Too cold for the beginning of spring, but thanks to a couple of foggy wet days, an abundance of ground is visible, spread like a precious new skin, color just beginning to poke through. Sending condolences to the family of Margaret Howe Freydberg: always a trooper, elegant for every occasion, eloquent and honest, communicating straight from her heart. I can’t wait for Laurie David’s thoughtful volume of Peggy’s best poetry. Thank you, Nancy Aronie, for asking me to come and read Peggy’s work to her last September. Her words will live on and be welcome and read by many in the years to come.
If you don’t follow Grey Barn on Facebook, you may have missed Molly Glasgow’s interview with Philadephia’s great cheese blogger; check it out here. I love that our high school Spanish class got to visit Grey Barn, Mermaid Farm, and Thimble Farm, where they bought ingredients to make a local frittata as part of their global food lesson; thank you to Island Grown Schools for sharing this news.
If you feel like getting a little dirt under your fingernails come and volunteer for the Chilmark School Garden Work Day on Saturday, April 4, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, see islandgrownschools.org/garden-work-day or just sign up as an IGS volunteer. And the wonderful Rebecca Gilbert of Chilmark’s Native Earth Teaching Farm was a special guest the other week for the West Tisbury first graders, where she shared raw and dyed wool made from her sheep and showed how to use a drop spindle.
Congratulations to Jeremy and Michele Mayhew on celebrating their twin daughters’ Freya and Hailey’s third birthday on March 23. Jeremy reports that he, an animator and film artist, and Wes Brighton, a fisherman and playwright, have received a Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fellowship “to produce a documentary exploring past, present, and future fishing on the Island. The idea is to portray our local, artisanal/family fisheries, their struggles with regulations, heritage, identity, and their continuing struggle to make a living in a world that is now run by mostly corporate fleets.” We’ll have to wait until 2017 to have a look, but here’s to Jeremy and Wes!
K-8 graders can join Sassafras’s Explore Island Ecosystems on Saturday, April 4, from 11 am to 4 pm at Fulling Mill Brook (Middle Road entrance). Learn tracking and listening to what the birds are telling us. Make sure you have appropriate clothing, a backpack with lunch and a water bottle. They are throwing in a makeup date during April vacation, so your kids can spend three full days outside; wandering, adventuring, learning, and having a blast! $35 for a walk-in, or $150 for 5 days. For more info see sassafrasmvy.org/programs/youth/ or call 508-645-2008.
On Tuesday evening, don’t forget to check out the Poetry and Writing Series at Pathways at the Chilmark Tavern, which starts at 6:30 pm. Or join others for Pizza Night at the Chilmark Church, starting at 6 pm. Martha Abbot teaches a Meditation/Stretch Class at Yoga Barn from 11 am to noon on Wednesdays. $15/single class; for information check acemv.org or lynn@acemv.org, or call 774-310-1131.
A Passover Seder will take place at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Friday, April 3, beginning at 5:15 pm, advanced reservations required; call 508-693-0745. Be sure to check the paper for the many Easter egg hunts around the Island, besides Chilmark Community Church’s 9 am Easter service with special harp music by Sandra Bitterman and an egg hunt for children.
On Tuesday, April 7, Martha’s Vineyard poet laureate Arnie Reisman hosts another Poetry Café at Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, beginning at 7:30 pm with readings by Michael West, Steve Ewing, and yours truly.
If you need more information on the Accessory Apartment Zoning Bylaw Amendment, the final public information meeting will be Thursday, April 9, beginning at 5:30 pm at the Chilmark library. For questions contact Jennifer Christy, town clerk, at 508-645-2107 or jchristy@chilmarkma.gov. And if you recently turned 18, the last day to register to vote is Tuesday, April 7.
