Town Column : Edgartown

By Gail Craig
Published: May 15, 2008

I've just returned today from a venture out to Western Massachusetts, where my sister, Pam, and I revisited our ghosts of lives past. Specifically, we wandered around Amherst and Northampton on Saturday afternoon, shopping at some of the same places we shopped when we were students at UMASS some (cough, cough) 20 years ago. Many of the same places are there, like The Mercantile, The Sub, and most importantly, Bart's Ice Cream, but much has changed as well.

Driving through campus was surreal and I was instantly brought back to my days exploring the huge campus of 25,000 students as a freshman when I came from a high school with fewer than 500 students. It's funny. When I first went there from here, it was like a totally different life, like a different me was there other than the girl that grew up on the Island. Now, driving through this weekend, I said it was like a lifetime ago. But in fact it was like an entirely different life. I can so clearly remember the girl that went to school out there but I'm no longer her and goodness knows she would never imagined what was around the corner ahead of her. And I dare say she never anticipated the likes of Riley and Amelia in her life. It's kind of a strange feeling, like we don't have one long life but maybe several, shorter lives within our time here, disconnected from each other to a certain extent, yet the people we are now wouldn't exist without the people we were then. I'd like to go back for a while, but I don't think I'd want to stay there. Although there are certainly days.

Anyway, Pam and I had a fun weekend. I can't remember the last time we spent that much time together without dealing with day-to-day chores, kids, work, and life in general. We joked about the old days, swinging by our dorms, noticing new buildings throughout campus, and driving by the apartment in Sunderland that was handed down (as was necessary back then due to the scarcity of housing) from my brother, Bobby, to Pam, and on to me. We joked about classes, professors, the many hysterically funny friends we had back then and the jokes that started then that we still share now when we need a laugh. But along with reminiscing, we just laughed, hysterically, about anything and everything, for two days, which I would venture to guess we haven't done in about five years. It was very cathartic and I can't wait to go back in the fall, this time with our kids, to show them where we hung out, go apple picking, and most importantly, bring them to Bart's Ice Cream, which is as good as ever.

I don't know if you noticed the ad in last week's Times but there is great news on the Edgartown Library Expansion Project! The Edgartown Library Foundation has announced the first annual matching gift to benefit the library project. Donations by Island residents of up to $2,000 will be matched by the Vineyard Golf Club for $10,000 a year for five years. If you've been thinking of donating and have been putting it off, now is the time to "double your money." For more information, call the library, or send contributions to the Edgartown Library Foundation, Box 5075, Edgartown MA 02539.

Tonight is the annual Evening Under the Stars gala event to benefit the Martha's Vineyard Cancer Support Group. The event, which features hors d'oeuvres, beverages, and music, is sponsored by The Martha's Vineyard Savings Bank and is at Mediterranean on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven from 6 to 9. Tickets are $100, and will be available at the door and readers can get more information by calling Pat Adler at 508-696-5901, or the President of the Cancer Support Group Board Jane Carroll at 508-696-9849. It's a great night for a great cause.

Another great cause is the fourth annual "Martha's Vineyard Goes Pink" breast cancer walk this Sunday. Registration is at 9 am at Sengekontacket Pond in Oak Bluffs. The walk benefits the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Martha's Vineyard Cancer Support group. To get more information, call 508-645-5012 or 939-9393.

I've been working as a substitute teacher at the Edgartown School off and on this year and have actually taken and passed my test this winter, finally having figured out what I'd like to be when I grow up. I've been having a great time with the kids and subbing is a great experience. I get to observe lots of different teachers in all the different grades and learn what works and what doesn't. But mostly, I just enjoy being with the kids, talking to them, listening to them, and laughing with them. It makes life a little hectic, trying to squeeze in working there with bookkeeping for my other clients, and it is absolutely exhausting to go every different direction with these kids and my head is often spinning by the end of the day, but man, it's fun.

Have a great week.