On September 6th, 2017 Hurricane Irma hit St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island, leaving the islands devastated. St. Croix had received minor damage from Irma, offering hope to the USVI during the recovery period ahead.
However, less than 2 weeks later on September 19th, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit St. Croix, leaving it devastated and adding even further damage to its sister islands. Both hurricanes were category-5 events.
Being so far away from the mainland US, disaster relief was slow. Many residents went for a month without even a tarp to protect their homes from the elements.
With more work to do than workers available, the restoration efforts across the island have been slow. One example: while the Central Music team was working on this project in June, power poles that had fallen over outside of our hotel were just being put back into place!
Mrs. Willie visited Florida to attend a Central Music Workshop for Organists and visited our 15,000sf headquarters to see the latest organ models available from Rodgers
For the members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Christiansted, the wait for repairs and renovations is over – and the results are beautiful. They seized the opportunity to enhance the room in every way – with new paint, flooring, furnishings, PA, and a new organ.
Their re-dedication services and celebration were held in June and contributing to the joyous occasion was their new Rodgers Inspire Series model 233 organ from Central Music.
We want to thank the church’s organist Mrs. Maisie Willie, First Elder Horace Graham, and Pastor Earl Daniel for the opportunity to contribute to this project.
