A few odd flowers have appeared on two of the ornamental cherry trees in our yard. Nature is certainly full of surprises. It has still been fairly warm. I remember one year when Mike and I didn’t need coats when we walked our dogs at Lucy Vincent on Christmas Day. There was a year when we had roses and petunias from our garden for the Christmas table. I can’t remember our last white Christmas. A big storm is predicted for later this week and we might get a foot of snow.
We are well into the holiday season now, a work in progress of adapting to the restrictions necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In-person parties and large family dinners are taboo this year. We will miss annual events like Katherine Long’s solstice party. Even in years when I can’t attend, I always like knowing it’s happening.
Mike just told me that Santa will be at the Public Safety Building this Sunday afternoon from 1 to 3 pm. It will be a drive-through event. Visitors will drive through the fire truck bay to tell their secret wishes to Santa and receive a gift from the Fire Department.
The town party will be held online this year instead of at the Ag Hall. The selectmen will host “a brief gathering” on Zoom this Friday afternoon, Dec. 18, at 4:30 pm. Here is the Zoom invitation: zoom.us/j/94495918222 or you can dial in: 1-646-558-8656 U.S. (New York).
Driving home from Vineyard Haven one night, I was thrilled by the sight of the beautifully decorated tree where Old County Road meets State Road. That tree has always held a place in my heart, feeling like a personal welcome to everyone as we enter West Tisbury. I loved knowing that the Estrella and Pachico children grew up decorating that tree with their grandparents, Manny and Sharon Estrella, and that Bob Hennessey carried on with the decorating duties. John Cotterill and Paul Bettencourt strung the colored lights this year and, with the help of a bucket truck, added a bright star all the way at the top. It is better than ever. Thank you so much to Paul and John and to everyone who decorates their homes and yards at this time of year. I love seeing all the lights. It makes the drive home feel so festive and special.
Pam Glavin called me, as she always does at this time of year, to announce that the little tree she decorates at her husband Carl Widdiss’ grave in the Aquinnah Cemetery will be lit and ready to receive visitors this Sunday. The tree is the place for folks to attach a decoration and a promise to help a neighbor during the winter, a tribute to Carl’s memory. It will remain there until the end of March.
I am sad to report that Rosemary (Doodie) Duys passed away last week. She had been ill for a while and I have already missed seeing her riding her bicycle through town and cheerful conversations whenever we met. My condolences to the Doane family — her husband Bob, and Linda, Cindy and her husband Scot Turcotte, and Robert Doane.
Enid Haller will be starting up the Martha’s Vineyard Lyme Support Group again. The group will meet on Zoom beginning Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.
There are still plenty of opportunities to find gifts right here in town. Ingrid Goff has opened a store in the yellow house, the former Goff’s Gallery, Banana’s, and most recently June. Island Made Holiday Gifts, a collection of work by 15 Island crafters and Mike Saulnier’s holiday plants, is open every day, 10 am to 5 pm, at Heather Gardens. Marsha Winsryg’s Holiday Porch Sale comprises a collection of African crafts — dolls, jewelry, and fabric — for sale every Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm, and by appointment, 508-560-2620. The sale benefits her charity, AACDP, and helps African women support themselves and their families. Glassworks, Middletown Nursery, and Vineyard Gardens are open in North Tisbury.
If you are looking for something to do this winter, Paul Karasik will teach a comics workshop on Zoom. “Tales of the Vineyard” will focus on how to use comics to tell a story. Take a look at sloughfarm.org/programs/tales-of-the-vineyard-a-comics-workshop.
My thanks to Jen Rand for sending me the correct quote I wondered about in last week’s column. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” My other correction is one I discovered on one of those articles that comes up when I go online. It was about common grammatical mistakes and I made one. I wrote “make due” instead of “make do.” My apologies to my readers.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.
