Town Column : Chilmark
By Jacqueline Sexton
Published: January 8, 2009
As of January 1, the Chilmark Community Church will no longer be part of the United Methodist Cooperative Ministry of Martha's Vineyard. Understanding that the church is a vital part of the community, members voted to ensure that the church would remain open. The church is still the United Methodist Community Church with Sunday services at 9 am. Community suppers in the education building resumed this week and will continue on Tuesdays from 5 to 6 pm. Everyone is always welcome.
Remember when seasonal visitors used to ask, "What do you do here all winter?" Nowadays there is so much going on there is scarcely time for solitary pursuits like painting, writing, and composing poems.
Movie fans are having a field day this winter with new and classic, and American and foreign films shown all over Martha's Vineyard. The library will begin a weekly movie series, Friday Films, tomorrow, January 9 at 7 pm with "In America," a film from director Jim Sheridan about a young Irish family who immigrate to the United States to start over as illegal immigrants in Hell's kitchen. The film, released in 2002, has humor, drama, secrets and memories and has been nominated for 54 awards, including three Oscars and two Golden Globes. The eight-film series, produced by Thomas Bena's Martha's Vineyard Film Festival and the Chilmark Public Library, explores the concept of personal courage. Included are coming-of-age comedies, family dramas, and romantic thrillers. The series, which will continue on Friday evenings through January and February, is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Admission is free, and popcorn and drinks will be available.
The library is also offering another series, Chowder and a Movie, beginning next Wednesday, Jan. 14, 12 noon to 2 pm. The hot chowder is courtesy of the Menemsha Fish Market, and the event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Next Wednesday's film, "I Know Where I'm Going," was released in 1945 and is the story of a flourishing romance set in the bleak Scottish Hebrides. Everyone is welcome, and admission is free.
Here's some catch-up news from Katie Carroll about the Volunteer Firefighters Association's annual Christmas party at the community center. Special thanks to Santa, who arrived in a blaze of glory and handed out gifts to all the small children in town, from newborns to fifth graders; to Scott McDowell for the mulled cider, Matt Tobin for the beautiful tree, Janet Weider for the invitations, Menemsha Texaco for the coffee and condiments, and to all the elves. And a big round of applause to the heroic firefighters for preserving a tradition that has been going on for generations.
Lynn Ditchfield and her colleagues are working hard to make Adult and Community Education a year-round affair on Martha's Vineyard and have assembled an impressive list of 40 teachers for courses in a wide variety of subjects, from business and computer training to the environment. Authors John Hough and Cynthia Riggs will lead classes in creative writing and writing from experience, respectively.
Courses start next Tuesday, Jan. 13 (GED classes start January 12), and continue through February 13. Most classes are five sessions and are held from 7 to 9 pm. Catalogues are available at libraries and schools. For more information, visit the website at acemv.org, or email Ms. Ditchfield at lditchfield@mvyps.org.
The Martha's Vineyard Women's Network is hosting a panel discussion on January 13 focusing on how to start, maintain, and expand small businesses. For more information, please visit mvwomensnetwork@gmail.com.
It's Monday morning as I write this, and it seems strange to be returning to the usual, holiday-free routine. Merrymakers celebrated both on and off Island and are now back in their offices, classrooms, studios, and kitchens.
A delegation from Menemsha drove to Lincoln, N.H., before Christmas to ride the Polar Express for a visit with Santa. They were Marshall, Katie, Brooks, and Bradley Carroll, Julie Flanders and her daughter, Bella Thorpe, Sarah Doyle and Bret Stearns and their children, Ava and Graham, and cousin, Josh. "It was a long, cold, snowy trip, but well worth it," commented Katie. The children enjoyed the reading of the book "The Polar Express," afternoon sledding and dinner by a roaring fire at a restaurant called The Common Man.
Zee and Bill Gamson had perhaps the most exotic adventures on their trip to the Galapagos, Quito, and Guayaquil in Ecuador with their daughter, Jenny, and her three children. They were back home in time for the snowstorms and to welcome their son, Josh, and his family.
"We're happy to be back to normal at home," said Zee.
