Town Column : Chilmark
By Jacqueline Sexton
Published: December 24, 2008
There I sat, last Friday, day-dreaming and watching the snow coming down fast when an alarm in the back of my head went off: We have the second in a spate of early deadlines at the paper, so I should get to work at once and do something before Saturday at noon. By the time the next one comes around, New Year's, we'll be so used to it, we'll forget all about the "normal" Monday at noon deadline. Disconcerting.
It's not really necessary to check the TV or the Internet for weather forecasts. When you see every other pick-up truck in town furnished with a rattling snowplow, you can be pretty sure it's about to snow. And it did, and they were plowing the roads most of the night and early morning. The aftermath of the four or five inches, (depending on where you measure,) that fell was more like a disaster area than a Christmas wonderland. Tree and shrub branches, laden with the heavy wet snow, were on their knees, as though begging someone to please come brush it all off.
But here's a wonderful Christmas story: Readers of this column may remember that Abigail Larsen and two friends, Julia Sadowski and Ashley Drake, mounted a drive to deliver some Christmas cheer to homeless people. The drive was successful: the Chilmark School, the Chilmark Public Library, the high school and many private donors gave 80 winter caps, gloves, mittens or scarves and $190 in cash. The cash will be used to buy 19 $10 gift cards from Dunkin Donuts. The girls and two faculty chaperones, Abigail's mother Susan Larsen, and Jill Rosenkranz, planned to drive to Boston on Monday to deliver the things to three homeless shelters; St. Francis House, the Pine Street Inn, and the Women's Lunchplace. The girls are thrilled that everything went so well and thank everyone for their kindness and generosity.
More good news from Betsy Burmeister, director of recreation at Windemere Nursing and Rehab. She writes that the Chilmark School program whereby students from Jack Regan's second and third grades have been making regular visits to Windemere residents for the last four years has proved to be an enriching experience for both the children and their elders. Thanks to a grant from the Permanent Endowment Fund, the children were given cameras to record their activities and to share the photographs with their Windemere buddies. This year they put together a calendar with photos from the last four years, including photos of the students and their buddies. It is available at the school, at Windemere, Chilmark Chocolates and Peacecraft. Any questions, call Ms. Burmeister at 508-696-6465, ext. 722.
About a hundred guests showed up at the library's holiday party last week. They dined sumptuously on the usual superb array of goodies prepared by the Friends of the Library: shrimp, meatballs, cheeses, veggies and hundreds of homemade cookies, and punch and hot mulled cider. The brothers Dunkl, Frank and Peter, outdid themselves and led a nine-piece brass band through favorite carols and other tunes. Both children and grown-ups made decorations with the fresh-cut greens on the handcraft table. Leftover books from the library's book sale will be free from December 27 to 31.
The Howes House writers enjoyed their annual potluck holiday luncheon last week. There were lots of exotic writer-type dishes and conversations about chap books, among other topics
Merry Christmas, y'all, and ho-ho-ho!
