HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
Minister in Need of Island Digs. Jill Cowie in 2000 moved to Marshfield with her husband and two sets of twins. As the twins grew into teenhood, Jill must have sensed the world would soon be her oyster. She could design red dancing shoes for Lady Gaga, or climb the Himalayas to conduct a census of all the holy men sheltered in caves. But instead, she attended Andover Newton Theological School, got herself ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister, and has just won the search committee sweepstakes at our UU Church right here on the Island: she’s the new pastor.
So now all Rev. Cowie requires is a pied-à-terre on this side of the pond. This week she’s the guest of Chris Seidel and Mary Jane Moodie-Aldrich in Oak Bluffs. Next week she’ll billet with Tom and Margie Hale in West Tisbury, but how long can a new woman of the cloth sleep around?
We discussed her housing needs this past Monday over lunch at the Black Dog Tavern. Besides Tom and Margie, there were also on hand Ken Beebe and Jeanne Hewett. Tom offered Rev. Cowie his boat to live aboard. “Of course, you’ll have to row yourself to shore.”
Rev. Jill looks a lot like Ali McGraw when she fell in love with Ryan O’Neil in Love Story. She has short, straight brown hair, and for the lunch she wore pearl strand earrings, a tailored burgundy and green sweater set, and dark slacks. She asked Tom, “Are you serious about your boat?”
Uh, yeah. What Island male happens NOT to be serious about his boat?
Rev. Jill told me she was open to virtually any kind of part-time rental — a guest cottage, your classic starving artist’s garret, a B & B without B & B prices. I suggested a B & B at hostel prices. “That’s it!” she agreed.
There is nothing more stimulating than six UU’s seated around a table. Ms. Cowie was curious to know the religious tradition from which each of us sprung. We had among us one Lutheran, a reluctant Episcopalian, a secular son with a Zen master of a dad — the usual grab bag. We all got a chance to air our favorite definitions of a UU. Ken cracked the old joke about a Unitarian’s afterlife journey: “When a Unitarian dies, he finds himself at a great crossroads. Two signs point in opposite directions. One sign reads This Way to Heaven, the other says This Way to a Discussion about the Existence of Heaven.”
Jeanne’s favorite term for new UUs eager to join a congregation: Atheists with Children.
I added my own take on the subject from a long ago New Yorker cartoon: A man kneels, hands pressed together in a Unitarian house of worship. A thought-bubble over his head reads, “To Whom It May Concern.”
The smart, charming Rev. Cowie looks ready for any challenge. But first let’s find this enterprising lady a roof over her head. If you know of something, anything — maybe a seaside cottage with geraniums in window boxes, where the new minister can work off her rent by feeding the kitty cat and hoisting up the wind-sock, call her on her cell, 617-697-0922.
By the way, as I left Vineyard Haven, tromping up Main street in my pink and black vinyl boots, both my feet suddenly stuck to the sidewalk. Turned out I’d picked up dog poop on one boot, and a saucer-sized splotch of turquoise gum on the other. This never happens in Oak Bluffs!
Just received an update from Gerry Moriarty, former principal of the Oak Bluffs School. Clearly kids are still uppermost on her mind because she’s just designed — and begun to distribute (to the Bunch of Grapes and the Toy Box) — a cool kit called Funhunters Scavenger Hunt, a kid’s guide to the Vineyard. It covers a range of 50 sites and activities all over the Island, and it can be hauled out for a day, a week, a month. You know what I’m thinking? At the first sight of the grandparents pulling into the driveway, hand over the Scavenger Hunt to the kids, push them out the door and smash home the double deadbolt lock. Still thinking like a professional, Ms. Moriarty has included a stamped card kids can send her, whereupon she’ll mail back a Certificate of Completion. She tags the Scavenger Hunt an activity pack for children aged 3 to 93. If you’re 94 or older, e-mail me for some alternate suggestions. Gerry Moriarty’s address on behalf of her adventure kit is funhunterkid@gamil.com.
Also in the tots’ department: Kindergarten Orientation will take place on April 28 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the O.B. School Library.
Jessica Bowers, children’s librarian in O.B. wants us to know that Alex the Jester will perform at the Vineyard Playhouse on Saturday, May 1 at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 on sale at the O.B. Public Library, other area libraries and at the door. Call 508-645-3360 for more details.
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