Take a deep breath; the summer crush is over. Well, mostly over: Menemsha has been filled to the brim with cars and people for the sundown show. One is barely able to navigate a car to get gas at the Texaco Station just after sunset, when I like to walk my dogs. Best wishes to all the college kids who’ve been leaving the Island over the past few weeks. My older son just left for his fifth and final year at Northeastern. So much delicious local bounty, and apples a month early. One more hot week, lest we forget summer ain’t over yet.
I finally made it to the Chilmark Flea, and had a great time with both my sons visiting, old friends and meeting new artisans this year. Sept. 5 is the last flea of the season — don’t miss it.
If you were able to squeeze into the CCC for the final film of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival last Wednesday and see the brilliantly written (by Edgartown and NYC resident Sarah Kernochan) “Learning to Drive,” you were one of the lucky ones. If not, look out for this touching comedy in theaters. And those of us who remain will look forward to March’s offerings. Also, I was wondering about the drone flying overhead before the film: Was that one of Doug Liman’s cameras, working on his new virtual-reality web series?
Chilmark softball came to a standstill between game 2 and 3 after high-fives all around so Sig Van Raan could award this year’s Howie Hustle Award, named for Howie Bromberg, who “set the standard for hustle.” The award was given to Charly Weiss of West Tisbury and Guilford, Conn., for being the first woman in Chilmark softball history to hit a homerun. Charly said, “It is a dream come true. I’m speechless.” Then Sig announced this year’s MVP Award for the “year-in, year-out steady dedication” of Rabbi Jonathan Lipnick of Chilmark and New York City. The rabbi, clearly moved, said, “When times are tough, I think of my great friends here on the softball field.” Following the third game, everyone enjoyed the annual BBQ along with newly retired Softball Commissioner Bill Edison. In case you’re in the mood to play, a game is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 6, at 8 am, and all are welcome.
I heard from Lucille and Charles Plotz, and learned from their son Dick, that I am the sixth cousin of his wife Judy; who knew? I want to share one story I learned only after doing the article on the Plotzes 70-year marriage (mvtimes.com/2015/08/26/great-island-couples-the-plotzes-celebrate-70-years/). Charles wrote, “I have always believed that people are created equal. When I was made a department chairman at Downstate, my first act was to appoint two deputies, an African-American man and a Latina woman. Fifty years ago I was conducting a conference, and felt that it was important for my two older sons, who were 12 and 16, to know about equality firsthand. The next day we were in Selma to start the great march. It was a thrilling experience, although in retrospect was dangerous. We marched eight abreast, kept the boys in the middle, and were protected by state guardsmen with rifles on each side, every 20 yards or so. Many of them looked as if they would rather shoot us than protect us. However, I got close to Dr. King and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, and our sons and I will never forget it. I have a picture of King and Abernathy that I took on the march on my refrigerator in Brooklyn.”
Janie Geiser will present “Fugitive Time” at the Yard on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 4 and 5. This work is “inspired by the dual histories of illness and health in early 20th century Los Angeles.” The show merges Bunraku-like puppetry, miniature landscapes, live-feed video, animation, and music/sound to create an “immersive, elliptical meditation on the body, illness, nature, and time.” Call 508-645-9662 for tickets.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 7 pm, join Chilmark artist Carol Brown Goldberg at A Gallery in Oak Bluffs for “The Color of Time,” an 11-minute film about “how we invent or erase the past, and how art changes the shape of memories,” plus excerpts from Goldberg’s 1993 video/film “Concertina,” one of the inspirations for the film. A discussion with the artist follows.