There was some excitement in town last week, and not the good kind of excitement. A fire broke out at 4 Towhee Lane, off Moshup Trail, last Thursday. Thanks to firefighters from Aquinnah, West Tisbury, Chilmark, and Edgartown, the building is mostly intact, with one small area heavily damaged. The fire started when some foam insulation caught fire in the basement of the house. I’m glad the owners did not lose their house, and most especially that no one was injured or worse in the fire. Nice work, fire departments.
Olivia Larsen will be leaving her position as library director at the Aquinnah Public Library. She has decided her interests lie in other aspects of library work than directing. She will continue her work at the West Tisbury and Chilmark libraries, so you can still see her there. I know my son will miss playing Legos with her. The Trustees of the Aquinnah Public Library are searching for a new director; for information on how to apply, contact the library at 508-645-2314.
Thursday at the old Town Hall, the library is hosting a Vegan Cooking Demonstration with Juli Vanderhoop of the Orange Peel Bakery, at 5:30 pm. Space is limited, so please sign up at the library. The sign-up sheet is at the desk. On Saturday, March 12, at 10:30 am, there will be a visit from the Cookie Mouse from the book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Stories will be read, and then the mouse will pose for pictures with children. A mouse craft and cookies will be available as well. On Tuesday, March 15, the library will host another dinner and a movie for kids at 5 pm. They will show “The Peanuts Movie,” and pizza will be served. The screening for adults of the movie “Brooklyn” was postponed to March 22 at 5 pm. The next book club meeting will be on Thursday, March 24, at 5:30 pm, to discuss Amanda Coplin’s “The Orchardist.”
This Friday at Pathways there will be some wonderful musicians performing. Stan Strickland, Jemima James, Dan Waters, and others will all be showing off their talents. Admission is free, and there will be refreshments. The show starts at 7 pm. Photographer Claire Ganz will run an images, words, and ideas workshop for children aged 7 to 10 on Saturday, March 12, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. She will be using material for her book in progress, “Part of Me,” where images, perception, memory, and nonjudgment are explored. Participants, please bring a lunch, and enjoy complimentary juice and Goldfish crackers.
Lovingkindness will host a big sale on yoga pants and T shirts at 129 Indian Hill Road in West Tisbury this Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm. A percentage of sales goes to prevention of elder abuse.
One of Liz Witham and Ken Wentworth’s film shorts, “Growing Nature Stewards,” from their Sustainable Vineyard Film Series will be screened at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival on March 20 at 2:45 pm as part of the Vineyard Shorts program. The screening will be at the Chilmark School, and stars many students from the school. There are lots of other great films being shown at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival next week, including a free screening on Thursday, March 17, of the HBO documentary, “Heroin: Cape Cod” at 7 pm. There will be a community discussion afterward.
Martha’s Vineyard Community Services is offering a new service to Island veterans. There is now a discount card available to veterans that will get them 10 percent off at local businesses. Veterans who are interested in signing up for a card can visit Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Administration (Building B) between the hours of 10 am and 1 pm, Monday through Friday, or make an appointment by calling 508-693-2900, ext. 223. Veterans are asked to bring their driver’s license and DD-214 form to verify veteran status. Island business interested in participating in the program can fill out a form at mvcommunityservices.com/veterans/idcard.
March is birthday month in Aquinnah. On Sunday, both Ken Wentworth and Lisa Vanderhoop will celebrate their birthdays. Richard Skidmore celebrates the next day. Rodeo T. Purves-Langer will celebrate on Wednesday, along with Michael Stutz. That’s a lot of birthdays for a small town. I think it calls for a big party — who’s up for planning that? Anyone?
