Edo Potter, a Spirit of the Vineyard
Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard has announced that Edo Potter of Chappaquiddick (in Edgartown) is the winner of this year’s Spirit of the Vineyard award.
“The award is given annually to a person who has served for one or more nonprofit organizations on the Island, and whose work has made a difference to individuals and to the community as a whole.” You could say that Ms. Potter qualifies.
She has served on the Edgartown Planning Board, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, the Land Bank Commission, and the Land Bank Advisory Board. She has been on the board of the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, The Trustees of Reservations, the Vineyard Conservation Society, and the Nature Conservancy. She helped start the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. She continues to serve on the Edgartown Conservation Commission and the Chappy Open Space Committee.
Past recipients of the award are Jack Ware, Estelle Surprenant, Ron Rappaport, the Possible Dreams Auction Committees Past and Present, Nellie Mendenhall, Kerry Alley, Dorothy Bangs, Judy Williamson, the M.V. Harley Riders, Polly Brown, Melinda Loberg, Denys and Marilyn Wortman, and Emily Bramhall.
A gathering to celebrate Edo and her accomplishments will be held on Thursday, December 1, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm at the Edgartown Yacht Club. Refreshments will be served, and there will be a cash bar. All are invited to come to honor her.
Nominations for the Spirit of the Vineyard Award may be made at any time and sent to P.O. Box 1356, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.
Stuffing the Red Stocking
Applications are now available for Red Stocking, the Island’s neighborly assistance effort to provide food, clothing, and holiday gifts for Vineyarders between birth and eighth grade. Applications may be obtained at most branches of all Island banks, at M.V. Insurance Company in Vineyard Haven, as well as at all elementary schools, at the Early Childhood Program at M.V. Community Services, at the Tribal Headquarters in Aquinnah, the Mass. Dept. of Families and Children, the Boys and Girls Club, Dukes County Regional Housing, Morgan Woods, the Island Food Pantry, and the Health Care Access Office (508-696-0020), where Portuguese speaking families can get assistance, according to a press release.
Parents are encourage to apply by November 15, in order to receive food vouchers before Thanksgiving.
This Sunday, November 7, the M.V. Harley Riders will tour the Island collecting donations and toys. They will convene at noon at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs, where the public is invited to welcome them.
Gifts will be wrapped at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven on December 12, 13, and 14. Volunteer wrappers are urged to call Patricia Carlet at 508-693-3187.
Donations by check may be mailed to Barbara Silvia, Treasurer, 67 Midland Ave., Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.
For more information about Red Stocking, call Kerry Alley at 508-693-2324 or Lorranie Clark at 508-693-0725.
