As you all know, July is a month full of holidays and parties. The biggest one of all is Patronales. Traditionally, it is the celebration of our patron saint, but in modern day has turned into a carnival-country fair-concert that runs for five days beginning on Wednesday, July 13 at 6:30pm in town. It finishes in the wee hours of Monday morning on the 18th.
There are rides for the younger set, face painting, balloons, ring toss, etc., etc. There are a multitude of food vendors offering every conceivable puerto rican finger food imaginable. And then there is the music. The singers and bands cover all the bases from salsa to classical guitar, some reggetone and some rock and rock. The music is loud and festive. It is a really, really good time and one not to be missed if you are on the island.
Right in the heart of the Patonales festivities sits Bar Plaza. The Bar Plaza burned several months ago and it was questionable whether it would be rebuilt. Bar Plaza is the oldest gin mill on the island. It is currently undergoing a rebuild process that we hope is finished or at least usable by the time the party begins.
One of the most amazing aspects of Patronales is the cleanup process. The music often times goes to 4am, but somehow by the time the businesses are open at around 8am, the streets are clean and the trash cans have been emptied. The staff in the sanitation department are to be commended.
A quick bridge note. It is still out, but I checked this morning and after receiving a ridiculous amount of rain yesterday, the bridge is still where they built it. It looks like a keeper folks. Will let you know when the first car goes across it.
The Humane Society is desperately seeking people traveling to Hartford, CT on American Airlines who would be willing to help transport some animals. The only responsibility you have is to meet the animals at the special pet check in area at the San Juan airport. The shelter and the airline do all the rest. It is important to note, that the shelter needs to know well in advance of your travel date and it must be midweek, except for Thursday. Thursday is the day the cargo ferry handles hazardous materials and we cannot put animals on the boat that day. The coordination of getting the animals from Vieques to San Juan international is fairly dicey. The shelter has to find someone who has the time to accompany the animals and find a truck and driver on the main island that is able to spend the day transporting the animals to the airport and the volunteer (s) back to the ferry. The animals must have health certificates that are current which requires an exam by a veterinarian, which we do not have on the island full time. The volunteer has to be willing to be stranded on the main island if any step in the process gets delayed. Sometimes animals get bumped and they have to be brought back to Vieques, which can require them to be smuggled into a hotel room or to billet on a nearby beach. As you can see, getting these animals to new homes stateside requires more coordination than a space shuttle launch. If you can help, call the shelter at 787-741-0209.
JC
