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Sunday, February 25, 2024
Temperature: 82
Humidity: 64%
Precipitation: Fair winds and following seas
Tag Archives: Tim W. Jackson
Protests Halt Blacktip Island Phone Booth Removal
Blacktip Island’s mid-1980s-era pay phone booth was saved from destruction Thursday when a group of community activists protested its removal on the grounds of its place in the small Caribbean island’s cultural heritage. (photo courtesy of Leah Shore)
An impromptu protest by tens of Blacktip Island residents Thursday halted the scheduled removal of the small Caribbean island’s sole remaining public pay phone booth.
“That booth’s part of our heritage, part of our history,” island historian Smithson Atchul said. “Been on the island since before I was born. It’s a neighbor. I made my first prank call from that booth. Asked out my first date from there, too.
“Back in the day, when most folks didn’t have phone lines, they’d line up to use that booth,” Altschul said. “It was part of the glue that held the community together. No, it hasn’t worked in years, but that’s not the point. For Blacktip, it’s an icon. Something to tell our kids stories about.”
Island officials say the proposed removal was part of an island beautification plan.
“That thing’s been rotting there for years. Decades, even,” island mayor Jack Cobia said. “It’s an eyesore, and makes us look like a laughingstock to island visitors. It needs to go so we can embrace the future. If the phone booth stays, what’s next, putting all our old fax machines on display?”
Legal experts say the removal was legally problematic.
“Wanting the booth gone is all well and good, but the question is who has the authority to remove it?” local attorney Harriet Bottoms said. “Technically, it’s still the property of the phone company. Sure, that company went out of business with the rise of cellular communication, but that corporate entity still owns the booth. For the island council to take unilateral action could lead to years of legal proceedings. Which is what the protestors focused on.”
Many locals supported the protest.
“It’s a symbol of Blacktip, like the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, or Big Ben is to London,” protestor Leah Shore said. “Tourists love having their photos taken with it. Tearing it down, hauling it to the dump, does no one any good. And how much would that removal cost? Why not put that money toward something positive?
“Some of us are working on a plan to restore the booth,” Shore said. “We’re going to clean all the corrosion from it, replace the missing glass, and, if we can find one, replace the receiver to give it a like-new look. We may even install external lights to illuminate it at night, and colored LED lights inside. Whether it’s a functional phone is beside the point. This is a matter of community pride.”
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Temperature: 86
Humidity: 61%
Precipitation: Not a chance
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Most-Boring Blacktip Islander Vote Set For Today
With his incessant talk about everyday life in ancient Egypt, Edwin Chubb has been voted Blacktip Island’s Most Boring Person of the Year for the past seven years. Chubb is the odds-on favorite to win today’s vote. (illustration courtesy of the Painter of the burial chamber of Sennedjem)
Blacktip Island residents will vote today to choose the small Caribbean island’s Most Boring Person of the Year, the annual contest aimed at improving mental health on the island.
“There’s folks on Blacktip who’ll drive you crazy without half trying,” vote supervisor Kay Valve said. “The point of the vote is to identify the worst culprit so folks can avoid them. We do this once a year to make sure we’ve got the worst current offender properly identified.
“Once we’ve quantified who the most boring person is, people can better avoid them,” Valve said. “Years ago, I bolted out the Tail Spinner’s back door mid-dinner when Harry Blenny walked in. If it weren’t for the vote, I wouldn’t have known the danger and he’d have talked my ear off about curling.”
Edwin Chubb has won the contest for the last seven years straight.
“The Edwin, he looks so innocuous,” Donna Requin said. “Then he corners you and goes on and on and on about life in ancient Egypt and hieroglyphics. It’s mind numbing, and usually devolves into him asking you trivia questions about Egyptian gods and such. Frankly, I gotta figure he’s the odds-on favorite to win again this year.”
Others, though, aimed to seize the title from Chubb.
“I’ve been talking to people about my stamp collection for the past year,” Wade Soote said. “Not rare ones, just every day, Tiperon postage stamps. I like to see how many of each I can get my hands on. I sort them into piles in the evenings, while I have my milk and digestive crackers, then count how many of each I have.
“I’m especially fond of the post-card stamps,” Soote said. “You don’t see very many of them these days, and they have such lovely colors. Sometimes I purchase a sheet or two just because. I don’t understand why no one seems interested in them—they’re infinitely fascinating. And I know I’m in the running to win because of all the people pointedly avoiding me.”
Votes will be tallied at the island’s Heritage House at 5 p.m. The winner will receive the traditional ‘Run Away! I’m That Boring! t-shirt and be banned from island bars for a week. Runners up will receive ‘I’m Boring, Too’ shirts and a three-day ban.
Island authorities say they will be alert for attempted ballot box stuffing and other forms of election fraud.
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Temperature: 83
Humidity: 62%
Precipitation: Wear (reef-safe) sunscreen
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Blacktip Island Resort Opens Scuba Gear Museum
A Sportsways ‘Waterlung’ regulator, circa 1960, with J-valve first stage is one of the many historical bits of scuba gear on display at Eagle Ray Cove Resort’s new scuba museum. (photo courtesy of John Goodspeed)
Antiquated and abandoned scuba gear will be on display at Blacktip Island’s Eagle Ray Cove resort starting Saturday morning, the resort owner said, in an effort to broaden the small Caribbean island’s tourism footprint.
“It’s amazing how much old scuba equipment piles up here, whether from forgetfulness or advancing technology, or what have you,” Eagle Ray Cove Resort owner Rich Skerritt said. “We’ve been collecting it in our lost-and-found for years. It got to the point it was either throw it all out, or put it on display.
“With this museum, scuba enthusiasts have one more reason to come to Blacktip,” Skerritt said. “And not only will the admission fees benefit us financially, it allows us to pull guests at other resorts into our income stream when they come to visit. There’s really no down side for us.”
Island dive staff were upbeat about the museum.
“It’s a bunch of dreck taking up space and gathering dust,” Eagle Ray Divers divemaster Alison Diesel said. “We can’t give it away, so someone might as well make some money off it. Last time I looked there were still some old 80s-era Dacor regs, a couple of orange horse collar BCs and some fairly manky wetsuits.”
Some residents, however, were critical of the idea.
“This is just Rich’s latest scam to squeeze just that little bit of extra money out of island guests,” Blacktip Haven resort owner Elena Havens said. “He’s putting pieces of junk behind glass display cases and calling them artifacts. I’m warning my guests away from the place. If they have discretionary spending money while they’re on island, they need to be spending it here, at The Haven, instead of that grifter’s crap show.”
Others were eager for the facility to open Saturday morning.
“Having dug through the ERD lost-and-found before, there’s some pieces in there that really put diving, and diving history, into perspective,” Christina Mojarra said. “There’s regulator systems in there with no alternate air source or pressure gauge. People used to dive with get-ups like that, and survive. It shows how far we’ve come in terms of technology and safety. I don’t doubt people will line up to see this stuff.”
Skerritt said he plans to make the exhibit an interactive one.
“As soon as we can find someone who can service this old stuff, we’ll let folks try it out off the end of the dock,” he said. “People’ll jump at the chance to dive with their fathers’, or grandfathers’ vintage scuba gear. For an additional fee, of course.”
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Temperature: 89
Humidity: 67%
Precipitation: Not today
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Blacktip Islanders Will Celebrate Groundhog Day By Repeating Yesterday
Blacktip Island residents will celebrate Groundhog Day today by repeating their Thursday actions and conversations. (photo courtesy of Anthony Quintano)
Blacktip Island residents will celebrate Groundhog Day today by repeating their actions and conversations of the day before as a community-strengthening event, organizers said.
“Blacktippers do this naturally every day, but we decided to really draw attention to it today to pull the community together,” Blacktip Island Chamber of Commerce president Harry Wrasse said. “End of the day, there’s not a lot to do or talk about here, so almost everything gets repeated ad nauseum. Some folks call it repetition. We just call it ‘Monday.’ Or ‘Tuesday.’ Or ‘Wednesday.’
“By celebrating it, we get everyone focused on what it means to exist in this particular time and place,” Wrasse said. “This is one of the things that makes Blacktip unique. It’s actually quite handy—I can walk into the Last Ballyhoo bar and tell you exactly who’s talking about what at a glance. And who’s sitting where, with who, before I even walk in the door.”
Residents say celebrating the repetition will be beneficial.
“A while back, to save time, a bunch of us numbered all the possible conversations,” Marissa Graysby sad. “Instead of babbling at each other, we’d just say the number, and the other person would respond with a similarly-numbered response. That got boring, though, so this is a great way to get folks repeating themselves again.
“It’s comforting, really, knowing exactly what’s gonna happen next,” Graysby said. “You get off this island, you’re never sure what’s gonna happen. Even if you don’t strictly need to have the conversation, you have it anyway out of politeness. And respect.”
The celebration will feature food and drink stands around the island’s Heritage House.
“We’ve asked all the island restaurants and dining rooms to set up stands with the same food they serve every day,” Rusty Bollard said. “And we’re asking people to eat the same things they ate on Thursday. There should be no surprises for anyone. With any luck, today’s events should blur into yesterday’s. Except the food stands themselves.
“We’ll also have a groundhog-costume contest for the kiddos,” Bollard said. “And, later in the day, a greased iguana rodeo to let the little tykes burn off some calories. Oh, and live music’ll be provided by local favorites The Social Morays, TURTLE!!!!, and Young Jacques and the Double Hose.”
Wrasse noted there was concern among event organizers about its potential downside.
“The big worry is by shining a spotlight on an everyday thing, we risk ruining that thing,” he said. “Folks may get here and feel awkward and not talk at all, essentially take us a step back as a community. Me, though, I think it’ll be a home run. And if it does prove popular, we’ll do it again the next day. And maybe the day after that, too.”
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The Blacktip Times 