We are hard workers, and generous with our time and talents. This past weekend, Kate Feiffer and this paper produced an Islanders Write. The summer event is lovely and well-attended, and for some of us, super-hard to get to. Friday’s screening of the film “Rebel With a Clause” and Q and A with star Ellen Jovin and director Brandt Johnson, moderated by Kate, was fabulous and perhaps something that can happen again, so we invite more friends and continue lively discussions. The book is just as engaging.
Thanks to those who taught the workshops at Featherstone, Judith Hannan, John Hough, Jr., Nancy Slonim Aronie, Nicole Galland, Jennifer Smith Turner, Marcia De Castro Borges, Charles Sennott, and Eliza Speranza, for pushing us to expand our thinking, lean into learning, and connect with the craft and one another. Special thanks to Nancy Aronie for never failing to beat the drum of encouragement.
“You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be.”
—Rolf Lovland and Brendan Graham
These lyrics reflect the influence Barbara Thomas Murphy had on many, and Ken Romero’s voice carried the song throughout the Chilmark Community Center, packed with community, family, and friends. We laughed, cried, and rejoiced in the memories. Celebrations of life remind us how lucky we are to have known someone. Barbara was remarkable. So are her family and friends. The center pulsed with strength that comes from caring. May we continue to find ways to comfort, lend our strength, and empower one another, and remember this remarkable, strong, and clever woman.
Pat and Joan Jenkinson’s hill of daffodils on the North Road by the old gas pump is covered in deep green and a few yellow buds. Soon it will be a symphony of gold.
Congratulations to Katie and Seán McMahon on the birth of your son, Angus Seán Patrick Mayhew McMahon, on March 10. Angus weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces at birth.
No matter how many years pass, mothers never forget the day. Happy birthday week to my son, Owen Singer, born March 17. We nicknamed him “Flower” because the day we brought him home, the bulbs we’d planted in the fall popped open. Happy birthing day, March 19, 1969, to Joanie Jenkinson and Kathy Carroll, and happy birthday week to Patrick Jenkinson and Marshall Carroll.
Shout-out to our Goddess on Duty at the landfill, Kristen Norman, for your smile, stories, and wisdom.
Katie Carroll reported that the Chilmark School parents are gathering auction items for the PTO fundraising auction, held online from April 3 to 13. The kickoff party’s combination of company, food, drinks, and live music is something to mark on our calendars. Thursday, April 3, from 6 to 9 pm, Pathways in the Chilmark Tavern.
Join us on Tuesdays for Night Pizza, 6 pm at the Chilmark Community Church.
“Slow Stitching Circle” at Pathways Fridays from 2 to 4 pm continues only through March.
We are invited to be the first audience for a presentation of Broadway veteran Lucia Giannetta’s “Finding That Forever Kind of Love.” Let’s help her bring this new project to life. Friday, March 21, 7 to 8:30 pm, doors open at 6:30. Free.
Wishing everyone a good week.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.
