A Memory of Times at "The Office"

KevinS

Senior Insider
In these days of "not much going on", I thought that another memory of "the old days" might be welcome. This one consists of a mix of memories which go back to 30 years ago (Maxi Taxi!), but the important things in this post haven't changed much in the past 30 years, other than the addition of the sign. With the recent passing of Marius, this is a good time to share.

In my early days on St Barth telephones weren’t all that common (a popular t-shirt read “Sorry, No Telephone”), mobile phones weren’t invented yet (not even the Motorola Bag Phone), restaurant reservations were made by writing your name and a time on a note pad by the front door, and it wasn’t all that easy to get in touch with friends. One common place to hang out, meet friends, or to leave a message was Le Select, the “corner bar” in town. One particular table at Le Select was the corner table in the garden. Over the years it became known as “The Office”.

The Office had nothing particularly “special” about it. It was just the corner table, on a street corner where every car passing east to west in Gustavia had to pass by. Like many tables in the garden it had some shade, which made spending time there more pleasant. Some of the tables had café umbrellas with the name of alcohol brands on them, but The Office has real shade from a real tree. Protecting the table from the tropical sun is a massive old Poinciana or Flamboyant tree.

The Flamboyant, 30+ feet tall, with fern-like leaves, seedpods that double as maracas, and bright orange and red flowers edged with yellow and white, provides a lot of shade. Bartender Max (Maxi Taxi) added to the ambience by rigging up a pulley and a bar tray. Each day Max would go to the small grocery store across the street and buy a half-kilo of sugar. Returning to the bar, he would lower the tray, fill it with a pile of sugar, and hoist it back into the tree. Bananaquits, the small yellow-breasted, black birds with a white head stripe, and which are sometimes known as Sugar Birds, would flock to the tray. Max would occasionally refresh the sugar supply throughout the day.

The Office was where Marius hung out. Just about every day, at just about 11:00, Marius would show up at Le Select. (Less often as he has aged and his health has slipped a bit.) He would make his rounds, inside and outside, saying hello to his friends. Eventually he would make his way to The Office. As people came and went over the next few hours, friends of Marius would stop and sit for a minute or an hour. New friends would get a handshake, old friends would exchange cheek kisses in the French style, and really good friends would get both cheek kisses and a hug.

Many of my St Barth friends can be found at The Office. On some days there is nobody there, on others the crowd spills over to two or three tables. It’s open to everyone, locals, French, Swedes, Americans, and Canadians alike. I’ve met people from every imaginable walk of life and social class at The Office. I’ve met laborers there, and I’ve met lawyers. I’ve met carpenters there, and I’ve met minor royalty. I’ve met a bunch of bagpipers from the NYFD. Sit down, introduce yourself, and talk for a bit. You’ll meet some interesting people there, none of whom care who you are in the world or where you’re from. Have a ‘Ti Punch, a Carib, a Coke, or a Perrier. Stay for lunch – the cheeseburger and pomme frites is the best deal on the island. (Maybe, just maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to be “Numba Tree”, but that’s a story for another day.)

Before you leave, let your eyes wander about 8 feet up the west side of the Flamboyant tree, where you'll find the attached sign.

The Office.jpg


Sue O'Donnell cleans the sign with Brasso every year, in what has become an annual event.




Thanks to JEK for providing the above image.
 
Kevin, I emailed you a less fuzzy image of the sign for you to edit into your poignant post. Here is the 2020 version of the sign cleaning. BTW, searching my iPhone for “Gustavia” generated nearly 5,000 images to scan. Many were under that tree!
 
Amy, the post which JEK linked says that the sign was installed "just after Marius' 80th birthday", which would be, I think, 2003. My recollection is that the name came before the sign.







Thanks to Amy for correcting my math on the year of Marius' 80th.
 
Amy, the post which JEK linked says that the sign was installed "just after Marius' 80th birthday", which would be, I think, 1983. My recollection is that the name came before the sign.


Marius turned 80 in 2003! I just asked Sue for the details behind the sign. Le Select was the "office" because they had a telephone and later a fax! Houses were bought and business deals closed in the Office!
 
Thanks for sharing your memories some history of "The Office" and Mr. Marius. Always a pleasure to read your posts!
 
he also loves the tremendous Johnson's band, I don't think he ever missed a gig. hope you get better soon Larry.


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Larry passed away peacefully this morning. May he Rest In Peace and may Sue and his family be comforted by the great memories of a life well lived. He and Sue never posted on the forum, but he was constant presence on the island in so many ways.
 
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