Aquinnah: Tinged with hints of winter

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—MV Times

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend. Aside from one rainy day, the weather was fine, and tinged with hints of winter. Many other places got their first snowfall while we got rain. The Island felt filled with people and good cheer. Now the Hanukkah and Christmas season begins in earnest.

There will be a potluck supper meeting on Thursday, Dec. 2, at the Town Hall at 6 pm to discuss ideas and plans to save and restore the Community Baptist Church of Gay Head. The meeting is open to everyone who is interested. The church was formed in 1693 and is the oldest Indian Baptist Church in North America. Bring a dish and come by to hear about the effort to keep the church in good upkeep.

This Saturday at 11 am at the Aquinnah Public Library, Thomas Dresser will discuss his new book, “Martha’s Vineyard in the American Revolution,” which reveals the unheralded contributions of Islanders in the fight for freedom. Email jmatejcek@clamsnet.org to register and receive the Zoom link.

Northeast Indigenous Artists Holiday Market, co-sponsored by the Northeast Indigenous Arts Alliance and the Aquinnah Cultural Center, is happening on Facebook until Dec. 12, there are about 30 Indigenous Artists with beautiful creations for sale. It is free to join the group and you can do so by clicking on this link, facebook.com/groups/NIAHM.

The Aquinnah Artisans Holiday Fair is back this year in real life at the Old Town Hall. It will be held Saturday, Dec. 11, and Sunday, Dec. 12, from 10 am to 4 pm. There will be wampum jewelry, origami cards, Native American crafts, knitted items, candles, fabric gifts bags, mosaic tiles, ocean jewelry, Aquinnah bottled clay, and other arts and crafts. Take care of your holiday shopping in town. There will also be food provided by Goldies Food Truck and the Orange Peel Bakery and a card and ornament craft table. There is no admission charge.

Please note that the GayHead Moraine Land Bank property is closed to walkers until Dec. 11 for shotgun season. This is also a good reminder that it is, indeed, shotgun season so perhaps it’s best to stay out of the woods right now. 

Pathways has returned to the Chilmark Tavern space. There is art on the walls and staff in the building. The Tuesday Writers and Poetry group is meeting in person, but you can also join via Zoom. It meets at 7 pm, doors open at 6:30 pm and they ask that you register beforehand (space is limited), go to pathwaysmv.org to register. Gray Matters is a bi-weekly conversation on Zoom for all community members 65 years and older to participate in. It meets every other Friday at 10 am, the next meetings will be on Dec. 3 and Dec. 17. Led by Genevieve Abbot, the gathering provides an opportunity to talk with others about challenges that concern individuals as older people, and as Islanders. For more information, please contact Genevieve at mvgengen@gmail.com, or call 508-645-9098.

Island Community Chorus will perform their first holiday concerts in two years. They will be premiering a brand new, beautiful piece of music entitled “Toward the Dawn,” poem and music by Thomas LaVoy, that the ICC commissioned a year ago to celebrate 25 years of existence, under the baton of Peter Boak. The concerts are this weekend Saturday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 pm and Sunday, Dec. 5, at 3 pm. There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door.

The next Neighborhood Convention will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 11 am, at the United Methodist Church of MV Trinity Park, in Oak Bluffs. The Minnesingers under the direction of Abigail Chandler, will perform.

Happy birthday to Missy Smalley, who celebrates on Dec. 3, Jacob Vanderhoop, Dec. 4, and Margie Spitz on Dec. 7.