The Les Fruits de Mer association invites the public to the Endemic Animal Festival. The festival will take place from 9am to noon this Saturday, April 25th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. It is a wonderful chance to learn about the special animals that live only on our island or only in our region. Attendees will enjoy a book giveaway, a craft activity, a scavenger hunt, and more. The festival and all of the activities are free.

“Endemic animals and plants are the most unique part of local nature,” explained Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. “They are the species that live only on this island, or only on a few islands in our area. It’s amazing that there are plants and animals that can only be found here, and nowhere else in the world! They’re an incredible part of St. Martin’s natural heritage. Come out and celebrate them at this free, fun festival!”

Copies of Endemics Around Me, a bilingual coloring book and nature journal, will be given away at the festival. The book presents 40 plants and animals that are unique to St. Martin or to our region.

“We love giving this book to kids,” said author Mark Yokoyama. “It’s a great way to learn about animals and plants that live only here, like the Bearded Anole and the St. Martin Milk Pea. These are some of St. Martin’s most precious treasures.”

The event will feature a snail station where guests can learn how scientists find land snail shells in the soil. Many of these snails are special to our region.

Festival attendees are invited to explore the Amuseum gardens and grounds to find the plants and animals in the scavenger hunt. Kids and adults will also enjoy the event’s craft station, where they can decorate magnetic canvases with endemic plant and animal designs to take home.

The Endemic Animal Festival will be from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 25th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House on the hill above Coconut Grove in French Quarter. The free festival is sponsored by Delta Petroleum. Development and printing of Endemics Around Me was supported by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin.

The 2026 Endemic Animal Festival is from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 25th and you’re invited! This free event will be at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. We will have free copies of the Endemics Around Me coloring book, a fun and creative craft activity and more! Come celebrate the special animals that live only on St. Martin or only in our region.

RSVP via the Facebook event page for more info or to invite friends!

A new book by Roland Richardson launches at Amuseum Naturalis in French Quarter this Saturday. The book is titled The Last Frontier: Sir Roland Richardson’s French Quarter. It features artwork of people and places in French Quarter, and Richardson’s memories of the time he lived there. It is bilingual in English and French. The public is invited to the free, launch event. It will be held at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House in French Quarter from 9am to noon this Saturday, March 28th. The book was produced by the Les Fruits de Mer association.

“We are so excited to share this with St. Martin,” said Amuseum co-founder Mark Yokoyama, who developed the book with Richardson. “It is a book about art, about French Quarter, and about St. Martin’s past.”

The Last Frontier features 26 paintings and etchings by Roland Richardson. Subjects include an etching of the house where Richardson lived in French Quarter, and The Old House, the historic building where Amuseum Naturalis is located. The text, taken from oral history interviews with Richardson, reveals a French Quarter where traditions still survived on a rapidly changing island. He also shares insights into his artistic process.

Roland Richardson remembers his time in French Quarter fondly, “I felt that was part of my real privilege, that opportunity to sleep with my doors open. I didn’t have any worries and I felt totally at home, but I felt really privileged to have out of every door or window where I looked, the natural landscape. I did a huge, huge body of work during those years.”

Amuseum Naturalis is located at The Old House in French Quarter. It is always free to visit, and all displays are outdoors. Guests are welcome to make a self-guided visit any time during daylight hours, any day of the week. 

This book was produced with the support of the Fonds pour le développement de la vie associative (FDVA). The project was a collaboration between the Les Fruits de Mer association and the Roland Richardson Heritage Association. The funding includes giving copies of the book to all of the schools on the French side of the island. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at info@lesfruitsdemer.com. Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring copies for schools are also encouraged to contact the association.

The Les Fruits de Mer association invites the public to the free, holiday-themed launch for Oualichi Kids Island. The new coloring book showcases our local wildlife. The festive launch event will be held this Saturday December 13 from 9am to noon at Amuseum Naturalis. Kids and adults will enjoy free holiday crafts, including decorating cookies and wood ornaments in the shapes of our island wildlife. Free copies of the new book will be given away at the event, and light refreshments will be served.

Oualichi Kids Island features easy-to-color art of St. Martin animals and their names in English, French, Spanish and Dutch. It is the first book in the new Oualichi Kids book series from Les Fruits de Mer. The association created the new series in response to the requests of early education teachers for St. Martin coloring books with simple illustrations for the very young, and large-print animal names.

“Oualichi is one of the Amerindian names for this island,” said author Jenn Yerkes. “Oualichi Kids Island is specially made for the little ones who live in this unique multi-lingual place.”

“It’s a fun way for little kids to start connecting with the natural heritage of their island,” said Mark Yokoyama, co-founder of Les Fruits de Mer. “Plus it makes a great holiday gift,” added Yerkes. “So pass by and get a free copy at the Amuseum this Saturday morning!”

Free copies of Oualichi Kids Island will be given away at the launch, and festive art activities, cookie decorating and refreshments will be offered thanks to event sponsor Delta Petroleum. The free event will be held on Saturday December 13 at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House in French Quarter from 9am to noon.

The new book is also available as a free download from lesfruitsdemer.com, and for purchase on amazon.com worldwide. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at info@lesfruitsdemer.com. Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring copies for schools are also encouraged to contact the association.

Free printed copies of Oualichi Kids Island will also be given to local schools as part of Les Fruits de Mer’s book program. This project is supported by Vie Associative and the Politique de la ville de Saint-Martin, implemented by the State and the Collectivité de Saint-Martin. Oualichi Kids Island was produced with support from Vie Associative, the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and the Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires.

The Les Fruits de Mer association invites the public to see the new snail exhibit at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. The free launch event for the panels will be held on Saturday, December 6th from 9am to noon. Guests can see the new snail panels and visit the Amuseum. There will also be free coloring pages featuring local snails. The panels were created with the support of Stibeman and Stichting ANEMOON.

“Snails are some of St. Martin’s most interesting animals,” said exhibit designer Mark Yokoyama. “We have snails that live in the trees, on the ground and in the soil. We have snails that are hunters, some that are scavengers and others that are plant eaters. We even have rare snails that are only found in a few places on the planet!”

The Les Fruits de Mer association has been researching snails with the help of Tello Neckheim, a snail expert and frequent visitor to St. Martin. One of the new panels includes native snails and the other features snails that were brought to St. Martin by people. The association plans to develop more snail panels, a coloring book and a field guide to local snails. There are about 50 species of land and freshwater snails on St. Martin.

Funding for the panels was provided by two foundations based in the Netherlands. Stibeman (STIchting tot BEhartiging van de belangen van de MAlacologie in Nederland) is a foundation dedicated to the study of snails. Stichting ANEMOON is a foundation dedicated to the study of marine life.

The exhibit launch will be held on Saturday, December 6th from 9am to noon at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House on the hill above Coconut Grove. The free event is also a great chance to visit the museum. There will be a coloring station with a variety of snail coloring pages for attendees to enjoy.

In November we were on Statia and had a chance to share some early drafts to get community input. Thanks to everyone who attended our community feedback event or shared feedback in another setting!

The public is invited to celebrate the launch of the new bilingual English-Dutch edition of Animals Around Me/Dieren om mij heen. The book is a coloring book and nature journal featuring 41 animals that live on St. Martin. Originally published in a bilingual English-French edition, the translation and publication of the new English-Dutch edition was funded by Rotary Club of St. Maarten. Guests attending the launch will receive a free copy of the book.

“When we began giving books on the Dutch side of the island, teachers told us that the Dutch language is their hardest subject to teach,” explained Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. “Dutch isn’t spoken much here, but knowing Dutch is key to many careers and educational opportunities. With the support of Rotary Club of St. Maarten, we were able to create a tool that can teach about local wildlife and also help build Dutch language skills.”

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten funded the translation and initial printing of the new edition of Animals Around Me/Dieren om mij heen. The project was a unique example of transboundary cooperation between organizations on each side of the island. This new edition will be printed and distributed to primary school students on St. Maarten for years to come. The Les Fruits de Mer association hopes to develop English-Dutch editions of many other books in the coming years.

“We are delighted to support local education,” said Rotary Club of St. Maarten President Adelena Chandler. “We are excited to support the students on our island and help them learn about the unique nature of the island. We also want to help our students gain language skills that will give them the broadest opportunities in education and careers.”

The book launch will be held on Saturday, November 29th from 9am to noon at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House on the hill above Coconut Grove. Free copies of the book will be given to those who attend the event. The launch is also a great chance to visit the museum. There will be a coloring station where kids can start enjoying the book right away. Light refreshments will be served.

Free printed copies of Animals Around Me/Dieren om mij heen will be given to local schools and students as part of Les Fruits de Mer’s book program. The book is also available as a free download from lesfruitsdemer.com, and for purchase on amazon.com worldwide. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at info@lesfruitsdemer.com. Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring future English-Dutch editions of books about St. Martin nature and heritage are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer.

This book was produced with the generous support of Rotary Club of St. Maarten.

In that time, in the salt pond time, they were good times. The people was very industrious and they didn’t had nothing, no other alternative but the salt pond. Everybody used to work their own garden. When the time come for the salt, you had to come out. That’s what they had. Everybody had to work to that. That was all the industry they had here.

They pick it. They go in the pond in the morning early, early morning. Everybody is in the pond, picking salt. Picking, throwing in a basket. They pick it out the pond, put it in a basket — bum! — you throw it in a flat. They do that all day.

When they get this flat full, they row it in to the shore. Then somebody there in the flat shoveling it out and the younger people come and they transport it on the shore, on the dry shore. You take it now from the spot where you take it from the flat, throw it on the ground, so all the water run out so it’s dry.

Afternoon, half-past two, three o’clock, Mr. John Gumbs come. He is going to come to measure it. He come to measure it and he is the one who putting down all those marks in the book. This is the reaping figures.

Everybody get up and going back and forth. Pack it. You taking it up, to big piles. As big as this house it used to be. You had to go up steps, ladders, to go up. You go up, you throw it down all the time. They got big, big piles. Oh, boy.

The boat used to be coming there every month. When it’s time for the boat to come for it to take it up to Guadeloupe, then they ship it in the little bags. They bag it up, but they don’t bag it before the boat come. It is when the boat come, they call, “The boat is here,” the people, everybody, is going to work.

The people go and they bag it. They had a small bag. I don’t know how much it used to be, but it was big enough for the children, because mostly children was going to do that. They put it on the head and they go and they had men by the seawater to take it from them, carry it to the boat. They take it from the children, carry it to the boat.

You carry bags on until the boat is loaded. They know how much the boat can carry. So that is how they do it. That’s how they do the salt pond.

John Gumbs die. Victor Gumbs die. Everybody dead like that and the people die and went away and the salt pond went going down. You couldn’t leave the salt pond. It had to be taken care of.

As long as rain falling, no salt don’t grow. The rainy season, the fresh water melts it away.
But when it come on the dry weather, up come the salt. Beautiful. There you get beautiful salt. It used to be a beautiful sight to see.

Find more true stories about life on St. Martin in Stories of St. Martin.