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Thursday, May 24, 2012

By Hermine Hull
Published: May 7, 2009

"Buon Appetito," read a painted banner across the back wall of the Grange last Friday night, décor for Italian Night. Tables stretched from front to back, filled with diners enjoying their meals, served and bussed by fifth-graders professionally garbed in black and white. Our group of five (Mike and me, Blue Cullen and Kurt Freund, and surprise visitor/former West Tisbury-ite Wendy Brophy) joined Karen Overtoom and Louie DeGeofroy as planned. The dinner and raffle raised money for a trip on the Shenandoah planned for this summer. Thanks for a fun evening, kids, you did a terrific job.

Several kids we expected to see were missing, competing in The Great East Band Festival in West Springfield. The All-Island A-band won a Platinum Award for their performance of "Bolero," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and a traditional "Irish Air and Dance." I hope I have all the musicians from West Tisbury correctly: Olivia DeGeofroy, Megan Mendenhall, Cooper Chapman, Harrison Rodrigues, Jacob Lawrence, Katy Smith, Carter D'Angelo, Galen Mayhew, Liam Craffey, Jessica Campbell, Claudia Taylor, Samantha Bunker, Lily Neville, Lucy Norris, Kyle Joba-Woodruff, Lucy Benedetto, Stuart Hersh, Sarah Alexander, Katherine Dorr, Mikey Schroeder, Samantha Maltais, Aaron Lowe, Ben Gordon, and Zack Bernard. Congratulations to you all and your music instructor.

Dan Waters traveled to Marco Island, Florida, to visit his parents and attend his Class of 1973 high school reunion. Actually, Dan attended school in Brazil, where he grew up, but so many of his classmates are now living in the U.S. they decided to meet in Delray Beach.

The Manters have also been in Florida, having just returned from a family trip to Disney World. Their party was made up of Janice, Skipper, Melissa, and her friend, Mike Nania, Kim and Ken Cottrill from here, meeting up with Jenny and Glen Outcalt, their children Alexa and Nathan, and several members of Glen's family, 18 in all. They stayed in adjacent apartments and did their best to coordinate activities. Janice said the weather was perfect, sunny and comfortably in the 80s every day. Skipper was an excellent tour guide, being familiar with the place after several trips on his own. They saw everything. Highlights were a day at Sea World and going to a "Character Breakfast" where all the Disney characters were on hand to greet the guests. Everyone seems to have had a grand time, and they were pleasantly surprised to find forsythia and shadbush blooming upon their return.

Sue Hruby spent part of last week in New York City visiting friends and partaking of all the big city has to offer. She left Thursday to arrive in time to attend the opening of Wolf Kahn's exhibition of new landscapes, "Toward the Larger View: A Painter's Process," at Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art. I could hardly wait for Sue's return with the promised catalogue from the show. It is amazing. Anyone who is interested in contemporary painting, especially artists who are curious about artists' ways of developing ideas, will find Mr. Kahn's generous descriptions and the paintings themselves a true gift. Beginning with small pastel sketches, he discusses the progression towards oil paintings of five or six feet, with all the accommodations required and desired. I can't stop looking at it and dream of seeing those paintings myself, examining the brush marks, being engulfed in the color combinations he is so admired for. Go if you have a chance.

Happy birthday wishes to Prudy Burt, who celebrated her May 3 birthday at a dinner with friends last Thursday evening.

Russell Schubert, son of Lisa Amols and Larry Schubert, graduated from Johnson State College with a degree in Outdoor Education. He plans to spend the summer working as a river rafting guide for Hatch River Expeditions in Vernal, Utah.

I know this is graduation season, so please let me know about your kids and their plans.

The Wasserman/Bassett family was here from Boston visiting Robert and Susan Wasserman. Henry had spent the previous weekend in Washington, D.C., with his father, Brian. They "did everything," according to Henry: the National Gallery, Science Museum, the Capitol, everything.

Kenneth, Kathleen, and Brody Vincent were at The Plane View Sunday morning having breakfast at the table next to Mike and me, affording us an opportunity to talk about art, our up-coming openings on July 12, and Ken's new studio. Then off to the playground, a highlight for Brody.

Earlier last week I was treated to a viewing of the daffodil-bedecked fields at Kathy and Sam Stevenson's. Over 3,000 daffodils, many divided from original bulbs planted by Sam's parents, are added to annually by Kathy, Sam, and White Flower Farm. They bloom in profusion beside paths, across the lawn, reflecting in a pond, and brightening the long driveway in from Indian Hill Road. Kathy plants more every fall. They certainly are a welcome sight after a gray winter.

A note to you all: I have been having trouble with my Comcast email and haven't received any that may have been sent over the past several weeks. If I have missed something important to you, I apologize. Please call 508-693-2525 instead or stop me around town. I really don't like or use the computer much. Thanks.