JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

It looks a scene from Dr. Zhivago out my window this week... ice and snow everywhere... the geese who hang out in the upper channel at Menemsha are noisy these mornings... cold feet after a night in that water, no doubt. Anyway, by the time I write again it should all be melted away.

There are still plenty of activities scheduled around the Island to keep us busy. Wendy Weldon will have a retrospective show of her paintings at the Chilmark library. It opened on Feb. 28th and will run through April 4. None of these pictures have been exhibited on the Vineyard before this show. There will be an artist’s reception from 3 at 5 p.m. Saturday, March. 7.

Rory Nugent, a sailor of trimarans who is known to many across the Island, now has a book newly published entitled Down at the Docks, which is about New Bedford, past and present. Those who have read it have enjoyed it.

We send condolences to Douglas Liebhafsky and Wendy Gimbel, of Hillside Farm and New York city, on the death of Douglas’s sister, Alison DesFordes. She lost her life in the tragic airplane accident in Buffalo last month.

Welcome to the new administrative assistant at town hall, Nina Lombardi. She is known to many from the days when her mother and father, Mary and Primo Lombardi, ran the Chilmark Store. Good luck from us all!

Josh and Angela Aronie were approved for a common victualer’s license at the selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday last. That means that they will be opening the old Menemsha Deli under a new name in mid April. At present they are making some changes and gearing up for the coming season. We all wish them luck and look forward to having food available in Menemsha again.

Has anyone come up with any ideas for something to replace the role the MSPCA played on the Island? I can’t imagine there being no shelter for animals here. Some of my best friends came from there.

Daylight savings time begins March 8, and that should break the monotony for some of us for a while, until we get used to it.

The town report of 1887 is full of figures that will put today’s numbers in some perspective. The treasurer reported that there was a balance in the treasury of $258.97 and the valuation of the town was $211,996. There were 148 voters (men) who paid $2 for the privilege of voting. The sheep in town outnumbered them at 3,710. There were 139 houses and only 23 swine. Also fun to remember is that there weren’t any telephones, autos or paved roads.

I am hoping to have my new computer up and running by next week’s column, so please send lots of news for me to send out!