Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. has proclaimed that all territorial flags in the U.S. Virgin Islands shall be flown half-staff from sunrise until sunset on Tuesday, Dec. 17, as a mark of respect for the memory of an outstanding educator and culture-bearer Catherine Dorothy Lockhart-Elskoe, who passed away on Dec. 3.
Elskoe co-founded the Elskoe and Associates Carnival Floupe more than 60 years ago and began a teaching career in 1952 that lasted for more than 30 years.
Elskoe’s Carnival Floupe brought Virgin Islands culture across the Western Hemisphere, winning awards in Tortola, Antigua, Puerto Rico, New York, Washington D.C. and Toronto. She also spread the territory’s rich traditions by helping start the Children’s Carnival Village and Prince and Princess Pageant; assisting the Smithsonian Institution’s 24th Annual Festival of American Folklife, which focused on the Virgin Islands; serving as president of Revive Our Culture; and being instrumental in forming the Emancipation Garden Christmas Challenge of Carols.
Please ensure that any and all U.S. and U.S.V.I. flags being flown are properly raised and lowered to half-staff from sunrise until sunset on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019.
Be reminded that all flags being flown outdoors must be lowered at the end of the day/sunset unless the flagpoles are properly lit at night. Additionally, as set forth in the United States Flag Code, the proper way to lower a flag to half-staff is to fully raise the flag and then lower it to half-staff.
