“I Am the Virgin Islands” Featured as 2012 Holiday Gift

December 21, 2012 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands- For the fifth consecutive year, Santa Claus and his many helpers made an early stop in the U.S. Virgin Islands to bring extra joy to all who attended Governor and Mrs. de Jongh’s Annual Children’s Holiday Parties on St, Thomas and St. Croix. On Saturday, December 8, the celebration was held at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park on St. Thomas followed the following Saturday (December 15th) with the party at St. Croix’s Government House. Children not only enjoyed Santa’s visit and gifts, but they also had the chance to try their hand at toy making, thanks to Home Depot’s “Santa’s Workshop” tent. Handy assistants helped parents and children assemble wooden toys with real hammers and nails. After completing their building their toy, the children got to take their creation home and received a certificate of completion. Face painting, a bouncing house, music, ice cream, ice cones (fraco), food, a Christmas tree decorating contest, jump rope competition and much more, made this year’s parties the biggest yet. On St. Croix there was also the food and arts and crafts fair with delicious treats and beautiful hand-made crafts to purchase. As in previous years, Santa did not come empty handed. Every child in attendance received a beautiful and practical backpack containing I Am the Virgin Islands, a hardcover, fully illustrated book by local writer Tiphanie Yanique and photo collages by Moses Djeli. I Am the Virgin Islands was the 2012 Special Edition book selected by the Office of the Governor as a gift to the children of the Territory between grades K and 4th.