Oh look! More snow. Here’s a great thing about all this snow: My lawn underneath it all is still kind of green. Usually by this point in the winter, every inch of lawn is a dull gray/brown, but when all the snow melted last week I saw the lawn was green, for the most part. Not to tempt fate, but I do think winter is on its way out. I might just be kidding myself, but I can smell spring coming, and the little bit of green there is is most cheering.
The 15th annual Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival starts today, with a 7 pm screening of Red Dot on the Ocean. This film is preceded by a 20-minute show by Willy Mason, so you will definitely not want to miss it. There will be great music all weekend, in between films. Willy will play again on Sunday night, and Isaac Taylor will perform on Saturday at 7:10. Other musicians performing include Jemima James, Jellybone Rivers, Eric Johnson, and Dana Edelman. Aquinnah-based filmmakers Liz Witham and Ken Wentworth will have a film in The Future of Farming: Five Short Films, playing Saturday at 9 am. Island documentary filmmakers Len and Georgia Morris will discuss their film The Same Heart after its 4:30 pm screening on Friday. This is a powerful film about ending poverty around the globe; I was lucky enough to see it at a sneak preview, and it is not to be missed. Sometime Chilmarker Matt Heineman will show his film Cartel Land at 7:30 on Saturday. You can always go to tmvff.org for the full schedule, and if a film looks good, buy your ticket in advance: Screenings do sell out. See you at the Festival.
Come jam with Geoffrey Dana Hicks on Friday, March 20, at the Aquinnah Town Hall, in a benefit performance for the Gay Head Community Baptist Church. The show will be from 7 to 10 pm, and tickets are $15 at the door. Mr. Hicks is world-renowned at conducting choirs and playing many different types of music, from spiritual to jazz, Broadway to contemporary. He will be performing from 7 to 8:15 pm, and other musicians are invited to join in with him. Local artists and jazz musicians are encouraged to call Pastor Ellen at 781-664-0736 for information or to register as a participant in the evening’s “Jammin’ with Geoff” concert.
Jim and Kathy Newman just returned from a trip to Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, and Paris. While in Paris they ran smack into their summer Vineyard neighbors, Bruce and Shelly Eckman. What are the chances of that? Jim and Kathy’s daughter Julie also surprised Kathy by coming to Paris for a few days, which was a definite highlight of the trip for Kathy.
Congratulations to Elissa Turnbull and Eddie Stahl, who welcomed a little girl named Hazel on March 11. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces. She joins big sister Lucille. Congratulations to Aquinnah kids Riley Cameron, Billie Shepard, Clyde Smith, and Rodeo Purves-Langer, who all had poems published in the book I Will Save You, about the Gay Head Light. Copies of the book are available at all local bookstores and at savethegayheadlight.org for $20. Happy birthday to Aretha Brown, who celebrates on Tuesday. Rodeo Purves-Langer celebrated his eighth birthday over the weekend at the Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena. Nothing like skating followed by chocolate cake, ice cream, and fresh strawberries.