Guitar lessons
Vineyard Seagrass Music Academy is offering a free 10-week Fundamentals of Folk Guitar class for a number of “highly motivated adults,” according to Steve Maxner, instructor.
The focus will be on acquiring basic skills that will allow the student to create and enjoy music more fully. Potential students will need to be interviewed prior to acceptance into the class. Classes begin the first week of January. If interested in participating in the intensive folk guitar “bootcamp,” please call Steve at 508-696-7248.
Irish Studies fundraiser
Elaine Cawley Weintraub’s high school Irish Studies Class is raising money for their class trip to Ireland by hosting a Traditional Irish Christmas Dinner and silent auction at Offshore Ale on Wednesday, Dec. 15. The menu includes leek and potato soup, smoked salmon and brown bread, Irish stew, and chocolate stout cake. Listen to authentic, traditional Irish music by Gregg Harcourt and Mary Wolverton, with special guest Willie Nevin. Seatings are at 5, 6:30, and 8 pm. For reservations, call 508-693-2626; for more information, call 508-524-8034.
A visit from the past
Guest minister Dorothy Boroush presents “A Visit from Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell,” a special service at the Unitarian Universalist Society of M.V. this Sunday, Dec. 12.
The Rev. Blackwell was the first woman Unitarian minister, ordained in 1878. She married Samuel Blackwell, a member of the well-known Blackwell family who summered at Quitsa in Chilmark. The Rev. Blackwell wrote many books, preached, and spoke at many rallies furthering suffragette causes, and helped establish the All Soul’s Unitarian Church in Elizabeth, N.J., where she served as minister emeritus until her death at age 96. She is buried at the Abel’s Hill Cemetery in Chilmark.
The service starts at 11 am, and the chapel is located at 238 Main Street in Vineyard Haven.
Jewelry and fashion
The Beth McElhiney Gallery is collaborating with Island fashion designer Minor Knight for a Holiday Party and Trunk Show this Saturday, Dec. 11, at Ms. McElhiney’s Vineyard Haven store. Refreshments will be served from 10 am to 7 pm, with cocktails starting at 4 pm.
Ms. Knight features warm, handmade pieces such as Mongolian sheepskin vests, boas, Toscana lamb shearling reversible scarves, and cocktail frock coats.
Ms. McElhiney designs and makes jewelry collections mainly with sterling silver, gold, pearls, and semi-precious stones. From her website: “Bold color combinations work in tandem with heavy metal worked with ancient patterns incorporating ancient alchemical and runic symbols.”
For more information, call 508-693-3467.
The Grinch
The Capawock Theatre hosts a free screening of the perennial family favorite, “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” starring Jim Carrey, next Thursday, Dec. 16, at 4:30 pm. Organizers ask that attendees bring at least one non-perishable food item for the Island Food Pantry.
RISE holiday show
RISE Vineyard Performing Arts presents Season’s Greetings, Sunday at 5:30 pm at the Oak Bluffs School.
Ninety-five Vineyard students will perfom to holiday classics and modern favorites in a variety of dance styles, from ballet, modern, and tap to acrobatic and hip-hop.
The event will be presented in a dinner theater format, beginning with the show and concluding with a meal catered by Flatbread Pizza.
Tickets are $35, which includes a full dinner and the performance. Tickets are available at RISE, 455 State Rd. in Vineyard Haven at the Woodland Business Center. Seating is limited. For more information call 508-693-2262.