Well… what a crazy week that was! Sandy breezed through and while most people I spoke to had very little damage done to their homes, the damage done to our beaches and coastline is really quite remarkable. A line went down on Lobsterville Rd. causing it to be closed for a bit on the Tuesday following the storm and power was still out in the some of the seasonal homes on Clay Pit Way this past weekend.
Before I came here, I called another island home, New York City. My heart goes out to all people in every borough, on Long Island, in Connecticut and New Jersey still without power and with devastating damage to their homes and communities. I read in the New York Times that supplies and volunteers have been pouring into the parts of New York City that were hardest hit, which is wonderful but what is really needed now to help people is money. You can donate at redcross.org or samaritanspurse.org or do your own search if you would like to help a particular region more directly. There is also a donation box at 7a in West Tisbury where you can bring coats and blankets that will go to people in Breezy Point, Queens.
This Saturday, November 10, there is a benefit at the P-A club in Oak Bluffs sponsored by CatTrap. The benefit is to cover the cost of spaying and neutering 40 wild cats from Aquinnah, 23 of which are kittens and are currently in foster homes. Fifteen of the cats have been spayed or neutered and returned to the wild. The benefit is from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
The Aquinnah Public Library Trustees are having an open house/gathering for Cathy Thompson on her last day at the library, Tuesday, Nov. 13 from 4 to 7 pm. Everyone is welcome to come; if you can, please bring some sweet or savory finger foods.
The next blood pressure clinic in Aquinnah will be held Thursday, November 15, from 2 to 3 pm in the town hall. Any questions call Mary E. McLaughlin, RN, Town Nurse, at 781-534-2543.
Joan LeLacheur will be hosting an open studio from 10 am to 5 pm at her studio on Old South Road on Saturday, November 24. Call her at 508-645-9954 for directions. She will be holding open studios throughout the holiday season.
The Halloween party went off without a hitch; special thanks go out to Lisa Vanderhoop, Allison Callorusso, and Christy Marie of the Tribe who donated decorations. Lisa and Allison were my righthand ladies in decorating, and I could not have done it without them. They made it look super spooky cool. Thanks to Nancy Benoit and Wenonah Madison who helped clean up the next day and whose conversation made it go by so quickly. Thank you to everyone who showed up in costumes and brought something to eat, and thank you to everyone on the trick or treat list, who opened their homes to many candy hungry kids. All the kids looked great. but I must mention Clovis Smith’s “Goldbug” costume, Dan Sauer (not a kid but still a great costume) as a “Ghostbuster” and Isaac and Emmett’s pirate costumes. Most Aquinnah kids were very sleepy the next day after all that partying and candy gathering. Thank goodness for the return to standard time: now they can catch up on their sleep.
Happy Birthday to Martha Vanderhoop, whose birthday is this Sunday.
