Letter to the Editor: A Plea and a Plan for Reopening the Frederiksted Pier to the General Public

Almost 25 years ago, I bought a ring at a St. Croix jewelry shop. It had all the tiny little inset diamonds I could afford, and a short-term insurance policy. The policy, I explained to the jewelry clerk, was because I intended to put the ring on the end of a fishing line, and cast it into the ocean off the Frederiksted Pier. Then, I would hand the reel to the woman I wanted to be my wife. Yes, the clerk agreed, sea critters might mistake that little ring for something else, and run off with it. Papers were signed and money exchanged, and I walked out with the ring in my pocket. I could not plan the same proposal today. Fear of injury litigation caused the V.I. Port Authority to close the pier gates to the general public. Romance on the pier is dead. More on that later. I went out on the pier with the woman and the ring a few nights after visiting the jewelry store. There were several other folks who were trying to catch real fish. Parents and children strolled and laughed up and dow...