Town Column : Aquinnah
By Molly Purves
Published: December 31, 2008
Now that it's New Year's Day, as of tomorrow, the holidays will be officially over. I hope everyone made it through with their sanity, bank accounts, and glucose levels intact. I for one have spent the past week in stretch pants because nothing else fits. I am very much looking forward to the New Year so I can start living my resolution to eat more vegetables every day or at least a vegetable a day. I swear I've been living on brownies and Christmas cookies for two weeks now.
The Aquinnah Town/Tribe Holiday Potluck was held the Tuesday before Christmas at the Tribal Center. It was a good time. There was much good food and lots of yummy desserts - and yes, there were Christmas cookies and brownies and cake and pie. It seemed like every kid in Aquinnah was there, especially when Betty Joslow sat down to play Santa Claus and passed out presents to all the children, not just the ones who have been nice. We are a true democracy here in Aquinnah. There was drumming and singing and a great feeling of community and benevolence. I spent part of the evening talking to Nonie Madison who started mapping out the Vanderhoop family tree for me. I know it is going to take me a long time to get it all down, so please bear with me.
Everyone clearly worked so hard on this dinner and it was a lovely way to pass the night before Christmas Eve. Thank you to everyone who chipped in and put it together.
Elaine and Chip Vanderhoop's daughter Janice Vogel is the first-ever recipient of the NextGenNYC grant. It was a grant created by the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting in New York City and IFP, one of the oldest independent filmmaking organizations, to encourage the next generation of filmmakers. Janice, who is a recent graduate from the MFA program at City College of New York, received a $5,000 grant for her short film, "Drop." Congratulations to Janice and her parents. I cannot wait to see this film and hopefully the many others Janice creates.
Sophia Welch is home with her parents after her first semester at Bard, which her mother, Berta, says is a perfect fit for her.
Lisa and Buddy Vanderhoop spent the holidays with her family in upstate New York.
Last week I mentioned the calendar put together by the Chilmark School and Windemere Nursing Home. There were three Aquinnah students involved in that project. They are Ben Booker, Emerson Mahoney, and Coltrane Leport.
I can't really comment on the weather this past week because I was away but when I left it was very cold and when I came back it was very warm and there seems to have been a wind storm in between.
If anyone has any resolutions they'd like to share, send them along. And if you can't put down that vice just yet, there's always Lent in February. You can also come over and discuss your resolutions/reluctance with me; we'll eat some brownies and talk.
