EDGARTOWN
December
23, 2004
By
Gail Craig - 508-627-3754 - gail@vineyard.net
As this goes to
print, there will only be two days left until Christmas. Bustling
will have become full-fledged rushing and holiday spirits may be a
bit more frantic and tense. But hopefully everyone is keeping some
room in their schedules for joy and happiness. It is a magical time
of year.
With great sadness, our family said our final farewells to mother,
grandmother, great grandmother and friend, Gen “Gaga” Prada,
who passed away peacefully on Dec. 14. It has been a sad week for
us all, but we have wonderful memories of her, most notably those
of her 90th birthday celebration just a few weeks ago. Gaga was a
great lady and we will miss her very much.
If you were in Stop & Shop last Friday, perhaps you encountered
a very excited Greg Marshall, who can now be called Uncle Greg. He
was thrilled to report that his brother, Richard, and his wife, Erin,
had their first child, Sara Elizabeth, on Dec. 16. A phone call from
Greg and Richard’s mom, Corinne Hatt, on Saturday morning confirmed
the wonderful news. Corinne said that she had already been on Nantucket
holding, feeding, and changing the baby, who weighed 10 pounds and
was 21 inches long. Everyone is happy and healthy. Corinne also reported
that Sara is absolutely beautiful! Corinne and her husband, Richard
Stone, will be known as Grammy and Grampy from here on out, while
Sara’s maternal grandparents will be called Nana and Grampa.
As Richard and I were friends growing up, I would like to take this
chance to offer my heartfelt congratulations on this new addition.
And above all else, I wish you and your family some sleep. It will
be hard to come by from now on! Corinne, Richard, and Greg will be
heading to Nantucket to enjoy Christmas with Sara and her parents.
I’m sure it will be a wonderful holiday.
If anyone ever wants to see Santa’s elves at work, watch the
Red Stocking volunteers the week before Christmas. At first glance,
the hall at Grace Church looks like chaos. Tables are set up everywhere,
with a number of volunteer wrappers at each table. Children’s
wish lists, using a numbered system instead of names, adorn the walls
and other volunteers attempt to match donated toys to the children’s
requests, crossing off each item if it is fulfilled. These volunteers
then number the toy, deliver it to a wrapper who wraps it, re-numbers
it, and delivers it to bags to await distribution. On Thursday, the
gifts are then distributed to individually numbered bags, added to
the clothes and food baskets given to the families, ready for the
recipients to pick up on Friday. It has taken years to perfect the
system and each year the system gets “tweaked” a little
more. But it is like watching a well-oiled machine or a carefully
choreographed ballet. It is a wonderful way to find the true meaning
of Christmas and strengthen one’s faith in Santa Claus.
I have received tremendous response with regard to organizing Christmas
in Edgartown for next year. A number of people have volunteered to
help and offered up some fabulous ideas. So, rest assured, Christmas
in Edgartown will return in 2005.
And speaking of Christmas in Edgartown, I must share a personal experience
regarding this year’s parade that has given me faith in people.
Following the parade last Saturday, we loaded the kids into the car
and left the schoolyard. Unfortunately, we neglected to load our Radio
Flyer red wagon back into our car! Of course, we didn’t actually
notice this oversight for a week! So, on a lark on Saturday, my sister
and I took a spin by the Edgartown School to see if the wagon was
still there. Much to my surprise, it was sitting by the front door,
under a roof, protected from the weather, a full week after the parade.
I was just amazed that no one had taken it. So, to anyone walking
into the school this week and wondering what became of that little
red wagon, rest assured it has returned to its rightful owner. And
thank you for keeping it safe in the interim.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Be sure to share your holiday news
with me. |
![[Valid RSS]](../../Templates/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}