Aquinnah: The September happy dance edition

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We made it. We made it. The pitter-patter you hear is every single Islander doing the September happy dance. It’s the fall equivalent of pinkletinks. I know we still have a few days to go until Labor Day, but September has officially started. My to-do list is still a mile long, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Someone please remind me of this euphoria during the second week of February. Please.

Listen up everyone, I made a mistake in last week’s column. The Aquinnah Shop is not closing for dinner. They are open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays for dinner through September. They will also be open for breakfast and lunch most days (they sometimes take Mondays off) through September. Sorry for any confusion I caused. The Outermost Inn is open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday until the week after Labor Day; they will then serve dinner Thursday through Sunday. Their last night will be the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend. That gives everyone just about one month to eat at these two fabulous places with unbeatable views.

At the Aquinnah library this past weekend, we bade farewell to our library director of the past few years, Lisa Sherman. The Trustees of the Aquinnah Public Library have not yet announced the new director, but hopefully they will shortly. Lisa left to take a position at the Edgartown library. I tried to not get too serious with Lisa; otherwise I knew we would both have started crying. We established our mutual admiration, and said we would see each other soon. All the while the ice cream social was happening on the deck, with children coming by at a good pace for ice cream cones and ice pops. I think Claus Smith and my son, Rodeo, won for trying to get the most treats they possibly could.

Upcoming events at the library in September include: This Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm, kids can come by and make magnets out of rocks and shells. Story time will be every Saturday at 10:30 am, with a special storytime on Saturday, Sept. 19, for “Talk Like a Pirate Day”; aaargh! The next Book Group will meet on Sept. 22 at 4 pm, and will discuss Jeff Hobbs’ “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.” I have actually read this book, and it is quite good. You should read it too.

The Aquinnah Cultural Center will be open this week, today through Saturday, from 11 am to 4 pm. Their exhibit “Captured 1614,” about Wampanoag enslaved by English sea captains in the 17th century will be up through Sept. 16. For more information, call the center at 508-645-7900.

Aquinnah resident Philip Weinstein, the Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of Literature at Swarthmore College, will present a six-part workshop on Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” presented by the Vineyard Haven Library. The workshop will be held at the Katherine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven. “Anna Karenina” will be discussed Sept. 9, 16, and 30, and “The Brothers Karamazov” will be discussed Nov. 4 and 18, and Dec. 2. You can get more information at vhlibrary.org or by calling 508-696-4211.

The Gay Head 10k is happening on Oct. 4 at 10 am. You can sign up at gayheadlight.org.

Happy birthday to Paul Manning, who celebrates on Sept. 7. Congratulations to all the Aquinnah kids going back to school on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Here’s what I know: Noah Manning will be in fourth grade, as will Laina Benoit, Olive and Violet MacPhail, and Yossi Monahan. Yossi’s brother, Fynn Monahan, will be in seventh grade. Rodeo Purves-Langer will be in third grade, and William Mayberry will be starting sixth grade. Claus Smith will be in first grade, and his brother, Clyde, will start his last year at the Chilmark School in fifth grade. Skyler Cameron will be starting high school, and his younger brother, Riley, will be in eighth grade. Pearl Vercruysse takes the cake, though: She will be spending a year going to school in Paris!