We wake up Friday to a brand-new year. As people have always done, we are all wishing for a peaceful 2016. An impossibility, you might say, but it must start by each individual person doing their part. My favorite quote from Mother Teresa can give us a good way to start: “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”
Oak Bluffs storyteller Susan Klein will address “The Nature of Giving” during the worship service at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday. The church is located on Main Street in Vineyard Haven, and the service will begin at 11 am. All are welcome.
Former Oak Bluffs Police Officer Paul Giordano made the headlines in the Boston Herald on Dec. 21. Paul, now a Medford police office, and Officer Sheila Quinn helped a young mom and her twin infants out of their smoke-filled home in Medford, turning a near tragedy into a cause for celebration. Thank you both for your courage and actions.
Our Oak Bluffs library has some great programs scheduled for 2016. “Film Noir,” an OBPL Film Series, starts on Tuesday, Jan. 5, from 6 to 8 pm. You will be exploring the realm of film noir with a specially created series of six films that highlight the evolution of film noir’s trademark expressionistic aesthetic, grim neorealism, hard-boiled leads, and sultry femme fatales. This series will be held the first Tuesday of every month at 6 pm.
Along with the new year comes income tax preparation. There will be an AARP personal-tax info session at the library on Wednesday, Jan. 6, from 10 am to 3 pm.
The Library Friends of Oak Bluffs will meet from 4 to 6 pm on Jan. 6. The Steering Committee meets at 4 pm on the first Wednesday of each month to plan and carry out LFOB projects. They invite you to drop them a line, give them a call, or better yet, stop by one of their meetings, which are held on the first Wednesday of the month. You may contact the friends at
And one more helping program at the library coming up: “Vineyard Health Care Access Presents 2016 Open Enrollment.” This information program runs on Jan. 7 at 6 and 7 pm in the library meeting room. Please contact the library for more complete information.
We send birthday smiles to Brenda Leonard on Jan. 10, my grandson Sam Alley and Richard Combra Jr. on the 11th, and Jack deBettencourt and Richard Mavro on the 12th.
As this year closes, we say goodbye to many Oak Bluffs friends who left us during 2015, so farewell to Ginny Hall, Patsyann Gentch, Edmund Bernard, Donald Billings, Bob Phillips, Mary Rogers, Mary Ann Alwardt, Joan Cobb, Buzz Blankenship, Phil Tucker, Cheranne Willoughby, Jean Kay, Bea Viera, Claire Gibson, Fran Alwardt, Brianna Combra, Betty Jette, Charles Downs, Rebecca Greer, Doug Dorchester, Gary Ferreira, Stephen Robinson, Carl Green, Nata Metell, Lillian Garvin, Emma Carmichael, Vivian Debettencourt, and Gert Knowlton. What empty spaces you have left in our town and hearts.
Peace. Happy 2016.
