My heart goes out to the two families on the Island who lost their babies these past weeks. The moment my son was born, I knew I was in trouble, because if anything ever happened to him, I would be undone. I can only imagine the pain these families are experiencing right now. I do not know the families, but I hope that they are surrounded by the love and strength of this community in this horrible time.
Today at the library there will be a drawing group at 2:30 pm, and the book group will meet at 3 pm to discuss “A Man Called Ove.” Story time will be on Thursday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:30 am. The kids’ craft on Saturday will be salt painting, from 11 am to 3 pm. On Tuesday, March 26, there will be a group meditation class run by Lila Fischer from 2:30 to 3:30 pm. Lila is leading this group in her role as the visiting nurse. The afterschool group will meet at 4 pm.
The 19th annual Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival starts today, Thursday, March 21. As per usual, it looks like it will be a great festival. There will of course be some Vineyard filmmakers represented in the offerings. Len and Georgia Morris’ new film, “Children of Bal Ashram,” will be screened (a short of it was shown last year), Matt Heineman’s “A Private War” with Rosamund Pike will get its Vineyard premiere, and of course the beloved “Vineyard Shorts” program will run on Sunday. There are a lot of other things happening at the festival as well, including free filmmaking workshops for kids, free films for kids, and some cool-sounding theater events. Tip: Check out “White Rabbit, Red Rabbit,” a one-actor play where the actor has not seen the script before the performance and performs it for the first and only time that night. And let’s not forget the food and the music in the Hay Café. For tickets, go to tmvff.org. I’ll see everyone there.
There are no Pathways events this week, but they are part of the MVFF theater campus, and will host some movies and events throughout the weekend. The Qi Gong class will not meet this Saturday, but will return next Saturday. Regular Pathways programming will return on Tuesday, March 26, with “A Dedication to Mary Oliver.” You can come and read your favorite poem or story inspired by poet Mary Oliver from 7 to 9 pm. On Friday, March 29, Pathways will present “3 Pianists & the Grand Piano” with Griffin McMahon, Peter Halperin, Paul Thurlow, and special guest Nancy Jephcote.
A reminder that the church community suppers will be winding down. There are only two Sundays left for the free lasagna luncheons at the Federated Church in Edgartown: March 24 and 31. The lunch is served from 12:30 to 2 pm. Most of the churches end their suppers at the end of March, but the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury runs theirs every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 pm through April.
I’m not sure what is up with Aquinnah and March birthdays, but here are even more people who were born this month in our small town (some are seasonal, but still, it’s a lot). Happy birthday to Deborah Metros, who celebrates on March 22, to Cristina Vasquez, who celebrates on March 23, Aretha Brown and Beverly Wright, who both celebrate on March 24, my idol June Manning, who celebrates on March 26, and Jeffie Butler and Sheri Pagano, who both celebrate on March 27. Happy birthday, ladies!
