Sunshine has ruled these last few days, and along with flowers and budded shrubs, it seems as if it has also brought smiles to a lot of faces. Stores are being scrubbed and opening after a long winter’s rest, and many students are here on a brief break from their college studies off-Island. Easter weekend saw many visitors just coming to spend time with their Island families or to check on their summer homes. Let’s try to keep those smiles on while we head to another, hopefully busy, spring and summer season.
Volunteers from the Healthy Aging Task Force are preparing for the Town Meeting by talking to people about two important items on the Town Meeting warrant: First Stop and MySeniorCenter. If approved by voters in all Island towns, First Stop will be an information and referral website, staffed by a real live human being, to provide comprehensive information for Island elders, their families, caregivers on- and off-Island, and Island service providers. Designed to close the current information gap, it will help elders get the information they need about everything from assisted living, home and respite care, geriatric assessments, and ramps, to home repair, transportation, and wellness programs. MySeniorCenter is cutting-edge digital technology to strengthen COAs, saving staff time and enabling COA members to sign up from home for a broad range of activities all over the Island.
Neither of these programs duplicates any other existing services, and First Stop has been recommended by the Rural Scholars each year for several years. For more information write to info@hatfmv.org.
I’m giving everyone a heads-up that there will be a blood drive at the P.A. Club in Oak Bluffs on Tuesday, April 21, starting at 11:30 am. If you are able to donate, please do, and know by your donation you will be helping to save lives.
Reminder that there is walk-in-registration for Youth Hockey on April 11 from 9 am to noon. The registration will be held in the MVRHS cafeteria.
The programs for children at the Oak Bluffs library are many and various. The Book Babies sessions have changed their time to accommodate naps. On Thursdays from 11 to 11:30 am, babies from 2 to 24 months old may enjoy songs, stories, and playtime. The Movie Afternoon feature for Thursday, April 9th, is Song of the Sea. This is a PG animated film based on an Irish legend; ages 8 and under require adult supervision, and it’s offered on a half-day of public school. From noon to 1 pm on Saturday, April 11th, there will be a baby calf visit with a bottle-fed calf from Chilmark Hills Farms. Children will be able to make a cow puppet and check out books about bovines.
Games Day for Kids will be on Wednesday, April 15th, from 1 to 3 pm with puzzles, board games, hunts, Twister and other fun for ages 3 and up.
The Graphic Novel Book Club will meet Tuesday, April 14, at 7 pm, and discuss The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang. New members are welcome. On Saturday, April 11, at 1 pm, a Fit in ’15 program, Organize Your Home, will feature Kim D’Arcy of Organize MV. You will hear about planting the seeds of organization.
The upcoming Art & Memory Program, led by local artist Nancy Cabot, starts Monday, April 13th. This a five-week program of art-looking and art-making, and will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 am in collaboration with Featherstone Center for the Arts and Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. If you have any questions about this program, please contact Mary Holmes, memory care program coordinator at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, at 508-862-1933.
An Oak Bluffs School garden work day is being planned for Sunday, April 12, from noon to 3 pm. The school hopes to rebuild the garden beds and get the soil ready for planting.
Cradles to Crayons is a nonprofit organization that helps homeless and in-need children get the essentials they need to survive. Now students at the Oak Bluffs School are getting involved by collecting new or like-new clothing. This includes shirts, coats, pants, and socks. Bring your items to school and drop in the clothing bins located in the front lobby and in front of the gym.
Remember Oak Bluffs Town Meeting on Tuesday, April 14, at 7:15 at the Oak Bluffs School, and elections at the Oak Bluffs library on Wednesday, April 16, from 10 am to 7 pm.
Birthday smiles for the month of April to Aidylberg resident Merle Beaulieu and Woodside Village residents Carl Greer, Anita Cimino, Ralph Silva, Mary Hofmann, Mary Nichols, Francis McCarthy, and Charles McKay.
Birthday smiles to Tevin Antone Araujo on April 10, Michael Rebello on the 12th, granddaughter Sarah Rivers on the 13th, and Nicholas BenDavid on the 15th.
Enjoy your week. Peace.