Carolyn Feltz will be selling beach stickers at the town hall Sunday through Friday, from 9 am to 12 noon. That’s right — Sunday, too! Stickers are $35 per car, just like last year.
Phil Weinstein, who has written four books on William Faulkner, will speak at the Bunch of Grapes in Vineyard Haven this Friday at 7:30 pm. The talk is called “Faulkner in Love, Trouble, and Hollywood.”
At the Chilmark Community Church on Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon there will be a fair for children. Admission is free; there will be pony rides, cupcake decorating, and games. This is the church on Menemsha crossroads next to the fire station.
I really don’t want to talk about what else is happening on Saturday. It is Jenny Christy’s last day as our head librarian. There will be a party from 2 to 4 pm at the library sponsored by the Friends of the Aquinnah Library and the trustees; light refreshments will be served. I don’t know if a replacement for Jenny has been found yet, and the last I heard the trustees were going to interview a few people who had applied, but I have not heard if they have come to a decision on any one person.
I know I have been going on about how sad I am that Jenny is leaving, but indulge me a little bit longer, please. I honestly believe that Jenny has made the library the bright, welcome, organized community center that it is today. Jenny had a vision for the library and she brought it to fruition with input from us and with her (and Michelle’s and Natalie’s) hard work it became an Aquinnah hot spot especially when it was, temporarily, at the Old Town Hall.
I am happy to debate where the library should be housed or if a new one should be built, but not right now. Right now I would like to thank Jenny for all her hard work, her vision, her dedication, and her determination that the people of Aquinnah should have the library they want and her willingness to fight for it, fight for us. So, now that Jenny is leaving it is up to us to carry on that work and make sure we have the library we want and need. Thank you Jenny; you have been an amazing example of public service and grace. You are leaving us with a much better library than you found us with. I will miss you very much and I promise I will return everything that I have out that is overdue — or at least renew it and pay all my fines before you leave.
Richard Skidmore said that the Lighthouse Challenge was wonderful. People from all over the country participate in these challenges. He told me that one is held in New York that costs a few thousand dollars to participate in; you travel all around the coast of New York over a few days and check out all the lighthouses. Richard is very interested in the people who are “into” lighthouses, who are very knowledgeable and detailed in their questions, and they all admire the beauty of a well-made, well-preserved lighthouse. But for all their beauty and grace, lighthouses are surrounded by danger, usually in the form of rocks or dangerous shoals, and they are often located in “ends of the Earth” type places. Richard finds that the lighthouse devotees have not just an appreciation for the beauty and safety that lighthouses represent, but also the danger that they announce.
Goodbye to Jim and Kathy Newman’s kids and grandkids and a big welcome back to my neighbors, the McHughs. I’m sure their daughters (who are 7 and 5, I think) will be towering over me when I see them.
