Margaret Knight

508 627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

Brine’s Pond, the swamps, and even some of the salt marsh ponds had ice on them after winter swept in last week. With all the leaves off the trees, the late berries, including the bright red winterberry bush, show up nicely along the roads. There is a big patch of winterberry in the marshy area on the left just before the beach club, heading toward the ferry.

The newly arrived European spindle tree, a bush with red and orange berries related to bittersweet, is expanding its domain on the right of the road before the parking lot at the Point. When I first saw this bush, with its unusual sectioned berries, it took me awhile to identify it because I’d never seen it anywhere — maybe it arrived here via bird from Europe. I suspected it might be an invasive species when I saw some more bushes growing nearby within a year or so. It’s taken a definite hold here, and we’ll probably hear more about it — at least from me, if not from the rest of the Island.

The community center holds an open house and craft, etc. sale on Saturday, Nov. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. Everyone is invited to enjoy hot cider and sweets, and visit with your neighbors in front of the fire. If you’ve ordered a 2009 Chappy calendar, you can pick it up then, and there will be extras for sale. The new and expanded Chappy recollections book, edited by Hatsy Potter, will be available, as well as community center T-shirts, cookbooks, etc. and, for the first time at the community center, a craft fair of items made by Chappaquiddickers.

Tom Tilghman wrote that he and Jo-Ann were in Portland, Ore., visiting their granddaughter Sarah’s second-grade class at the Oregon Episcopal School — as part of “show and tell.” The class was studying the Wampanoag Indians, in addition to the Pilgrims. Because Tom and Jo-Ann lived part of the year on Martha’s Vineyard, they were asked whether they knew any Wampanoags, and were able to say that they did. Tom said, “The teacher was truly impressed.” He added that when Sarah brought in a copy of the Chappy recollections book, he thought the teacher would be even more impressed! He said one boy wanted to know whether the Wampanoags they knew were real or actors, like at Plimouth Plantation.

Also on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m., the Chappaquiddick Community Center will host a free screening of the award winning film Flow, for the Love of Water. Vineyarder William Marks, author of Water Voices from Around The World, who is featured in the film, will be at the screening for a question and answer after the film. Everyone is welcome, and popcorn will be served. This documentary, shown opening night at the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival this year, is an illuminating view of what is happening to our worldwide water supplies. It’s definitely worth seeing.

Sandbox sand is available, according to Peter Wells. It’s sitting in a big pile next to the ferry slip on the Chappy side, enough for a hundred sand boxes. It’s big grit sand, washed clean by the tides, and collected from on top of the ocean floor. Recently Steve Ewing came with his clamshell digger to dig out the main ferry slip, for the first time since August. The sand washes in under the outer wall, which was not rebuilt when the second slip was constructed 20 or more years ago. In the past, the slip where the second ferry is tied has filled in, but the main slip was always kept open by the action of the ferry’s backwash as the captain put it in reverse as the ferry reached the ramp. Because of the present strong currents, the ferries usually come into the slip at an angle, slowing down much earlier, and running down the side wall up to the ramp. Peter figures he’ll have to get the slip dug out every month or two in order to keep the water deep enough.

Mary MacGregor and Philip Lieberman were here last week from Indiana to check on the progress of their new garage/studio. The sight of a cement slab in their yard evidently made Philip very happy. At the community center potluck, Philip came up with the idea of bottling Peter’s sand and selling it to tourists. Peter said he was fine with that as long as he got 1 per cent of the profits. But as far as I know, Philip went home without any sand in his luggage.

The potluckers sang Happy Birthday to Gabby Wilbur-McElhinney who was turning eight the next day. Gabby is a homeschooler, and when I asked her what she liked studying, she told me she’d been learning about measuring. And then she informed me that she was “two bats tall.” I like the idea of measuring things by baseball bats.

Also at the potluck we found out Annie Heywood was planning to take the ferry to Nantucket with the football team and supporters, but instead of going to the game, she planned to shop, and in particular, to shop for scallops which she said were cheaper on Nantucket. It turned out, though, that what she’d heard was the wholesale price for scallops sold to the stores.

If you are not on the e-mail list for the Chappy path committee and would like to be, you can write chappybikepath@aol.com for a copy of the Community Preservation Committee proposal and a survey of your opinion. The proposal is for funds for an engineered study of a shared-use path between the ferry and the dike bridge, and for construction of a demonstration section on the Gardner property, which runs along the road from the ferry as far as the beach club. In the preliminary round of project approvals, the Committee allotted money for the engineered study.

The next regular Wednesday potluck at the community center is on Wednesday, Dec. 3 beginning at 6 p.m., and hosted by Dot and John Dropick. All are welcome. Also, the annual Holiday Tea will be on Sunday, Dec. 7 from 3 to 5 p.m.