Aquinnah: Enough weather talk

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I will not talk about the weather. I will not say that every year I think March will be nice and spring like and every year March laughs in my face. I will not say anything about the snow, the wind, the cancelled boats, the downed trees and the power outages. I will just sigh repeatedly, make sure I have fresh water and candles nearby and pray for warmth and sunshine which will be delivered to us sometime in late June.

At the library this week, Story Time is on Thursday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10 am. There will be a Saint Patrick’s Day themed craft on Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm. The After-School Club meets Tuesday at 4 pm. The next meeting of the Book Group will be on Saturday, March 31 at 2:30 pm; they will discuss Jodi Picoult’s “Small Great Things.”

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival begins tonight with a screening of “Chappaquiddick,” at Entertainment Cinemas in Edgartown. The star of the film, Jason Clarke and the director will be present. The rest of the films will be shown at the Chilmark Community Center and the Chilmark School. Robert Lionette will be serving up delicious food and Pie Chicks will be providing baked goods to go with the Chilmark Coffee. There will be music in the Hay Café and of course lots of amazing movies with guests and debates and laughs. This event is truly the highlight of the winter arts scene on the Vineyard and it is also one of the first signs of spring.

Pathways Gathering Space will host the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s Kid’s Fest on Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18. There are FREE films and workshops for kids all weekend long, space is limited so check the website to reserve space now. Go to tmvff.org. After the festival Pathways will be back to its regularly scheduled programming. Last Tuesday’s Writer’s Read presentation was cancelled due to the storm. It will happen this coming Tuesday, March 20 instead. Pathways has two regular groups meeting on Mondays: the Knitting Group from 1 to 3 pm, led by Rebecca Gilbert, and a new class Tung Family T’ai Chi Ch’uan from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. T’ai Chi Ch’uan and Chi Kung are movement meditations that strengthen one’s capacity to move from one’s center. The class is $100 for seven sessions and $18 for a drop in. Pathways Living Room Studios is open Daily from 11 am to 5 pm, except Wednesdays and Sundays.

Every night in the winter you can get a hot meal from the church suppers throughout the Island. Most of the suppers end by the close of March. The Federated Church, which hosts a Lasagna Luncheon on Sunday from 12:30 to 2 pm, would like to remind everyone that there are only two left. They will be on March 18 and March 25. The luncheons are held in the Parish House at 45 South Summer Street in Edgartown. For more information call 508-627-4421, email admin@federatedchurchmv.org, or check out the website at federatedchurchmv.org.

Happy birthday to Michael Stutz who celebrates on March 16. Congratulations to Noah Manning’s sixth grade class which successfully petitioned the special town meeting in Aquinnah last week to ban the release of balloons in Aquinnah. The class did a presentation and the article passed. Please think twice about using any plastic on or near the water as so much of it ends up in the systems of marine animals. If you want inspiration to cut down on plastic google: sea turtle with plastic straw stuck in its nose. You will never want to use a straw again. If you need further inspiration you can see the film, “Blue” at the MVFF this weekend. It’s a documentary about how the ocean has dramatically changed over the past 50 years due to pollution.