GREAT BAY (June 1, 2000) — Star musician Mighty Dow and the always-appealing Motiance dancers will perform at the launch of The Republic of St. Martin, the new book by Joseph H. Lake, Jr. The book party is set for Saturday, June 3, 2000 at 8 PM, at the Philipsburg Jubilee Library.
Government leader and guest speaker Sarah Wescott-Williams will be among the guests who will be entertained by Motiance. The group will dance at least two selections, including the national classic “St. Maarten Rumba” by Mighty Dow.
Mighty Dow, the rumba king himself, will render musical selections on the steel pan, an instrument that he plays with style and mastery. Coming out of a leading musical family, that of Chester York, Dow has brought pan into 21st century St. Martin as a feature of his constant recordings and by teaching young people to play this original Caribbean music form at the Ebony Youth Steel Orchestra Foundation.
The Republic of St. Martin is the first book by Lake, St. Martin’s senior newspaper publisher and political scientist. The book, which is now at Van Dorp bookstore and at the Jubilee Library, has been receiving probing review questions and serious comments on the radio and TV talk shows over the last week.