NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

I’m going to blame it on Freud. The Father of Psychiatry convinced everyone to talk about sex and now no one can shut up. I am disgusted with the news coming from my Old Country, New York, about the former governor and, yes, the current governor. Being from the tri-state area, the antics of the former New Jersey governor and his wife also upset me.

In my last English class for this season, for all the students’ problems with the language, they were brimming to discuss this news. I gave them a lesson on “dirty laundry” and I explained it was more than “roupas sujo.” I believe dirty laundry belongs in the hamper. And I couldn’t help thinking of another former governor of my state, Nelson Rockefeller, and what I always imagined his last words might have been: “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t be caught dead doing.”

In more refined news, I am pleased to tell you that Walter and Gail Burke have just returned from a wonderful two weeks in Nicaragua. They were there to visit their daughter Megan, her husband Alvaro and their grandson Ernesto. Ernesto turned one on March 18. Most of the time was spent in Granada. The weather was excellent, sunny and very hot, with a few unseasonable showers here and there as the rainy season wasn’t supposed to start yet. The last time the Burkes were there was in 2000 for the wedding. Gail reports the airport and roads are much improved and there seems to be a lot of positive renovation going on.

While in Nicaragua, Walter and Gail saw lots of tourists and managed to take some Spanish lessons. They did some touring of volcanic regions and visited a coffee plantation. They traveled down near Costa Rica where monkeys were heard scrambling on the roof of their cabin. An abundance of horse-drawn carriages in Granada added to the ambience. Walter and Gail are hoping for a visit from their family at the end of August. Welcome back.

I had the good fortune to meet our new library director, Amy Ryan, last week. Recently of the New York Times, and recently married — congratulations — Amy seems like a dynamic and positive force for our town’s favorite institution. Welcome, Amy.

The YMCA is hosting a spring dance party as a kick-off to its ground-breaking ceremony. The site is the Oyster Bar and Grill in Oak Bluffs on Thursday, March 27. Tickets are $15. I’ll see you there.

Our sincere condolences go out to the Burton-Sundman family on the March 9 passing of Rosa Barks. Rosa was in ailing health but managed 15 unforgettable years with this loving family. Indeed, she was there for most, if not all, of the childhoods of the three children. Rosa lived as her namesake did: sitting wherever she would like.

The birthday bandwagon pulls along Barbara Dacey, Julie Robinson, Maureen Whiting and Michelle Yates today. Tomorrow is shared by Annette Anthony, Elizabeth Bennett and Gabriel Nascimento. Sunday belongs to Allison Crews and Louise Tierney. March 24 is a party for Babette Benoit, Ellie and Greta Hehre and Corbyn Garza Clark. March 25 is claimed by Michael Mortimer and Allison Hunter. And on March 26, Ari Raynayn Siegler, Shirley Robinson, Liz Owens and Anne Bennett take the cake. Many happy returns.