This poem by William Henry Harrison Murray says it all this season.
Ah friends, dear friends,
As years go on and heads get gray,
How fast the guests do go!
Touch hands, touch hands,
With those that stay.
Strong hands to weak,
Old hands to young, around the
Christmas board touch hands.
The false forget, the foe forgive,
For every guest will go
And every fire burn low
And cabin empty stand.
Forget, forgive,
For who may say that Christmas day
May ever come to host or guest again.
Touch hands!
However you celebrate this season, celebrate together in peace.
January will be a busy month at our Oak Bluffs library. To kick-off Mini Golf weekend, we will show the 1980 classic with Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and a furry gopher on throwback Thursday Movie Night on January 8, at 6 pm. This free event also includes popcorn and trivia.
The third annual Mini Golf Extravaganza will be held on January 9 and 10. On Friday, January 9, from 5 to 8 pm, enjoy food, beverage, and fun and play on the 18-hole indoor course. This event is for those 21 years and up. The cost is $18. On Saturday, January 10, the mini golf runs from 10 am to 1 pm and is for all ages and free — great family fun.
Are you ready for lobster rolls again? Then mark your calendars for Sunday, Jan. 4, from 12 noon until 2 pm, when Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven will once more serve winter lobster rolls. Their prize-winning lobster rolls, with chips and beverage are a bargain at $17, or you may enjoy hotdogs for $3 and assorted pies for $4 per slice. For info or advance orders, call 508-693-0332.
Congratulations to Ashley and Jared Andrews who became proud parents of a son on Wednesday, December 17. Cooper Christopher Andrews’s arrival also made Lynn Rebello of Oak Bluffs a first-time grandmother. What a great Christmas present.
Christmas services for Good Shepherd Parish will all be held at St. Augustine’s Church in Vineyard Haven. On Christmas Eve, there will be a 3 pm Children’s Mass followed by a Vigil Mass at 5 pm and the traditional Midnight Mass at 12 am. Christmas day, there will be a 10 am service and then the Portuguese Mass at 11:30 am.
Big changes at the four corners by the Fire Station in Oak Bluffs. The fire station is now surrounded by a safety fence and the demolition of the old station has already begun. It will be interesting to watch the progression of the new station. The original station was constructed in the 1980s. The foundation and finishing touches were put on that steel building mostly by volunteers and — you guessed it — they were firemen and the cost to the town was around $45,000.
We send birthday smiles to Roger Schilling Jr. on the 26th, Richard Tarter on the 28th, and Ava BenDavid, Anita Combra, and Claudia Metell on December 31.
Enjoy your week. Peace.