Eat in or take out this Saturday. A good old-fashioned ham and bean supper with cornbread is offered at the Baptist parish house at 6 pm. Free-will offering.
Those snowdrifts were amazing. I think the heavy winds cleared the snow and ice off the trees, so we did not lose power. Thanks so much to all our friends and neighbors who cleared the way for us.
Our best storm information came from Charles Cotnoir, director of Dukes County Emergency Management. Chuck promptly emails important weather updates and how to prepare for storms, as well as specific town information. Email: emergencymanagement@dukescounty.org.
Ann Charnley will talk about Benjamin Franklin and His Women on Tuesday at 7 pm at the Vineyard Haven Library. Ann Charnley has written a great deal of history of the Founding Mothers since working with Cokie Roberts. Now she has turned her attention to Benjamin Franklin and his women. Most experts agree that Franklin’s flirtations were never consummated. He was attracted to bright young women and mentored them. He had only two children, but of course he was never home. He was in England for 16 years, and had a surrogate family there. When he realized the Crown had no intention of letting the colonies tax themselves, he came back to America and joined the patriot cause. Refreshments.
The Vineyard Haven library will accept Food for Fines through February. Pay your overdue fines with canned goods or healthy nonperishable food. Remember this is only unopened, current items, so check expiration dates. This covers overdue fines only, not charges for lost or damaged items. The food goes to the Island Food Pantry. Donate at least one food item for each $2 waived in fines.
We had our own emergency early last week, just at the end of the storm on Wednesday morning. My husband was having minor seizures. In minutes after the call to 911, both police and firemen were here, and soon the EMTs arrived. The ambulance could not get up our snowy street, and backed in down at the far end. The EMTs walked up past the ambulance, carrying their heavy gear, and came to prepare my husband for transport while the police and firemen dug a path out to the road. Eventually Donald was carried in a transfer chair over that slippery path to the road. Then he was moved to a special stretcher to travel the length of the road, because we were so snowed in.
The stretcher has one large fat center wheel with a wide tire, and is called a Mule. This is the first time it was used here. We are grateful that the firemen had this and that they thought of using it. Without it the rescuers could never have safely carried him the nearly half-mile through slippery snow and bumpy ice. Obviously a standard stretcher could not have made the trip at all.
When Donald was transferred, the ambulance headed for the ER. As they neared the school, a snowplow appeared to clear the way.
We are so thankful for all our police and firemen and EMTs, and especially for the fact that they are always prepared, even in stormy conditions. Some volunteer firemen had been sleeping at the fire station since Monday in case we needed them. I was surprised to hear that they had to shovel out the plaza in front of the station so the fire trucks and ambulance could even get out. Wouldn’t you think the town would have plowed there first?
You can start the new year off right by getting organized. Kim D’Arcy of the National Association of Professional Organizers changed the workshop on Paper Spaces and Places to Wednesday. This $20 workshop, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at the Vineyard Montessori School, 286 Main Street, is to help you deal with all the paper that comes into your home. I hope to see you there. I try to leave the catalogs and stuff at the post office. But we still manage to fill the recycling bin.
Also Wednesday, at 7:30 pm, you can see Dr. Strangelove at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center. This is part of the 1960s film series accompanying the ongoing Martha’s Vineyard Museum exhibit “Sea Change: Martha’s Vineyard in the 1960s.”
The Tisbury Planning Board has moved the Community Vision Planning meeting to Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7 pm in the Tisbury Senior Center. Help plan your town the way you want it.
Brighten your Valentine weekend. Plan to enjoy Victorian Secrets at the M.V. Museum. There are examples of fashion traditions no longer in vogue — some for good reason. See the beautiful and sometimes uncomfortable world of 19th century undergarments, from silk and whalebone corsets to padded bodices. Opening reception is Friday, Feb. 13, from 5 pm to 7 pm; the exhibit runs through May. Remember that on Saturdays the Museum is free to Vineyard residents.
Big bunches of birthday-balloon wishes go out to Rosemary Brown tomorrow. Her grandchildren Ana and Tom asked me to include her years ago, saying she was the “best grandma in town.” Also, birthday-balloon wishes tomorrow to Pam Campagna. Saturday, wish the best to Dan Harnen. Tuesday belongs to James O’Donnell and Jainaba Burton-Sundman. Happy birthday to Judy Pachico on Wednesday.
Heard on Main Street: Stop saying storm of the century. This century is barely 15 years old.