Visitors often ask, “You live here full-time? What’s there to do in the winter?” Little do they know that there aren’t enough days in the week or hours in the day to do everything our quiet Island offers once the hordes go home.
If you’re looking to stay active and social, try Trivia Night at the Black Dog Bakery Café, every Thursday at 6 pm (email BDBakeryCafe@theblackdog.com). The Barn, Bowl & Bistro hosts Trivia Night on Mondays at 6:30. For some arm activity, there are also bowling leagues, or tossing beanbags with the MV Cornhole group (text 508-696-9800).
The Peter Luce Play Readers group consists of people who love to read, listen to, and discuss plays. They meet every Wednesday at the Tisbury Senior Center from 9 am to noon to read a play centered around that month’s theme. Members take on different roles, a director gives a short intro, and the group has a postperformance discussion. Selections range from the classics to cutting-edge contemporary theater. New members are welcome to drop in, along with anyone who just wants to watch and enjoy that week’s cast bring the characters to life.
The TBD Improv Company performs roughly once a month at either the Barn, Bowl & Bistro or through Circuit Arts at the Grange. Improvisers compete for your laughs by using their wit and audience suggestions to create scenes on the spot. TBD also offers a six-week improv class for adults, and another for children, through Circuit Arts, each culminating in a live showcase (tbdimprov.com).
If you want to share short, original prose you’ve written, it’s time to sign up for Writers Read. The group meets live on the second Monday of every month at the West Tisbury library at 7 pm, and on Zoom for the rest of the month. Readers can request an optional critique after the reading. (Email nikipatton@verizon.net for more information.)
Featherstone Center for the Arts, located on the beautiful, historic Featherstone Farm in Oak Bluffs, offers multiweek and single-session classes throughout the winter in ceramics, drawing, painting, fiber arts, jewelry, literary arts, mixed media, and printmaking (featherstoneart.org).
ACE MV is sure to engage your mind with its courses, including Brazilian Portuguese language classes for English speakers, through its School for Offseason Survival (SOS). They will also be offering a new career exploration series featuring guest speakers, and workshops designed for young professionals and other career explorers. There will be a Construction Supervisor License (CSL) prep course on Wednesdays starting on Jan. 28 (acemv.org).
Pathways Arts’ “Gray Matters” on Zoom, with Genevieve Abbot, meets biweekly on Fridays from 10 to 11 am. Anyone 65 years or older is invited to join for a lively discussion about the joys and tribulations of aging. (Email mvgengen@gmail.com or keren4pathways@gmail.com for the link and more information.)
Volunteers are essential to Island life. Volunteering also helps you get out of the house and in contact with others during the colder months. There is a significant need for volunteer drivers in various programs for older adults, including Vineyard Village at Home (vineyardvillage.org), MV Connect (hamv.org/transportation-workgroup), and Meals on Wheels (508-394-4630).
Island Grown Initiative welcomes volunteers to assist with the Island Food Pantry, its gleaning initiative, and meal preparations. If you have a green thumb, need some soil therapy, or simply enjoy plants and gardening, the Community Greenhouse of Martha’s Vineyard is seeking volunteers to start in February. That’s when help is needed to transplant thousands of plant plugs into pots, germinate seeds, propagate cuttings, prepare soil beds for the warm season, and water plants regularly (marthasvineyardgreenhouse.org).
Chicken Alley Thrift Shop is one of the largest sources of ongoing financial support for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, and is a cherished spot by Islanders and visitors. Staffed partly by a dedicated army of volunteers, the store is always looking for new recruits to help prepare donations for sale, provide excellent service, and assist with Chicken Alley’s daily operations, including pricing, merchandising, and other retail tasks. Year-round and seasonal volunteers are always welcome (508-693-7900).
There’s no excuse not to stay active on the Island during the winter. For water enthusiasts, there is the Martha’s Vineyard Rowing Club, operated through Sail M.V., which goes out six days a week, weather permitting, leaving from Owen Park. With six rowers and one coxswain per boat, it’s a wonderful way to enjoy both exercise on the water and warm camaraderie (sailmv.org).
The Mansion House Hotel in Vineyard Haven features a health club with exercise equipment, a pool, a whirlpool, a cycling room, and fitness classes available for members and walk-in passholders (mvmansionhouse.com/marthas-vineyard-health-club). Airport Fitness provides facilities for tennis, pickleball, soccer, and basketball, along with fitness training (airportfitnessmv.com).
Whether you’re visiting for a day or are a year-round member, the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard offers a wide range of classes and personal training, a fully equipped gym, a cycle studio, and an Olympic-size pool to serve people of all ages, abilities, and interests (ymcamv.org). The Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena is part of the Y, and skating is a fun, healthy activity you can enjoy with family and friends, or alone. Public skating sessions are free for Y members, and “Stick & Puck” is available for hockey players of all ages and skill levels to practice shooting and stick-handling on their own, or scrimmage with others (ymcamv.org/mv-ice-arena).
Strong Martha Boxing Gym offers boxing and strength-training classes and private sessions at its facility in West Tisbury (strongmartha.com); Vineyard Pilates & Body Work has Pilates, Gyrotonics, personal training, and off-season dance parties in its Vineyard Haven studio (vineyardpilates.com); and the Hot Yoga MV studio in Edgartown does year-round group classes, private sessions, and teacher trainings (hotyogamv.com).
Each town’s Council on Aging is also a treasure trove of classes, many of which are fitness-related. So be sure to check these out –– if you can find the time in your now very busy daily schedule.
The summer hordes are here year round nowadays!
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