Town Column : Chilmark
By Jacqueline Sexton
Published: August 21, 2008
The frenzied pace of activities will start to taper off as we head into September. Meanwhile, the Ag Fair creates its own hubbub, and if all else fails, there's the colorful spectacle of the Olympics on the HD screen. Does anyone just go to the beach and build sand castles anymore? These days, it's sometimes hard to keep track of what's going on right in your own backyard. What's going on in our backyard is an abundance of tomatoes, which are taking over from the blueberries on our kitchen counters. And then there are the mushrooms. They are flourishing all over our lawn, big flat-top deep red mushrooms, about six inches across; large bell-shaped ones that are lined up in a military phalanx as though awaiting marching orders, smaller brown specimens and little white ones. But while I consider mushrooms one of the world's great delicacies, I wouldn't dare eat any of them, having heard Rosie Treat expound on the potential dangers the wild mushrooms pose and the risks of wild hallucinatory trips, trips that can end in the hospital.
Still, it seems a pity to mow them all down.
Young poets who won first- and second-place prizes in the library's 15th annual Brickner poetry contest attended a ceremony at the library on Monday to read their prize-winning poems
The winners in the high school age category were Isabelle Hollander of Chilmark and New York City who won the first prize, and Alec Lengyel of Falmouth, who came in second.
Noah Margulis of New York City was first in the junior high category with Claire Wiener of Boulder, Colo. placing second. We congratulate all of the winners and hope those who did not win this year will try again next year.
The judges were John Maloney, Don Nitchie, and Helen Gorenstein.
Ernie Weiss will give an author's talk about his just-published book "Out of Vienna: Eight Years of Flight From the Nazis" next Thursday, August 28, from 5 to 6 pm at the library. His book is a sweeping epic of how 28 members of his family fled Vienna and certain death after the Nazi invasion of Austria in 1938.
Mr. Weiss, who was seven years old at the time, tells the harrowing details - among them, the imprisonment of his father in the concentration camp at Dachau - of the family's eight-year flight through six countries before reaching sanctuary in the United States. The author has meticulously documented his family's history, meeting family members, going through records in Vienna, Israel, Italy, France, and Dachau.
Ernie and his wife, Leslie, are fondly remembered as active members of the Chilmark community before moving to Maine last year where most of their family live.
The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library, and everyone is welcome. There is no admission charge.
Gloria Burkin is showing a collection of oil paintings at the bank starting tomorrow, August 22, through Friday, Sept. 5, with an opening reception on Monday, August 25, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Titled "Vineyard Views," the show features beach and pond paintings and views of the Gay Head Cliffs.
Best wishes to Ms. Burkin's husband, Henry Burkin, who has been in the hospital. He is hoping to be home this week.
Films aired by the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival next week, Wednesday, August 27, are the children's movie, "The Pipsqueak Prince" at 5:30 and at 8 pm, the adult film, "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," with Darryl Hunt attending.
There will be a memorial service at Abel's Hill cemetery this Saturday, August 23 at 11 am for longtime Menemsha summer resident Ruth Englander. Her children John Englander and Judy Burt and their families will be there. Everyone is welcome. The site is in the southeastern corner of the cemetery.
Marsha Winsryg's African Artists Community Development Project is having a sale of crafts and jewelry at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury on Monday, August 25, from 12 noon to 7 pm. All proceeds go to a children's home and a center for disabled children in Zambia, as well as for other projects in Ghana and Niger.
The walking women will tackle Great Rock Bight Preserve next Thursday, August 28, starting at 9:30 am. The preserve is on North Road, near Tabor House Road. For more information, please call Julie Coleman at 508-645-2261.
