June 30, 2023 - Hello St. John Shade Project Followers! It’s been 5 years since ShadeScapes Americas donated 60+ umbrellas via the St. John Shade Project to island restaurants, schools, and the Virgin Islands National Park Service. Our project started in February 2018, after the devastating September 2017 back-to-back hurricanes, and wrapped up at the end of May 2018 with a shade installation on Trunk Bay, one of the beautiful Virgin Islands National Park beaches, just in time for the Annual Beach to Beach Power Swim (sponsored by Friends of Virgin Islands National Park).
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The ShadeScapes’ umbrellas served numerous purposes as the island was recovering from losing most of its natural shade. The shade helped locals gather for community events, shaded visitors who supported the island after the storms, and gave the school kids a daily respite from the hot sun.
It’s now 2023, and the beautiful island of St. John, fully recovered from the hurricanes (and then Covid!!) has been completely HOPPING for years!
To celebrate the 5th Anniversary of our project, we have two exciting announcements.
First, we are refurbishing all the umbrellas still in use on the island. We are donating brand-new umbrella canopy tops and our team will clean each long-lasting aluminum umbrella frame as well, resulting in each location experiencing a beautiful refresh!
New canopies will be presented to: Cool Desires in Cruz Bay, Tony’s Kitchen on Centerline Road, and Skinny Legs and Rhumb Lines in Coral Bay. We congratulate each of these businesses on their long-lasting use of their ShadeScapes umbrellas. We know they are as excited as we are to see them refreshed and looking amazing!
In addition, as part of the St. John Shade Project 5th Anniversary Donation Tour, we are making two new donations to two incredible non-profits in our St. John community – “Our Space” Community Park (Bev Melius’s incredible donation to the community of Coral Bay) and the playground in Cruz Bay which was devastated by the 2017 hurricanes. This new playground is sponsored by the renowned Friends of Virgin Islands National Park via their Playground Project.
These new umbrellas and the new umbrella canopy tops, shipped from our headquarters in Colorado, are now ON ISLAND! We will begin the installations on Sunday, July 2nd with a Shade Brunch at “Our Place” Community Park in Coral Bay. Join us for the first community shade celebration from 12-2 pm.
Over the next 10 days there will be SHADE PARTIES at all locations to celebrate the new or refurbished shade being installed to continue shading our community.
We will keep you posted on each of the St. John Shade Project 5th Anniversary Donation Tour installations and the Shade Parties right here on our St. John Shade Project Facebook page, before they happen and as they happen! Also, look for our Shade Going Up posters with details about each event.
