Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And hope you are wearing green.
Spring not only brings forth more warmth and plants sending green shoots through the ground, but something else, called town meetings. While going through some old papers, I found a very interesting newspaper clipping dated May 17, 1928, that detailed events at the Oak Bluffs town meeting at that time. Here are few excerpts from the article that you might find interesting.
“The constitutional right of free speech was indulged in to an unusual degree at Oak Bluffs town meeting on Tuesday. A motion by the park department to purchase two swans to clarify the water in Sunset Lake was voted down amid loud laughter. Fire chief Antone Alley’s persuasive arguments convinced the town of the need of a new pumper while Joseph A. Sylvia criticized the financial report of the park board and rejoinders were made by Park Dept. Superintendent and selectmen in which cheap work, contemptible, miserable, and dirty were used with due regard for grammaticalarrangement. Boos and hisses greeted the statement that Vineyard Haven might be depended upon to furnish mutual aid and Moderator Frederick W. Smith swung his gavel with the strength and regularity of the village blacksmith.”
We have made quite a bit of progress since those days. Actually the eventual purchase of swans to be placed in Sunset lake did help and all the fire departments on the Island can always be depended on for mutual aid, when needed.
So make plans to attend your town meeting to make your voice heard, and who knows but maybe in 70 years or so someone will read about what happened there and wonder at the changes that have taken place since.
There will be a potluck celebration of the life of Arthur Cormier from 12 noon to 3 pm on Sunday, March 20, at the P-A Club. Bring stories to share.
Come and take part in the various programs offered by our Oak Bluffs Library. These include the Chess Group, which meets every Saturday, 10 am to noon. All levels are welcome to attend.
The Scrabble Group meets every Saturday, 10 am to noon.
March 23 at 10:30 am is Toddler’s story time, which includes reading, singing, dancing, and playing instruments.
The Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Network announces that one $2,500 grant will be awarded to a local small business person based on Martha’s Vineyard looking to improve, grow, or start a new business. Applications must be post-marked by April 8, 2011. Application and instructions can be found at mvwomensnetwork.org.
The Oak Bluffs School MCAS testing continues through the end of March with make-ups being held the first part of April. It is suggested that if you have a student that will be participating, make sure they are well rested.
Mark your calendars now for Games Night on Friday, March 25 at the library. Any questions, please contact Tiffany Belain at 508-693-4947. There will be over 20 gift baskets that you may bid on. A few of them are a baby basket, healthy snacks, gardening, for the birds, pet basket and many more. So plan on attending this fun-filled event.
We send birthday smiles to Edith Rouseau, Kelsey Debettencourt, Joe Moujabber, and Jaime Leon on March 18, Jim Dorsey on the 19th, Erica Ponte and Cherrie Nunes on the 21, Ross Peters on the 22nd, and Marcelle BenDavid on the 23rd. Belated smiles to Molly deBettencourt who celebrated her special day on March 12.Enjoy your week.Peace.
