Town Column : Chilmark
It's Monday morning, an hour or so before this column is due at the paper, and by Thursday when the paper comes out, who knows what the weather will be like? The first thing I saw this morning were the rhododendrons, leaves tightly curled into thin black spikes, so I wasn't surprised to see the outside thermometer reporting 10 degrees. Chilly climes are bracing, I suppose, and certainly preferable to August humidity, but seasonal cold is getting expensive. We have all been drowning in climate change rhetoric, "it is; it isn't," and we've become inured to the price of gasoline, but the bills for heating oil - reported $500 or $800 for a one-month supply - come as a shock. Our first reaction is that there's some mistake in the bill. Isn't there?
There's no mistake, so pile on the sweaters and the wool caps and go for a fast walk. The sun is brightly shining after all.
I wonder if the group of cold weather surfers are out testing the waters at Squibnocket.
Volunteers from the United Methodist Cooperative Ministry are leaving this Sunday on a trip to Skidell, La., a town north of New Orleans, to help recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the region two years ago. Islanders include Ann Deitrich and Jaime and Donna Leon. They will spend a week doing whatever is necessary to help clean up the area and resettle people.
Next Wednesday, Jan. 30, the library will present the film, "The Lonely Dorymen" in its original 16 millimeter format at 6:30 pm. The 1960s documentary is about Portuguese fishermen hunting for cod in one-man dories off Newfoundland and Greenland. The 52-minute film, which was inspired by a National Geographic article by Alan Villiers, shows the dorymen hand-lining, fighting a storm at sea and going on shore leave at St. John's in Newfoundland. The evening is sponsored by the Friends of the library. Admission is free, everyone is welcome, and popcorn will be served.
The Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School will hold another international dinner on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Dr. Daniel Fisher House in Edgartown starting at 6 pm. Jamaican delicacies will be on the menu of the five-course dinner. Now in its third year, the series of dinners starring the foods of different countries helps fund the students' annual trip abroad. The Preservation Trust has made the Dr. Fisher house available; local chefs have donated time and energy to planning the meals, and volunteer students serve the meals. Dinners are $55 per person (BYOB). To make reservations or for more information, please call 508-693-9900 or 693-1997.
Corduroy, the star of Don Freeman's children's book, "Corduroy," will be the guest of honor at the Saturday morning story hour at the library this Saturday, Jan. 26, at 10:30 am. Children of all ages are invited to meet Corduroy and join in the reading and songs, but parents are advised that he is very large and in costume and that very young children might be frightened.
The Martha's Vineyard Women's Network will meet for a networking event at The Wharf in Edgartown next Sunday, Jan. 27, from 1 to 4 pm. For more information, please call 508-696-6344.
