Residents, Visitors Ring in New Year

Visitors from across the country and residents from across the island converged on the beach in Great Cruz Bay just before midnight on December 31, 2009, to watch a firework show hosted by the Westin Resort and Villas.

 

The show illuminated the sky for about 15 minutes as fireworks exploded overhead and residents rang in the New Year with cheer.

 

While the popular Foxy’s Old Year’s Night party on Jost Van Dyke drew a crowd of hundreds, concert-goers at Yacht Haven Grand were disappointed when headliner Bunny Wailer was a no-show.

Wailer was reportedly on a flight to the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday afternoon, December 30, that had trouble landing at Cyril King Airport on St. Thomas due to poor visibility and high winds.

After attempting to touch down, the plane was re-routed to Puerto Rico where Wailer was reportedly over-heard by several passengers as vowing to not get back on the plane when it returned to St. Thomas later that night. As New Year’s Eve revelers at Yacht Haven discovered, he was true to his word.

Several Cruz Bay and Coral Bay restaurants hosted parties of their own on New Year’s Eve. Large crowds were spotted at Morgan’s Mango, Hind’s Restaurant, The Beach Bar and Aqua Bistro among others. After food and drinks, the Westin beach was the place to be at midnight on Love City.

While the V.I. Police Department responded to several reports of loud music, it was a quiet night in Cruz Bay. The night, however, was not entirely without incident.

The most dramatic event reported was a dog which tried to run away from the fireworks by swimming out to sea. The dog was plucked from the waves by local boaters about a mile offshore. As of press time, Ziggy was reported to be home with its owners and doing fine.

Happy 2010!