JO-ANN TILGHMAN

508-627-7669

(tilghmanjb@aol.com)

When we arrive at this point in the summer it is hard not to recognize and appreciate the efforts of all of the volunteers on Chappy.

The Chappquiddick Community Center board members, the families that work to provide a variety of programs and events at the center, the Chappaquiddick Island Association board and its committees, the Mytoi garden volunteers, the fire department and emergency medical services, the annual Chappy Tennis tournament and the Summer Music Series all work to enrich the lives of those who spend all or part of their year on Chappy.

Chappaquiddick volunteers also serve the broader Vineyard community. Marvene O’Rourke and Ellen Gurnitz, both of Chappaquiddick, serve as the newly elected co-presidents of the Friends of the Edgartown Library.

They report that today, Friday, July 25 between 10 and 11 a.m., the Friends will present a music on the library lawn program. Noted pianist Adele Dreyer will perform ragtime and other popular tunes. This will also be an opportunity for patrons to purchase raffle tickets for the spectacular stainless steel Weber grill to benefit the library. The next meeting of the Friends will be Monday, July 28 at 10 a.m. at the library. All are welcome.

Another Chappy volunteer is Gail Rodney, who serves as president of the board of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association, the parents’ organization of the Old Sculpin Gallery. Gail encourages everyone to browse through the gallery while waiting for the ferry.

A reminder from the community center that the voting for the photos to be in the 2009 calendar begins Monday, July 28 between 4 and 6 p.m. with a punch and cookie reception. Stop by and vote for your favorite photos. Also it is still not too late to register for the Chappy Children’s Talent Show scheduled for Tuesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. Please contact Margaret at the center for additional information.

A wonderful opportunity to walk the Chappaquiddick Community Center property and the adjacent Knight Property with noted permaculture designer and teacher, Dick Pierce, will begin at the center at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30. This is a great morning walk, a great way to learn about permaculture, and to observe and discuss the features of these two  properties. Those attending will walk and talk aboutthe wild and human inhabitants, the resources needed and available, theflows and condition of water, air and soil, how the human and natural patterns and designs interact, and look for opportunities for growth and abundance and what might be done to help Nature preserve thisbeauty. All are welcome. Admission is free.

There has been a change in this evening’s Friday Foreign Film schedule. The film that was to be shown arrived damaged, so, instead, the Brazilian film, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, will be shown. Mary Spencer says this is a terrific film: funny, thoughtful, suspenseful, and poignant. The film has gotten a lot of attention at film festivals over the past year.    

Due to the change Mary has posted new film schedules at the community center and at the ferry. The 7 p.m. Monday Children’s Film is The Game Plan.

Pilates is now being offered at the center. A Pilates mat class is held Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m. with Toni Cohen. All levels are welcome. The class is $12 with no preregistration required.  

Trio Solisti, called by the New York Times “consistently brilliant and compelling,” will be presented by the Summer Music Series at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 31 at the center. They will play their own arrangement for piano trio of Mussorgsky’s monumental Pictures at an Exhibition as well as Schoenfeld’s Café Music, Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Copland’s Hoe-Down.

This weekend is the Chappy Tennis Round Robin, a part of Chappy summers for more than 50 years.  The matches begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the finals scheduled for 9 a.m. Sunday at the Plum court.

The Trustees of Reservations (Not So Creepy) Creatures of the Night-Family Night Hike will be from 8 to 9:15 p.m. Monday, July 28 for children ages 4 through 8 and a parent or guardian. With the use of an underwater spotlight, headlamps, nets, a bat detector, a million-candlepower spotlight, and moth attractors, children will get to experience a variety of animals that call the Vineyard home. The cost is $10 per child and registration with the Trustees is required. Call 508-627-3599. Also, the 8:30 a.m. Friday Morning Hike to the Cedars continues. The free guided walk begins at the Dike Bridge, continues to East Beach, and then north to the Cedar Forest. The strenuous walk over sand is approximately 3 miles. Active adults only please.

During the past few weeks, we have seen former residents back on Chappy to visit. Varian Cassat was back for the Ladies Tea earlier this month and again for the fair this past weekend. Lily Morris, daughter of Margaret Knight and Sidney Morris, is home for an indefinite period of time after living in Portland, Me., for several years, and Louis Becker visited with his parents Claire Thacher and Roger Becker over the Fourth of July.

For the Tilghmans, the past two weeks have involved an active 2 12 year old. Our grandson, T.J., has been staying with us, without his parents Edward and Jodi Tilghman of West Milford, N.J. His visit has been a walk down memory lane with regards to soggy Cheerios, toilet training, interrupted sleep, and race cars. T.J. will be going home today while his 7-year-old cousin, Emma, of Winter Haven, Fla., will arrive tomorrow (also without her parents) with her Aunt Cordie. Cordie’s children, Fletcher and Sarah Tilghman, of Portland, Ore., along with their father, Henry, arrived last weekend for their annual Vineyard vacation.

What makes Chappy a special place is not just the physical environment but its long tradition of volunteers, at every level. Thanks to each and every one of you for helping to make our time on the island so enjoyable.