I saw Floyd from Pelican's Bar this morning and he was happy to report that although the bar received extensive damage. it has been rebuilt. Pelican's Bar is open for business!



I also saw Blackie from Little Ochie yesterday and they too are open for business. The kitchen was not damaged and they are rebuilding the 'dining areas'.

Jack Sprat is open for business, so order your pizza with the works!



We are very happy to say that the sand is coming back to the beaches already!



Although this photo does not really show it, there are loads of green buds on our famous Buttonwood Tree.



The fishing boats are back in the sea and many have been seen going out to check on their fish pots.



The sunset poolside at Mar Blue was fabulous this evening. Made me want to dive right in!



But the following photo sums the spirit, pride, and community effort being put out by not only Treasure Beach, but Jamaica as a whole!




The fact that the West Indes cricket team won the ICC trophy in England against their old adversaries, England, has provided a well needed boost to the moral of Jamaica! "The underdog becomes the champion!" (Third World song).

Jah Guide

I would like to say special thanks to Betty Moxam, Marlin, and posse for your very thoughtful and 'tasteful' gifts of two bottles of vodka, one of which I have promised to share with Eric when he comes down, or else I will be on my own road to recovery!

Sincere thanks!

From Jakes...

Here we are.  Jakes and Jakes family is fine.  Pictures taken today 27th sept. 2004 Only THE tree was taken yesterday, the rest taken today.


Abalone


Brown Room


Downstairs Cockles


DSCF0012


Upstairs Cockles


Upstairs SeaHorses



Jelly Fish


Star Fish


JellyFish verandah


Octopuss 2


Theres Nothing Wrong with Us!

Thanks for sharing these pictures. They make me real happy. Pelican is back Yeah!!!!

Rebecca thank you so much for the pictures of Jakes, it brought tears of joy to my eyes, especially the one with Coleen and the crew...now I really do feel like every little thing is gonna be alright.

Thanks Lynnette, however, the photos of Jake's, other than Jack Sprat in the first msg. were all sent in by Sally Henzell. So, thanks to Sally.

Miss Darcy and family wish to inform the Patron Visitors of the 'Ancient' Shakepeare's Cottage that the building stood her grounds and is operational with running water, electricity and telephone service. For further information please contact: 1876-965-0120 or 1876-856-7091 e-mail: nlewis25@bellsouth.net

Glad to know Jakes and family are fine. Thanks for the pictures. Know with your dedicated effort you'll be back in full swing soon. Thanks for the support you have given to Shakepeare's Cottage over the years.

This is great to see...all the rooms look fantastic...as ever.....nice to see all the Jakes family smiling faces...hi to Coleen and all the crew....see you in 2005
Barbara and Steve xx
ps.Wish I'd kept my booking for October now!!

Thank you Sally! Do you have a picture of my beloved Mussels? I would love to see it all fixed. I'll see you soon.

This so nice to see the places are coming back. If you take some photos of Treasure Cot please post them.

Geocox

Thank you for the photo's and updates. We remember Jake's fondly from our trip March 2003 -- and are really looking forward to visiting again in November!

This one really brought tears to my eyes!
Thank you for the updates (again!)

So glad to see those pictures of Jakes especially the one with Colleen and the crew. How is Miss Yvonne, Darren, boysie and the others. Abalone is looking good ya'll, see you in December.

Much love Ray and Yvonne

So glad to hear that Shakespeare Cottage and the Lewis family are all okay! Looking forward to seeing you all at New Year's!

Huge thanks go to Brian Carlson who took it upon himself to raise the funds to purchase a great water filtration system. He flew down here last night, gave his presentation on the system today, and will be leaving tomorrow. This system is unbelieveable! It can purify any fresh water (including the Black River morass water). It can handle 50 gallons per hour. It runs off of a battery, solar powered (coming with it's own solar panel) or off of a cigarette lighter in a car. He demonstrated this by using the cigarette lighter in my bus. . .



and a few minutes later, Dennis was drinking fresh, clean water!



Unbelieveable!

A sincere thanks to Brian and his posse back in Colorado for your incredible efforts to bring this to us. Brian took time off from a gruelling grad school schedule to personnally fly down with this system. We promise this will be put to good use!

Special personal thanks to Rebecca for your thoughtful note and gift which was very much appreciated.

Ugh! The same meltdown just occurred again. I have a key that stick and reeks havoc with downloading photos. Sorry for this, but here are the photos which I wanted to include above.

Continuing on the 'road to recovery' I thought I would share some more photos of what is happening in Treasure Beach.

First, everywhere you go, you can see fishermen building up new fish pots.



It's a good thing Nelson Taylor is getting some 'power from his pint'(see the Guiness bottles to his left). He's got lots of pot sticks to peel!



The other thing that we are witnessing which is truely astounding is how quickly the foliage is coming back.

The leaves are already coming into full bloom on the Lignum Vitae trees



And much to the delight of the Doctor Birds (Jamaica's National Bird), the flowers are coming back! Enjoy.







What is that in between the water lillys? Well, that would be zinc. Just a reminder from Ivan.



More to come . . .

Monique can you please get in touch with me.I have tried e-mailing you a few times but the messages keep bouncing back.

Hi Sabrina...how is it?????

Merline

I have contacted the Forestry Department to purchase Neem Trees to donate to the Treasure Beach and surrounding area - or whoever would like for that matter. Unfortunately, at this time they are having a tree planting program and are short of Neem in particular. There will be an abundance available in March, so unfortunately we will have to wait till then. The neem tree in particular has thousands of wonderful properties, from fodder for your goats, to medicinal healing, lumber and coal and many more. An excellent site if you would like to read more on the Neem tree is: http://www.neemfoundation.org/enviro.htm

The Neem Tree (Azadirachta Indica) is a native of India. Every part of the tree is useful, has medicinal, cosmetic and pest inhibiting properties. The Bark is used for cosmetics, health care products and medicinal preparations. The leaves are medicinal The kernel of the neem fruit is crushed to yield an oil which is used chiefly in pest controlling preparations and also in medicinal, cosmetic and health care products. The residue after crushing the kernel is neem cake, which is an excellent organic fertilizer. Even the twigs of the tree are used as toothbrushes for dental hygiene. Small wonder that scientists have yet to come across a more beneficial tree!

The evergreen, perennial tree can survive up to from 200 to 300 years, if not cut down.

The neem tree can be lopped to reduce shading and to provide fodder and mulch.

-Sarah Todd

Thanks to your contributions and the volunteers of Allyon, Omar, ToJo, and Boysie for giving up their Sunday morning, Kettle has a new and improved roof!



Much more to come . . .

Hi, Rebecca -

Please give our greetings to Celeste and David. It was so good to hear you are in daily touch with Celeste. We have sent support to the address Eric gave us, hope it got there okay. We think about you all and pray for you constantly. The photos are so good to see. Thank you!

Kent and Mary Beth Seldal

Special thanks to Leeroy James at Mountainview for your financial and emotional support during this time . . . and for starting the Eric Leversen beer fund!

It should also be noted that Mr. James has opened up Mountainview to a family that lost their entire roof, allowing them to stay there until they can get their roof replaced.

Thanks again for being such an integral part of the community Leeroy!

Check this out! Look who's bar showed up in a large ad for Digicel phone's in yesterday's Gleaner.



The text reads: 'Digicel - It's amazingb where we can take you. Out at sea, up in the hills and down in the valleys . . .We can take you almost anywhere! Just ask the fishermen in Black River, or Floyd from Pelican Bar.' Then the caption under the bar reads: 'Floyd's Pelican Bar, 12 miles from Treasure Beach'

Congrats Floyd for hitting the big time! Thanks go to Jason and Sally Henzell for facilitating this and providing the photo of which Digicel paid Floyd for.

Pelican Bar is scheduled to be fully operational by October 15!

Sandy Bank and Lewistown got their electricity back on Sunday evening!!!

Hi Rebecca,

I arrived back to my northern nest (Canada) on schedule only to be greeted with a 31 degree Celsius difference in temperature (chilllllllllly!!!!). Although my time there was short, it was good to experience the devastation caused by Ivan first hand and to witness and part take in the large community rebuilding sprit that is going on down there.

As I mentioned to you during our conversations, I am an avid daily reader of this website, it is truly a direct connection to my “home”. I along with so many others originally from Treasurebeach are very grateful and appreciate all your efforts down there. I spoke to many members of the community during my visit and EVERYONE had nothing but positive praises for all your support and help. You are truly a god sent to Treasurebeach, please do not allow any of the negativities to get you down, hold your head up high and push on, god will give you the strength. The service that you and Eric are providing through this website is invaluable, I will forever be a supporter.

Eric, I would like to second the motion for “Mayoral” candidate, and by the way, I am sure the “Stripes” fund will only grow for all your efforts during Ivan.

Thank you to both of you.

Leeroy

thanks leeroy for putting into words what we are all feeling. this site is truly a lfeline to us all who have family and friends in TB area.
i am amazed at how fast you are all getting back on your feet, i remember my mum telling of months without power after "gilbert", i think, in mandeville, all she could dream of was a cold glass of "ice" water.
anyway big up to you all, keep up the good work

I have been to Jamaica many times, never to TB. That will change soon! The community truly seems to be a "family".

Rebecca - you are an incredible person! I'm sure many people have been able to sleep a little better knowing their loved ones are safe, thanks to your messages and your relief efforts.

I don't know how I even came across this website, but, I have read it DAILY since I "stumbled" across it.

God Bless!

Sounds great Jen. We would love to see you here and have the chance to introduce you to our little piece of paradise. And, if I can plug my own business for a minute, just email me at treasuretours@cwjamaica.com and I can help you find accommodations and transportation.