NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

I have heard you guys had a wild weekend but the hurricane I witnessed here in White Plains last weekend rivalled anything I have ever seen on Martha’s Vineyard. Trees down, roads closed, traffic lights twisted, street signs ripped off — part of The Other Nancy Gardella’s roof came off and she lost electricity. Iole and I only suffered some flickering lights, but when I went out to the porch to watch the wind I saw a street light on the next corner blow and the wire caught fire. My second 911 call in five days. By the time the firefighters arrived the rain had put out the fire but up to now the light remains unrepaired. Some of our county’s schools remain closed because of no electricity. As everyone was cleaning up the next day, Tisbury resident and neighbor to my mom, Mareda Gaither-Graves, drove by to check on us. In fact, everyone was checking on everyone. Nice to have that small town feeling wherever I go.

If I have to be away from home I can’t think of any better place to spend St. Patrick’s Day than Dunne’s Pub in White Plains. There was one of my favorites, Jack O’Keefe, dressed like a leprauchan. There were many old friends I went to school with or knew from the ‘hood, and I met many new wonderful people. My mother had Italian class that night so she could not accompany me but I dutifully brought her the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner from Dunne’s. Same time, next year.

Tisbury resident Wendy Culbert is the recruiting assistant for the census jobs this year. Wendy would like you to know that approximately 85 jobs are still available on Martha’s Vineyard, call 866-861-2010 to apply. The jobs are time flexible to fit your schedule, starting pay is $16 per hour and you get fifty cents per gas mile. The work will be done between March and June. Join now!

Dr. Fred Hotchkiss, noted paleobiologist, will present a free talk on fossils at our library at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23. He will bring many of his collection, but welcomes you to bring any fossils you may have and want identified. I wish I could see you there.

Richard Paradise of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society will give an introduction to a special screening at the Capawock Theatre at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24, featuring Charlie Chaplin’s classic, Monsieur Verdoux. Charlie abandons his Little Tramp persona for this dark comedy about a man driven to murder. The film also features Martha Raye, one of my favorite comedic actors, in a stunning role.

Then it’s back to our library on Thursday, March 25 at 5:30 p.m. for our winter reading series. Poetry Fellows Rebecca Lindenberg and Sara Elizabeth Johnson will read poetry and fiction. These talented women are representing the Fine Arts Workshop in Provincetown.

Our ever-active Martha’s Vineyard Womens Network is holding a special breakfast event on Tuesday, March 23 at the Baylies Room of the Old Whaling Church from 7 to 9 a.m. If you pre-register by today you get a discount: mvwomensnetwork.org. The speaker will be famous blogger Chris Brogan who will discuss how to find gold on the Internet. Amazing.

The birthday bandwagon has no entries in my book for today, so I will mention that it is St. Joseph’s Day and if you can get the traditional zeppole from Arthur avenue in the Bronx, as Iole and I are intending to do, God bless you and you will certainly enjoy it. March 20 is not only the long anticipated first day of spring but the birthday of J.D. Wild, Deb Chickering, Seth Edwin Donald, Dianne Norton, and Chuck Redington. March 21 honors Barbara Dacey, Julie Robinson, Maureen Whiting, and Michelle Yates. March 22 is a party for Annette Anthony, Elizabeth Bennett, and Gabriel Nascimento. March 23 belongs to Allison Crews, Louise Tierney, and Casey Elizabeth Hendrickson. March 24 is shared by Babette Benoit, Corbyn Garza Clark, and Greta and Ellie Hehre. And on March 25 Allison Hunter and Mick Mortimer take the cake. Many happy returns.