I am in love. With a loveseat. It’s heavy white wicker with cushions and nestles perfectly into the side of our porch. With a couple of pillows and my book, it’s just the spot for reading and drinking morning coffee or evening drinks. Our cat, Grace, purrs on my lap (right in front of my book of course,) and Talley lays tight against the legs of the loveseat on the floor.
The wait is over. Jon and Pamela Belain have had their baby, a boy named Jonathan Morgan Belain Jr. He was born at M.V. Hospital on June 16. Congratulations to parents and grandparents and a welcome to Jonathan Jr.
I had the date of my friend Marie-Louise Rouff’s opening wrong in last week’s column. It is this Friday evening, July 1, 6 pm, at the Shaw Cramer Gallery in Vineyard Haven. Rose Abrahamson and Heather Blume are the other featured artists.
Allen Whiting’s annual opening moves to Featherstone this year. A retrospective of Allen’s artistic career will open Sunday, July 3, 4-6 pm. The exhibition includes drawings, sculpture, watercolors, as well as oil paintings representing 40 years of work. This special exhibition is part of Featherstone’s celebration of its 50th anniversary. Allen’s new paintings are, as always, at his Davis House Gallery.
Also Sunday afternoon, there is an opening at The Granary Gallery from 5 to 7. Alison Shaw, Kenneth Vincent, David Wallis, and Dan West will present their new work, photographs, paintings, and sculpture respectively.
Heather Capece is artist of the month at the West Tisbury Library. Her show is called Neverland: Paintings and Photographs. Meet the artist at a reception next Thursday, July 7, at 4 pm.
Vineyard Gardens will host a lecture, “Shade Gardens & Ground Covers,” this Saturday morning, July 2, at 11 am.
Also at 11, the Summer Reading Program Kickoff takes place at the Ag Hall. Admission is $3. Face-painting and fun are in store for all attendees. The event is sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Library Association.
Other library events include an afternoon concert Friday, July 1, at 4 pm. The J.C. Trio will perform American Songbook classics. They are the best.
Tuesday, July 5, Dr. Enid Haller will show “Under Our Skin,” a film about Lyme Disease, at the Howes House. The program, from 6 to 9 pm, will include a discussion following the movie.
Jim Kaplan, writer, raconteur, and baseball historian, will be at the library Wednesday, July 6, at 5 pm, to talk about his new book, “The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century.” I have heard about this project through its completion from Jim and his wife, Brooks Robards, so I am eager to attend and get my signed copy (to begin reading on my loveseat as soon as I get home.)
When I saw Marilyn Hollinshead last Tuesday evening as we were picking up our lobster rolls at the Chilmark Church, she was full of excitement over Skye, her and Warren’s cairn terrier puppy. Skye has brought a lot of energy and laughter into their home. I’m sure she will be a big hit with the grandkids this summer.
Henry and Louise Bessire came by the gallery last weekend with their granddaughter, Emma, and her friend, Pauline, who was visiting from Marseille. The girls returned to Brookline on Sunday, taking with them Percy Bessire, Henry and Louise’s new springer puppy. I stopped by on Monday to see Percy and was disappointed by his absence. Not that a visit with Louise isn’t enough. She told me that Emma will be going to France in a few weeks, and will visit with Pauline and her family. I told Louise I had been too embarrassed to try out my high school French, but she said Pauline would have appreciated the attempt. Next time.
Mary Beth Norton will be at the Vineyard Museum next Thursday, July 7, to talk about and read from her new book, “Separated by their Sex: Women in Public and Private in the Colonial Atlantic World.” Mary Beth is Mary Donlan Alger Professor of History at Cornell University during the winter, prize-winning green bean grower and gardener during her summers in town.
I was appalled to read about the Steamship Authority’s plans to close the ticket office at the airport. I understand that they have to move out of the current space, but to close it altogether and try to have all reservations booked online is a terrible idea. For one thing, not everyone goes online. Some people don’t use computers. Some of us appreciate face-to-face meetings with other human beings. The staff at the airport office has always been helpful and informative, responsive to emergencies like getting off-Island for a medical or family problem. It also means five of our neighbors lose their jobs. I hope the merits of an easy-to-get-to office will outweigh any arguments against it.
