Heard on Main Street: Say what you will about the South, but no one retires and moves up North.
Did you know that the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse says Friday nights are local nights? That means if you bring proof of your year-round residency, you can get a discounted ticket.
I just finished enjoying a novel called “Playing It Safe,” by Ashley Weaver, which reminded me of Maisie Dobbs, though this woman is a former pickpocket and jewel thief, now government agent, exhibiting skills at breaking into a safe.
When my husband and I moved to D.C. in the 1960s, I met a wonderful woman in the League of Women Voters. Within a few years, I was expecting my first child, and our local political issue was that D.C. residents could not vote. They actually could not vote for the president of the United States. So we were lobbying Congress. That meant visiting all of them (D.C. had no such thing as a local member of Congress).
Most Americans don’t realize that a large number of the members in the House are very young. Many Midwestern states have representatives who run for office, planning to stay in only a couple of terms. Then they can claim “former member of Congress,” which looks good on anyone’s letterhead. That was definitely true in the Sixties.
My friend and I split a list of those we were to meet. I looked as if my baby was due any minute. I was never kept waiting. Many young Congressmen would encourage me quickly to sit down and talk. What we sought, and what we got finally, was a law allowing D.C. residents to vote for our president. Very few of those in power had any idea this was needed. Few realized some of the tax money keeping our capital city so beautiful was being paid by those who had no vote.
My friend is still a terrific woman. She will celebrate her 99th birthday this month. I didn’t need a babysitter yet. Her 10 children were still in school. When I’d pick her up in the afternoon, she’d be putting out a row of many stacks of afterschool cookies on the kitchen counter. Her housekeeper was there for the kids. I didn’t realize until much later that my friend was better for me and my kids than having Dr. Spock nearby.
I think we used to drop off our ink cartridges where we bought them — if we remembered to take them off-Island. You must know the M.V. League of Women Voters now recycles them — just drop them in the box in the down-Island libraries or at the YMCA.
The M.V. Film Center says you can celebrate Pride with films at 7:30 pm on Saturday, June 10, and on Wednesdays, June 21 and 28. See website for more.
You are welcome to join in the Pride March in Oak Bluffs. Meet at 2 pm on Saturday, June 10, at the Island Queen dock. You are also invited to the 10 am service at the West Tisbury Congregational Church on Sunday, June 11.
You can see the film “Amistad,” a 1997 American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the events in 1839 aboard the Spanish slave ship La Amistad, at the Oak Bluffs library at 2 pm on Friday, June 9. Then you will want to see the Amistad on Friday, June 16, as the ship arrives in Vineyard Haven Harbor.
Celebrate Juneteenth with a tour of the slave schooner Amistad, starting at the Black Dog Pier at 10 am on Saturday, June 17. You are also invited to the 10 am service at the West Tisbury Congregational Church on Sunday, June 11.
The O.B. Library Friends will be collecting your new or barely used books, for all ages, this Saturday, June 10, from 10 am to 2 pm. Books must be under five years old, in good condition: odor-free, without markings or torn pages.
The Friends of the Oak Bluffs Library have scheduled a Dine to Donate Fundraiser at Offshore Ale on Tuesday, June 13, from 11:30 am to 9 pm. You can pick up coupons for the event at the O.B. Library or online.
The monthly Climate Change discussion at the Oak Bluffs library is Thursday, June 15, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Topic is “Yard Work and Waste,” about gasoline usage, fertilizers, and sound pollution. Come to talk about alternative ways to take care of our lawns, and cut down on waste.
Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out today to my lovely daughter Laurel Mayhew. Happy birthday also to Brian Flanders and James Gould-Lamont today. Saturday belongs to Claudia Nelson and Cody Chandler. Greetings to Madeline Fisher, who now has her art gallery open on the Edgartown Road.
Heard on Main Street: In case of fire, exit building before tweeting for help.
If you have any Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Kay Mayhew, tashmoorock@gmail.com.
