Welcome home to Ann Sylvester. She got a new knee for her birthday and is learning how to walk again.
Allen Birol (MVRHS ’09) is a Messiah College student currently studying in Rome. He recently had the opportunity to visit Tunisia with a group of students. They met there with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and learned more about the year-old government leading the nation. Allen is studying at Temple Rome University in Italy.
You are invited to take a musical trip through Italy: see the film “Passione” on Sunday evening at 7:30 at the Cornell Theatre. What was meant to be a documentary of popular ballads turned into a wild fantasia, an adventure into the melodies of history. There are 23 songs in which you hear the music of many cultures. The movie is in Italian and English with English subtitles.
This week the Palm Sunday service is at 11 am at the First Baptist Church. They also plan a Maundy Thursday dinner and tenebrae service at 6 pm. Palm Sunday worship is at 10 am at the Stone Church.
The Neighborhood Convention will meet next Tuesday at 10:30 am at the First Congregational Church in West Tisbury. The Rev. Cathlin Baker will lead the prayers and Tim Boland will talk about Polly Hill’s Dream, Our Arboretum. Bring a bag lunch. Dessert and beverages will be provided.
Town meeting is Tuesday night at 7 at the Tisbury School. If you aren’t there, the others will make the decisions for you.
Check out the candidates for office at the Senior Center on Wednesday night at 7 pm. And mark your calendars: The second town meeting is a week from Tuesday at 7 pm with a number of fiscal issues to discuss. And we expect you to vote on April 24 between noon and 8 pm.
Support our soldiers. The Ladies Auxiliary is hosting an Easter Bazaar at the VFW in Oak Bluffs. There will also be a bake sale. Bazaar tables cost $30. Call Tiffany at 508-693-9261 on Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday. All proceeds will benefit our veterans here and overseas. The Bazaar is a week from Saturday from 9 to 1 pm.
Tartan Day is April 6. You can celebrate with other Scots at the Chilmark Church from 2 to 4 pm. First on the schedule is Easter egg decorating, Scottish style, followed with piping by Tony Peak, more music, poetry, and of course refreshments. You can also admire the Scotsmen in their kilts.
You know the lists asking if you remember things that used to be common and are now obsolete? They mention such memorable items from our youth as peashooters, potato spud guns, blue flashbulbs and washtub wringers. The latest list was from a cousin in England and I learned there were a few things I hadn’t heard of.
When my husband didn’t know about the spud guns, I took the opportunity to query Joan Druett, my friend in New Zealand. She had enjoyed the list and, of course, she knew the answer. On the off chance you have been wondering what a spud gun may be, this was her response. “My brother had one. You made it yourself. It was just like a cork gun (often was an adapted cork gun), only you used cubes of raw potato, and they weren’t attached to the gun by a cord, so when fired they went quite a distance and hit the target with quite a whack.” See what unusual things you can learn in The Times?
I was surprised at what I remembered when I saw the original list: Headlight dimmer switches were on the floor of the car. Drivers used hand signals or signals that popped out of the side of the car. Some events were even before my time. I vaguely remember there was no television in the middle of the night, only test patterns on the screen. At one time soldering irons were heated on a flame. Were street lights really turned off in the middle of the night?
Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out today to Kaleena Searle and Kathleen Madeiros. Tomorrow wish the best to Larry Sylvia and Marco Daniels. Tom Zinno parties next Monday.
Heard on Main Street: Don’t judge people by their relatives.