The parking lot at the National Park Visitor’s Center joins in the spirit of the St. John Celebration by opening an annual Children’s Village, which for the past seven years, has been hosted by the Freshwater Church.

Pastor Wilson Wallace leads the 25-member congregation. He said the church got involved by volunteering alongside the St. John Rotary Club. Now, its members work together with students from Gifft Hill School performing community service.

Volunteers from the island’s Board of Realtors helped set up games for the children to enjoy.
Pastor Wally — as he is known — calls Celebration season a great time to connect with St. John families who enjoy the games, the playground, and this year, a new feature — the dunk tank.
“They love it. They tell us how great it is, and it’s so encouraging for us. We love doing this … it’s for the families and children of St. John,” he said.

Over the years, St. Thomas and visiting off-island families have also stopped by to try their hand at basketball toss, race model cars on a sloping track and a game called Plinko. “Lots of kids come back over and over to earn more tokens … I recognize most of the kids from my school,” said volunteer Robin Wallace.
Over at the cotton candy stand, Vicki Schoedel scraped away a crust of pink and blue sugar crystals from the bottom. It was her first attempt at artfully spinning confection onto a paper cone. “This is my first time working the cotton candy machine this week,” she said. “It depends on the humidity; last night was a great night. Tonight it’s a bit more humid,” Schoedel said.

But children and adults kept appearing before her, ready to taste the results.
The hammer bell drew hopefuls large and small; the smaller contestants heaved away with a long-handled sledgehammer, but the puck barely moved from the lever that propelled it upward. Undeterred, the little ones shifted over to a child-sized hammer bell, which delivered a satisfying “ding” with less effort.
Then, with winning tickets in hand, they headed off to the trailer filled with toys and gifts that church members collect throughout the year.
Children’s Village welcomes fun lovers of all ages between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. nightly.