This week we are looking at a forecast calling for cold weather and snow on Thursday, and this time I will hit the phone and see who wants to play.
In the meantime it is super-satisfying to replenish the woodpile by hefting an axe and cleanly cleaving seasoned logs. The task is made easier when the temperature is below freezing.
The buses are free until late September, and mostly empty. It was marvelous to remember we can wave for the bus to stop anywhere on North or South Road and Menemsha. The 4 runs along North Road and Menemsha every two hours between 8 am and 6 pm. If you stay on the 4, it becomes the 2, which runs down to Vineyard Haven.
The 5 runs every two hours along South Road to Aquinnah between 7 and 5. If you stay on the 5, it becomes the 3, which runs down to Vineyard Haven.
Menemsha Fish Market will be closed for a few weeks while Stanley and Lanette Larsen are taking a well-deserved break.
Beetlebung Farm is offering rye breads in its stand this week. The farm had sunflower rye on Sunday. It’s open Wednesdays to Sundays, 8 am to 5 pm.
Is anyone else sorting photos and papers? My grandmothers were terrific at saving articles that mentioned family members or friends. My mother, Anne Hotchkiss Ganz, continues the tradition. On Valentine’s Day, she uncovered this notice from the West Tisbury School sometime in the early 1950s:
“A Valentine party was held Monday in both rooms at the West Tisbury School. In Mrs. Argie Humphrey’s room, Frederick Hotchkiss and Karen Kidder were in charge of games; Katherine Scott and Eleanor Fischer, decorations; refreshments, Audrey Schwab; Gail Scott was in charge of the Valentine box, and Richard LeHart distributed the valentines.
“In Mrs. Arnold Fischer’s room, the game committee was Sharon Alley, James Athearn, Donald Fisher Jr., Gail Kidder, Michelle Snowden, and Kate Scannell; decorating committee, Henry Childs, Lambert Reynolds, Albert Scott Jr., Christina Todd, Prudence Whiting, and Mary Ann Fischer; refreshments, Thomas Hodgson, Reginald Silva, Deborah Merry, and Carolyn Silva.
“The parents contributed the refreshments, which included a large heart-shaped cake made by Mrs. Nancy Hodgson. Valentines were exchanged, and Patrick Mitchell, Jackie Mayhew, and Brenda Smith were in charge of the Valentine box.”
Change is a constant component.
The witch hazel is blooming.
The Chilmark library has a monthly book club starting, poetically, with Geraldine Brooks’ “People of the Book” on Tuesday, March 25, at noon. We are encouraged to bring our lunch. The library will offer coffee, tea, and refreshments. The group will pick the next book. Sign up by emailing chil.programs@gmail.com.
Ebba Huerta, director of the Chilmark Free Public Library, will retire in early July 2025, and the search for a replacement is underway.
Congratulations to Michelle O’Connor on her election as the new president of the Chilmark town affairs council.
Executive director of the Chilmark Community Center Susan Andrean announced that enrollment for the 2025 CCC summer camp has begun, and though the 7- and 8-year-old group is already full, all are encouraged to add their names to the waitlist. The center is considering opening more spots soon.
The turkeys found dead in Katama tested positive for the avian flu, and our health department continues to warn us to keep our dogs leashed, cats away from sick or dead birds, and poultry flocks away from wild birds.
I want to close with a blessing written by Dean Baker, an Episcopal priest, as his gift to the other attendees at Burning Man in 2015. Thank you to the Rev. Cathlin Baker for including it in your sermon, where it touched the Rev. Vicky Hanjian’s heart. Thank you, Vicky Hanjian, for sharing it with us on Wednesday.
The world now
is too dangerous
and too beautiful
for anything but love.
I bless your eyes so you see God in everyone.
I bless your ears so you hear the cry of the poor.
I bless your lips so you speak nothing but the truth with love.
I bless your hands so that everything you give,
and everything you receive,
is a sacrament,
I bless your feet so you run to those who need you.
And may your heart be so opened,
so set on fire
that your love,
YOUR LOVE,
changes …
everything.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.
