Family and community showed up in the rain at the West Tisbury cemetery and filled the Grange Hall for Johnny Athearn. A beloved brother, uncle, teacher, and friend with artistic talent, a terrific sense for storytelling and ghosts.
So many familiar faces. So many connections. So many memories.
Mum has a remarkable memory for people and details about their lives, and often says, I’m currently living in Chilmark with my eldest daughter, but in my heart I will always be a West Tisbury girl. Johnny overlapped in the West Tisbury School with her youngest brother, Fred.
The service included the West Tisbury Song written by Kathryn Baptist Steward, it was written after Mum’s time, and Mark Mazer was kind enough to sing it for her.
Thank you to those who shared stories, and to the voices of Thomas Hodgson, Nancy Jephcote, and Paul Thurlow. Beautiful notes quieted and lifted the final verses of “Amazing Grace” and “I’ll Fly Away” beyond the rafters.
I remember faces, conversations, insights, and shared moments, and have great trouble with names. I used to suffer in silence, but have aged into acceptance, and only sometimes ask to be reminded.
Praying for Lucy Engler’s complete healing after a 12-hour surgery. Lucy is unconscious and intubated in the ICU. Prayers for her parents Sharon and Bill Engler, and the rest of the family, as they wait.
Congratulations to the Baldini and Goff families on the April 13 wedding in Jupiter, Fla., of Victoria Baldini and Clark Goff.
Happy Passover. I would like to give a shout-out to Rabbi Tzvi and Haddassah Alperowitz for demonstrating faith and problem-solving. Their kosher Passover order from Brookline arrived without the maror (bitter). The Steamship Authority won’t take unaccompanied packages, and the last Patriot boat left at 1:15 pm. They hired an Uber and the Patriot. The bag of tender horseradish arrived on time, and the story was a perfect addition to the first night Seder where the food is of faith.
Tuesday Pizza Night continues at the Chilmark Community Church at 6 pm.
The Chilmark Church has two Easter services. The first is at sunrise, 5:45 am in Menemsha. I will bring Back Door Donuts to share. The second is at 9 am at the church on Menemsha Crossroads, which will be followed by an Easter egg hunt.
In closing, here are the words to the “Chilmark Song” by Kathryn B. Stewart.
Chilmark Song
Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard, my home beside the sea.
Where the fishermen rest, when the sun’s in the west
Before they sail to sea.
There are sand dunes, on the south side where the surf pounds on the shore.
There are rolling hills for the hunters, and trout in the ponds once more.
Where the beetlebung trees sway in the breeze turning crimson in the fall.
Where the people walk and talk, along the Dutcher Dock.
We love you Chilmark best of all.
Chilmark, here’s to you!
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.
