Heard on Main Street: Do you believe everything happens for a reason?
With all the talk about traffic, has no one else noticed? It really helps to be aware of the boat schedule so you can plan your trips.
Oh, boy, fresh peaches! The Peach Festival at the West Tisbury Church is this Saturday, August 10, from noon to 4. Enjoy smoothies, peaches with ice cream, or peach shortcake. Try Mad Martha’s special peach ice cream. Relax on the church lawn with lemonade sold by the Sunday school kids. Check out the baked goods and the vintage jewelry table. All proceeds help support this historic church and our Island community.
Photographs by Jennifer Smith Turner are on display at the Artspace in the M.V. Film Center. You are welcome to view them over the next two weeks. Or enjoy the crowd and come to the reception this Sunday, August 11, at 3 pm.
Islanders Write opens at 7:30 pm Sunday, August 11, with David McCullough speaking about his new book “The Pioneers,” and being interviewed by Nathaniel Brooks Horwitz about “Spying on the South,” written by the late Tony Horwitz. It is free and open to the public at Featherstone Center for the Arts, sponsored by The MV Times.
From 8 to 5 on Monday, August 12, a full day of panel discussions, writing workshops, and an open mic, beginning at 8 am. Susan Branch will be on two panels. These range from cookbooks to writing sex scenes, to science and politics, as well as publishing. Bunch of Grapes will be hosting author signings. Parking is limited, so plan to carpool. Thanks to The MV Times, it all takes place in the air-conditioned Featherstone Center for the Arts. Full schedule at islanderswrite.com.
This weekend the M.V. Playhouse opens the “Low Down Dirty Blues” which runs through the week after Labor Day. This features veteran blues musicians in a late night jam session, swapping stories and sharing their favorite tunes.
ACE MV now offers a one-year program in business administration with courses on marketing and bookkeeping. They continue the M.Ed. program in partnership with Fitchburg University. In September they plan a course to teach you how to operate an excavator, backhoe, and such. In addition, classes continue in conversational Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. If that is not something for everyone, I don’t know what more there could be. Check it out online or at the library.
Frye Gaillard wrote a book about “A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost.” Remember civil rights, black power, and women’s lib, and the protests against the Vietnam War? Learn more at 7 pm next Tuesday, August 13, at the Vineyard Haven library.
Next Wednesday, August 14, at 4 pm in the Tisbury Senior Center, Detective Max Sherman of the Tisbury Police will talk about elder abuse and how to report it. Some problems go unnoticed until you get reminded.
Speaking of being reminded: Your elderly neighbors are probably fine. But I guarantee that you will make them feel better just by asking if everything is all right. The humidity gets all of us — and some more than others. If you care, let people know. It makes everyone happier.
I love the V.H. library’s adult crafts. Anyone 12 and up can decorate a lantern this Saturday, August 10, at 3 pm in time for the Grand Illumination Night. Attendance will be limited to the first arrivals. Kids age 8 and up can decorate lanterns on Wednesday, August 14, at 3:30 pm.
Next Thursday, August 15, the V.H. library is hosting Cape Light Compact while they share offerings for homeowners including rebates and incentives, no-cost Home Energy Assessment, and information on their 100 percent renewable power supply. Renters and business owners are encouraged to come so they can learn how to take advantage of these programs.
If you dare to travel into Edgartown, the Federated Church invites you to the House Tour and Tea next Tuesday, August 13. Leave plenty of time and plan to have lunch first. Mary Jane Carpenter will give a brief history about the homes in the Meetinghouse at 1:30 pm. The tour features the South Water Street area, ending at 4:30 pm. Tickets are $40 at the church from 1 pm. Park in the Edgartown School parking lot.
Skip and Carol Bailey celebrate their anniversary on Wednesday. Congratulations!
Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out to Goodie Stiller Corriveau on Tuesday.
Heard on Main Street: Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one else does.