Thank you to the Chilmark Community Church’s the Rev. Janet Stoddard for answering my call for help when I realized I was sick, and should not be handling or handing out treats on Halloween.
It is hard to miss Halloween up-Island, and in Menemsha especially. Of course, kids and adults were unfazed by 50 mph gusts. Thank you, Marshall and Katie Carroll, for posting images of the festivities.
Please join Sacred Ground M.V. at Stillpoint on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 2 to 5 pm for presentations and discussion. Brad Lopes, Aquinnah Wampanoag and coordinator of education and outreach for the Aquinnah Cultural Center, will speak on the Wampanoags’ reverence for all of Creation, and the way that reverence has influenced their lives, culture, traditions, and spiritual practices for thousands of years. And to better understand the impact on the Wampanoag when the two cultures met, Thomas Dresser, historian and author, will speak about the cultural values, traditions, religious beliefs, and motivations of the European settlers and colonizers. Refreshments will be available. If interested, email sacredgroundmarthasvineyard@gmail.com.
Rebecca and her sister Elisabeth Gilbert offer us “Resilient Light,” an exhibition of paintings by their grandfather, James Gilbert (1899–1969) in the meeting room of the Chilmark library.
Jim Gilbert painted on Martha’s Vineyard from the early 1920s until shortly before his death in 1969. Born in Burlington, lowa, he studied painting at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid, at the University of Chicago, and at the Art Institute of Chicago. He taught art at Washburn College, the University of Puerto Rico, the Putney School, St. John’s College, the University of Chicago, and the Edgartown School. Exhibitions of his paintings toured both Europe and America. “The Cellist” was shown at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.
Of his art, Jim said, “Painting often includes much that I would call pure affirmation, a kind of celebration of life in art.”
Rebecca Gilbert writes, “He loved the Island and its special light, and painted it with undiminished enthusiasm every day. We think he would enjoy the way his paintings interpret the present period, so that the succession of generations, like waves on the shore, the erosion, the inherent nature of change, and the enduring quality of transient light are subtly revealed.” The show runs through November.
Native Earth Teaching Farm is hosting a grief ceremony, “Dancing with Falling Leaves,” on Saturday, Nov. 15, from noon to 5 pm. Preregistration is required via the farm website,
nativeearthteachingfarmmv.org, or call for more info at 508-645-3304. Rebecca reminds us that goats, pigs, and poultry love pumpkins, and will thank you for any left in front of Native Earth Teaching Farm’s stand.
The MVRHS Minnesingers are raising money for a performance tour to Italy in the spring of 2026 with a silent auction and party, Saturday, Nov. 15, from 6 to 9 pm at the P.A. Club.
Every note, every bid, and every laugh helps support these young musicians as they bring Vineyard joy to Italy!
