Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I, for one, feel like we could use a day to spend with friends and family gorging on food and giving thanks. I hope everyone has a safe and lovely holiday, and finds something to be grateful for.
Congratulations to Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, who will return as the chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head. Ms. Andrews-Maltais has served as chair twice before, and supports the initiative to bring gaming to Aquinnah. This was one of the key issues in the vote for chairman of the tribe; her opponent, Donald Widdiss, was opposed to it. Considering the recent national election and the continued protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota at Standing Rock, this is certainly a pivotal time to be chairman of a tribe here in America. I wish Ms. Andrews-Maltais the best, but I do not envy her her position.
The MV Times is running a design contest for this year’s issue of Island Holidays, which publishes on Dec. 8. The deadline for the contest has been extended to the end of today, Wednesday, Nov. 23, for anyone interested in entering. What do you think represents the spirit of the holiday season on Martha’s Vineyard, and how would you visually represent it? Submit your design, and it could be selected for the cover of 14,000 issues of the “Island Holidays” supplement, which is distributed to every postal customer on Martha’s Vineyard. Submissions must be original artwork or a photograph of something you made (a gingerbread house, a Christmas sweater, an ornament, etc.). Submissions are due Nov. 23 and can be uploaded here: bit.ly/IslandHolidays.
Shop local! Stony Creek Gifts at the Cliffs is open this weekend for holiday shopping. Their hours will be 11 am to 4 pm, Friday through Sunday. Most items are on sale from 20 to 60 percent off (excluding wampum). After this weekend, they will close for the season.
On Dec. 3 and 4, the following weekend, Berta Welch, co-owner of Stony Creek Gifts, will be at an all–Native American show. It will be held at the Heye Museum in the financial district in New York City. The Heye is the first National Museum of the American Indian. Berta told me that over 75 different American Indians from all over the U.S. will be showing.
The Sargent Gallery will be having a new show, with an open house, Thanksgiving weekend, Friday through Sunday, from noon to 4 pm. Please call Megan Ottens-Sargent at 508-645-2776 for more information.
This Thursday, Nov. 24, the library will be closed for Thanksgiving. On Saturday, Nov. 26, Story Time will be at 10:30 am, and from 11 am to 3 pm is the Kid’s Craft which this week will be Making Fall Trees. On Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 4 pm, the Afterschool Club will meet. And the new knitting group debuts on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 5:30 pm. Get help with knitting questions or a current project, or start something new. The group will be led by Rachel McMullen twice a month throughout the winter.
Megan Ottens-Sargent and other people in town are coming together to discuss how to move forward politically at both a local and national level. There is a tentative date to have a Political Potluck on Nov. 30 in town. Call Megan at 508-645-2776 for more information.
There will be a Wampum Artists’ Trunk Show at Pathways on Friday and Saturday this week. The show will be from 11 am to 5 pm, and features the work of Aquinnah artists Joan LeLacheur and Donald Widdiss, among others. The Pathways Living Room Studios is open during the day to use for your productive time, meeting, and collaboration. There is W-Fi and company to be had while you work. Open daily from 11 am to 5 pm, closed on Wednesday and Sunday.
Colin Ruel has a small works show opening this Friday at the Granary Gallery at 3 pm.
The YMCA is closed on Thanksgiving, but open on Friday from 7 am to 5 pm for its seventh annual Turkey Burner. Nonmembers can stop by and swim, sample a class, and enjoy samples from the Café. They also have a box for donations for the Red Stocking Fund: You can bring a new, unopened, unwrapped toy or gift for a child and leave it in the box.
Cat Garfinkle will host a Restorative Yoga Workshop this weekend to aid in your recovery from the holiday, this Saturday, Nov. 26, from 3 to 5:30 pm at the Yoga Barn. The fee is $35, 20 percent of which will be donated to the Island Food Pantry. Call or email Cat to preregister at 203-253-2261 or catgee@me.com.
The next meeting about affordable housing in Aquinnah will be held on Dec. 12. You do not have to have attended the other meetings to come. The town is looking for as much input as possible, so please come and share your views.
Solon Oliver is the 2016 Chilmark Ambassador for Project 351. His final service project with Project 351 is to lead a food drive to benefit the Island Food Pantry. The hope is to replenish the food pantry after Thanksgiving leading up to the December holidays. The food drive will run from Nov. 28 through Dec. 9. There will be collection bins in the entrances of the Chilmark Town Hall and the West Tisbury School.
Congratulations to Alex Taylor, who ran the Philadelphia Marathon this past Sunday. Marathon runners (especially those like Alex, who run multiple times) never cease to amaze me. Running 26.2 miles sounds like a nightmare to me, so I’m really impressed with people who do it.
