, your opinions about these changes are not only helpful, they are essential, because visitors are the ‘end users’ of what St. John has to offer.

Here are three presentations that were laid out at the meeting. One, presented by Andy Rutnik on behalf of the St. John Chamber, a second by Steve Black and a third by Paul Devine (you’ll need PowerPoint to go through his.)

Take a look at all these ideas, and then please weigh in with your thoughts, good or bad,  and ideas of your own.

St. John Chamber presentation (Word)

Steve Black’s presentation (Word)

Paul Devine’s presentation (PowerPoint.)

It’s never too early for fans of Steve Simon’s annual St. John Blues Festivals to start planning, and next year you’ll get two chances to be part of the crowd at the Coral Bay Ball Field; Friday night, March 18 and Saturday night, March 19.

“With record breaking attendance year after year, we have decided to add another evening of world class blues under the stars this coming March,” Simon said in a news release. “For the very first time, the Johnnie Walker St. John Blues Festival will be held on two consecutive nights with two star studded shows.”

You can see the lineup of artists here.

Tickets are $25 for one show or $45 for both, and go on sale Jan.3. There will also be safari taxi shuttles both nights from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay and back, and a late night ferry to Red Hook.

Will it live up to its dramatic headline? Probably not, but give Russ props for doing something most of us wouldn’t!

Mosquito Magnets have been around for years and they’re now big sellers on St. John. Do they work?

We fired one up to see how much of a difference it would make, and almost immediately it really did start attracting them.  By day four or five it seemed like it was making a noticeable difference. Maybe?

The instructions say it takes 6 weeks to be fully effective (”disrupting their reproduction cycle.”)

One guy told us there is a special attractant especially for the island skeeters that somebody on St. Thomas sells.  If you’ve heard of it, let us know!

Captain Josh will take you anyplace you’d like to go…and if you’ve also been thinking about trying some fishing, even for just part of the day, then Josh is your guy. But he has just as much fun just taking folks snorkeling and island hopping.

Please welcome Josh and get a look at Cruzin Away’s great boat, below!

Teens4Oceans, the group of Colorado school kids who spent a week on St. John installing an underwater Webcam at the VIERS dock in Lameshur Bay, lost their new camera only days after installing it.

The camera was destroyed by lightning, and the setup wasn’t cheap.

Their Website says it’ll cost about $2,200 to replace it. They’re asking for donations, and looking for fundraising ideas.  Click here if you’d like to help out.

Bummer kids! At least it’s an excuse for another trip to St. John.

If you’re a property owner, check your mailbox. It’s there. The 2006 property tax bill.

We opened it with great trepidation, but as promised, the 2006 bill is based on the 1998 assessment of 0.0125 percent.

If you built on your property since 1998 and were secretly hoping you’d still get a bill based on the land value only, forget it. They know you’ve got a house. But it’s assessed at the 1998 rate.

The bill arrives in an upside down envelope, but despite that, it does include a nice Q&A. Click below to see it.

The ubiquitous Be Kind bumper sticker is beginning to morph into more personal stickers. We’ve seen a couple of them, like this one. (And another that says Be Ken.)

How could you use scissors and some creativity to customize Be Kind? (Note: Liberties granted to use more than one sticker and to remake a letter or two.)

Believe us when we say we ARE NOT making fun of these kinds of notes or the owners who create them.  They generally ARE helpful.

All St. John houses have quirks. Some more than others. Some more bizarre than others. But they all have them.

If you were trying to take a hot shower, you would have never figured this out on your own.

The Great Cruz Bay homeowners association dinghy landing, below!