I’d love to know how everyone’s gardens are doing. I know I mentioned gardening last week as well, but it’s July, and I’m obsessed. What’s working this year and what just isn’t? I had fresh zucchini, cucumbers, and red carrots out of Jill Walpole’s garden recently, but I swear Jill could make vegetables grow in the desert. My cucumbers are fighting a jungle of weeds that, crutches or no crutches, I will be battling this week.
All you Jaws fans out there can now head over to Sharky’s to have your picture taken with Bruce, the shark from the movie. In conjunction with the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and the Chamber of Commerce, JB is psyched to announce a long-term loan of the full-size reproduction of Bruce the shark that was made for the 30th anniversary Jawsfest celebration. The new installation, sponsored by Narragansett beer, has been designed and executed by Cape artist Michael Coyne, and will soon be supplemented by black and white photos taken during the filming of the movie from the archives of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. You no longer have to go to Universal Studios to have your picture taken with Jaws.
It’s hard to keep up with Brian Ditchfield these days, forever on his valiant quest to keep the Island saturated with the arts. He and wife, Brooke Hardman, have been hard at work with ArtFarm, an organization focused on “sustainable arts.” Their mission is pretty interesting, and you can read about it on their web site, artfarmenterprises.com. Currently, ArtFarm presents PigPen Theater Company’s “The Mountain Song,” a play for all ages that incorporates original music and puppets, which you can catch at Featherstone Center for the Arts through July 24. The show begins at 6 pm, so sit in the shade, bring a picnic, and enjoy.
Sandy Joyce reports that the United Methodist Church of Martha’s Vineyard, which includes parishioners from the Edgartown Methodist Church (Old Whaling Church), the United Methodist Church (Stone Church) in Vineyard Haven, and the Trinity Methodist Church in Oak Bluffs (behind the Tabernacle), have started their Crab Cake suppers again this summer. They are held each Wednesday from 6 to 7 pm, or until sold out, at the Trinity Church Parish House across from the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs. The cost is $12 for a full meal; hot dog meals, $5, are also available. Proceeds from the suppers go to various mission and/or community outreach programs that the church supports.
There are so many July birthday wishes to send out I can hardly keep up! Natasha Snowden celebrated July 21, while Lindsay Lewis Trance blows out her candles today. Upcoming, we sound the vuvuzelas for Nick Prescott on the 24th, and Ken Magnuson and Ryan Murtha on the 25th. Happy happy to Jamie Ann Greene, who celebrates July 26. Belated birthday wishes go out to Joanne DeRoche, who celebrated her day July 16, and also to Lauren Townes, who turned the big 2-1 on July 11. Party hats all around.
Happy anniversary to Dave and Nonnie Garvin, who celebrated three years of marriage on July 14. Way to go, guys!
You all have heard enough about how I’m laid up with a broken foot and a broken dog — woe is me, et cetera. So I was thinking this week I might share some of the things I wish I were doing, and perhaps you could take my suggestions and I could live vicariously through all you functioning bipeds. This is what I suggest: go to Katama General and sit outside in the sun, among the galvanized pails of pretty flowers and sip a cup of coffee. Or grab a donut and sit at the finger piers downtown and watch the ducks. Go have a drink on the upstairs deck of the Shanty. At dinnertime, sit on the patio at Among the Flowers and order the crab cake — there’s nothing better. Between meals, be sure to squish your toes in the sand. Ah, summer.
