FRENCH QUARTER, St. Martin (November 9, 2011)—At a contact meeting here earlier this week, Councilor Louis “Loulou” Mussington applauded the “courageous stand” that founding fathers of St. Martin Day took in the 1960s.
“According to historical records, in the beginning only St. Martin elected officials were allowed to speak at the St. Martin Day celebration,” Mussington said.
St. Martin Day is a “festivity” that is the business of the St. Martin people where state representatives like the Prefet should be invited guests of honor to observe but not invited to speak on “our day,” said the councilor.
Mussington may have two legendary politicians on his side on this one. “When Mayor Dr. Hubert Petit and Dr. Claude Wathey established St. Martin Day it was clear that this day was for the St. Martin people, and the elected officials would be the ones to speak to the issues of our historical unity, on-island cooperation, and to congratulate each other,” said Mussington.
History may also be on Mussington’s side. “In the 1970s when Dr. Petit and Dr. Wathey realized that French and Dutch representatives were trying to take over the St. Martin Day celebration, the two St. Martin leaders in a bold and determined move boycotted the wreath-laying ceremony at the Bellevue Frontier. They moved the event to Corolita Hotel by Oyster Pond and celebrated there with the people,” said Mussington again on Wednesday.
The two St. Martin leaders used that opportunity to fully explain at the gathering in Oyster Pond the reason for the boycott and purpose of the St. Martin Day celebration.
According to Sylvere Mingau, the driver of the then Sous-prefet Echegoyen, the French state official met with Lt. Governor R.O. van Delden at the border as the main representatives or functionaries of France and the Netherlands on the island respectively. They laid the wreath at the base of the Frontier Monument without the population or elected officials present to witness the ceremony.
Both officials drove away in their separate cars in the direction of Cole Bay. The Sous-prefet’s car turned around near the present Caribbean Auto Parts to head back to Marigot. Within those few minutes, as the car carrying the Sous-prefet passed the Frontier Monument, it could be seen that the wreath had disappeared, said the chauffeur.
Mussington has further expressed concern about how the current COM administration is dealing with the question of cooperation between both parts of the island. “We don’t need France to talk cooperation for us with our families from the South,” said Mussington at the contact meeting.