Dear Chris, I remember days of fragrances, as all the women were making Sweetbread, and Tarts, cocoanut, guava, guavaberry. There is pork or mutton roasting, Marbie bitters simmering on the stove and fermenting in bottles in any bit of sun. Dondosla(sp), a large twisted peppermint candy is made, potato stuffing, peas shucked for pigeon peas and rice, Saltfish is soaking, to make saltfish pick-up as an appetizer, or stewed with green banana. But it is the callaloo that is the star of the show, my mother and I would go into the 'bush' behind our house to look for Man better man, sassafras, or as it is known locally callaloo bush, to make a pot for the carolers. My dad would bring home the beer, rum and demijohns(sp) of Guavaberry wine, and a block of ice in a bathing pan. As soon as the sun goes down on Christmas eve, carolers would appear, some on foot and in cars and trucks, accompanied by violin, squeezbox, mandolin, harmonica, tambourine, scratchy, trumped or sax. The carolers would sing one song at each house that stopped to, since we lived at the top of Pollyberg hill, they had a captive audience, there were the Lewis', Mr. Clarence-the barber, my cousin the Benjamin's, Miss Emmy Williams, Miss Florie, J. A. Jarvis and Georges, so we got a full concert, between wetting their whistle, and bowls of callaloo w/fungi. The later it got into the evening the more rabid the songs became and the louder and more off key the singers were. We had a gentleman that lived across from us named Mr. Faulkner, he wore all white all the time, just like Hercules Perot, down to the hat and cane, and walked just like him. He would blast, yes I said blast,Handel's Messiah from his Victrola, trying to drown out the singers. The singers in turn, would drink more and sing louder, as they were joined by other carolers, and the children and the dogs of the neighborhood, a proper cacophony abound. But fun was had by all. The next morning was sunrise service, many of those same carolers had not been to bed, and the fumes in church, well, it was good smoking was not allowed in church. After church, presents were taken to elder relatives, then home to eat all those aromas that tormented us that whole week leading up to christmas. Merry Christmas from the VI! Ann"Sharing the information."Researching the USVI, St.Eustatius, St. Barths, Barbados

Hello to who wrote this on behalf of Ann Q. I am a descendent of the late Alton Adams, who lived at the head of education street. I am a Finch. What wonderful memories you've documented. I too remember all the family names you mentioned (Ms. Etta, Mr. Clarence, Mr. George, etc). My family has been keeping the tradition of caroling going for the past 30 years. We start out Christmas eve night and go until 6am Christmas morn, where we meet at the Emancipation for a Caroling sing-off with all the choirs. My great-aunt Edna Adams was famous for her tarts, sweetbreads and all the Christmas treats. Thanks for the memories. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ann Q Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 9:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Christmas in the USVI Dear Chris, I remember days of fragrances, as all the women were making Sweetbread, and Tarts, cocoanut, guava, guavaberry. There is pork or mutton roasting, Marbie bitters simmering on the stove and fermenting in bottles in any bit of sun. Dondosla(sp), a large twisted peppermint candy is made, potato stuffing, peas shucked for pigeon peas and rice, Saltfish is soaking, to make saltfish pick-up as an appetizer, or stewed with green banana. But it is the callaloo that is the star of the show, my mother and I would go into the 'bush' behind our house to look for Man better man, sassafras, or as it is known locally callaloo bush, to make a pot for the carolers. My dad would bring home the beer, rum and demijohns(sp) of Guavaberry wine, and a block of ice in a bathing pan. As soon as the sun goes down on Christmas eve, carolers would appear, some on foot and in cars and trucks, accompanied by violin, squeezbox, mandolin, harmonica, tambourine, scratchy, trumped or sax. The carolers would sing one song at each house that stopped to, since we lived at the top of Pollyberg hill, they had a captive audience, there were the Lewis', Mr. Clarence-the barber, my cousin the Benjamin's, Miss Emmy Williams, Miss Florie, J. A. Jarvis and Georges, so we got a full concert, between wetting their whistle, and bowls of callaloo w/fungi. The later it got into the evening the more rabid the songs became and the louder and more off key the singers were. We had a gentleman that lived across from us named Mr. Faulkner, he wore all white all the time, just like Hercules Perot, down to the hat and cane, and walked just like him. He would blast, yes I said blast,Handel's Messiah from his Victrola, trying to drown out the singers. The singers in turn, would drink more and sing louder, as they were joined by other carolers, and the children and the dogs of the neighborhood, a proper cacophony abound. But fun was had by all. The next morning was sunrise service, many of those same carolers had not been to bed, and the fumes in church, well, it was good smoking was not allowed in church. After church, presents were taken to elder relatives, then home to eat all those aromas that tormented us that whole week leading up to christmas. Merry Christmas from the VI! Ann"Sharing the information."Researching the USVI, St.Eustatius, St. Barths, Barbados ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message