Town Column : Edgartown
By Gail Craig
Published: January 29, 2009
Ah...the winter play date is a double-edged sword to be sure. On one edge, it keeps the kids busy. On the other, it means there are a lot more kids running around inside at The Postage Stamp screaming.
Happy birthday to Jean Bishop, who celebrates a significant, but not specifically named, birthday today. If you know her, or see her, be sure to wish her a happy day.
Birthday wishes also go out to Clara Marshall, who grew up in Edgartown. Clara was set to celebrate her day on January 26 with her children and grandchildren. Clara's grandfather was the custodian at the Edgartown School and he and her grandmother raised her in the house that is now where Linda Basset's real estate office is. Be sure to wish her a belated happy birthday when you see her.
The Big Chili Contest, sponsored by WMVY and held at the P.A. Club in Oak Bluffs, was another huge success this year. As many of you may know, it is one of the biggest fundraisers for the Red Stocking Fund and we appreciate everyone's help in making it such a success. As always, it was packed solid with people, many of them not quite sober but all of them very happy. It is truly a day where everyone you encounter is happy to be there. It's amazing. But, I was happy to leave when I did.
Kelly Hess just returned from a week at Saddlebrook tennis camp, where she had lessons with Pete Sampras's former coach, among others. She said she had a great time, capped off by meeting and collecting an autograph from Hall of Famer Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers.
Vineyard Youth Tennis is holding a weeklong silent auction starting on February 2, benefiting their scholarship fund, which sends deserving kids to tennis camp in the summer months. Items up for auction include gift certificates to restaurants, a trip to Sonoma, and other great things. Auction items can be seen on their website at vineyardyouthtennis.org and the auction will last a week. You can call in your bids to 508-693-7762.
On a somewhat sad note for me, I've decided to hang up my pen and hand the Edgartown column over to the next writer in line. I've been doing this for about four years now, I think, and I'm in a much different place than I was when I started. For starters, I have a real job, with a firm schedule and much planning and prep work required. The kids are older, running 18 different directions; I've got graduate school and just life in general. I'm no busier than anyone else, but I've decided that some of the optional stuff has to drop to make room for the required stuff.
It's been a great experience, getting to share my thoughts and ideas with the world at large. And the support and compliments have been awesome. Even the comments of disappointments over the last couple of weeks as I contemplated giving it up have bolstered me and almost made me stick it out. I appreciate that so many have enjoyed reading what I wrote and looked forward to my columns. It's been a great ride. Thanks to The Martha's Vineyard Times for taking a chance on a complete novice four years ago and letting me find my voice. They gave me a wonderful opportunity to learn and a safe environment to do so, but now my style seems a little less in keeping with their goals. Also, my time is just too tight, and I find I have trouble making my deadline nowadays. I hope that I'll take the lessons I learned with me into the future, where I'll continue to write again in some way.
Thanks to everyone for reading and supporting me over the years. Have a great week.
