Aquinnah

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Well, that was exhausting. I am referring of course to the past Halloween weekend. It was not clear to me when I first moved here how seriously Aquinnah takes its celebrations; now it is.

Buddy Vanderhoop celebrated his 60th birthday at the Aquinnah Shop last Friday with a party thrown by his wife Lisa (with help from her friends, Johnny, Sandra, Leslie, and I’m sure many more). There was a Sixties theme to the party, so there were lots of “hippie” style outfits. Lisa put together two slide shows celebrating Buddy, and people came from all over the Island to wish him a happy birthday. Gerry Yukevich (Vineyard Haven) told me he would have traveled much farther if he had to, to celebrate with Buddy.

Saturday evening Berta Welch threw a surprise party for her sister Carla, who was really surprised. It’s hard to believe that such a small town can keep a secret but we did. There were more costumes as many people were making their way down to Nectar’s to celebrate Halloween. Giles and Sadie were Pebbles and Bam Bam and Ona was a brilliant rendition of Snooky from The Jersey Shore. Juli made a lovely lemon cake to top off all the great food that people brought.

Then there was Halloween. At some point in the beginning of October, Nonie Madison asked if I would plan the kid’s Halloween Party and I said, “Sure.” Luckily I knew just who to ask for help, the aforementioned Johnny and Sandra who are very good at decorating. Betty Joslow asked Irina Gerhard to help as well and we had our crew. We spent Sunday transforming the Town Hall into something fun with a little spooky thrown in. And I learned something remarkably useful after decorating all day: kids like running, cookies, and juice boxes and that’s really all you need. They also like Star Wars, which you could see in the multiple Star Wars characters that appeared — two Yodas, three Princess Leias, two Lukes, and one Darth Vader. Seriously though, one of the best costumes was Jessie Little Doe Baird who came as a Pilgrim intent on turning natives away from their “heathen ways,” her husband Jason was no slouch either as a lovely lady named Gloria.

After the party a caravan set out around Aquinnah to trick or treat and people were so welcoming and generous; when I got home I found it hard to believe that my son and I had only been to six houses, he had so much candy. Thank you to everyone who helped out with the party and to everyone who gave out candy, it was quite a memorable Halloween.

June Manning will be speaking at the first in a series of cultural luncheons sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living. On Saturday, Nov. 13, from 12 noon to 2 pm. June will speak at the Grill on Main in Edgartown on the contributions and influences of the Wampanoag Tribe to Martha’s Vineyard. There will also be traditional drumming and dancing. Tickets are $25. please call Leslie Clapp for more information at 508-939-9440; the proceeds benefit the Center for Living.

Congratulations to Nonie Madison and Dan Sauer who won the iPad given out by the Charter School Scarecrow Festival.

I really don’t know if there is anything happening this weekend in Aquinnah. I’m too worn out from this past one to find out.