JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

We send condolences to the extended family and friends of David Flanders who died this last Thursday. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know David. We walked down the hill to attend the Menemsha School and walked up the hill in the afternoons. We were children born in a depression and raised during a world war. Our lives were shaped by those times. We saved things; we valued what we had; we made amusements from the events of the days. David led the boys of the neighborhood in great games of Commando. They followed his direction and built serious looking entrenchments on the cliffs near his home and created battles of great complexity. We were all highly competitive and moved on to the softball games in the Smith/Toomey lot near his home. Where David, as usual, was the best and most eager to play. If you have ever played cards with him, and most of us have, you remember that intensity and concentration that drove him in most of the aspects of his life. He enjoyed so much of his life that it was a joy sometimes to be with him, especially if he was with family or friends or pets . . . his cows were surely his pets. David had a cadence and pattern of speech that was flavored with old Chilmark accents and expressions remembered from his Chilmark Mayhew and Flanders ancestors. I don’t have to tell you how much I will miss him and I will send him off with a farewell as close as I can come to his style and said with a certain amount of awe. Golly, that was some life!

A holiday flea market will be held at the community center tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 6. Ethel Sherman will be there with her coveted jams and jellies and others will be selling antiques and collectibles, jewelry and attic treasures. They will open at 9:30 a.m.

I am happy to tell you that Andy Goldman is back at his Chilmark home recovering quickly from the mild stroke that took him to Massachusetts General Hospital two weeks ago. His friends are happy to see him out and about.

Ted and Judy Mayhew remind us that they will be hosting a truck show and sale at their home on North Road on Dec. 10 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. with light refreshments. Rebecca Mayhew, Kati Johnson and Patti Linn will be offering for sale items suitable for Christmas giving.

Hospice will host their annual Handmade from the Heart sale in Edgartown on Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dr. Daniel Fisher Hose. All sorts of handmade merchandise will be offered for gift giving and decorating. Tea and coffee will be available for shoppers to enjoy. Donations are welcome to benefit Hospice. Please call the office at 508-693-0189.

John Wightman will have a Holiday show at the Bank of Martha’s Vineyard in Chilmark of his renowned photographs. The show is entitled Island Images and will include photos of the past 30 years of Island landscapes. They will be on display through the holidays. His pictures are unique as they are often framed with interesting items. This year, Gladys Widdiss of Aquinnah has created clay beads to complement the Aquinnah pictures. Drop in during banking hours and view his works.

Across the road at the Chilmark Library, photographer Lynn Christoffers will have a show of her photographs called Special Moments. The reception will be on Dec. 6 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the meeting room of the library.

Here is a chance to really make a difference. Abigail Larsen, a junior at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, and three of her friends are collecting winter hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves of any size to distribute to the needy in the Boston area. The Chilmark School will be the drop off place from now until Dec. 18. Cash donations are welcome and will be used to purchase Dunkin Donut gift cards. If you have any questions please call Miss Larsen at 508-645-3805.

The movie matinee program at the Chilmark Library begins on Dec. 10. Chowder will be available and the movie will be The Thin Man, a classic 1934 movie. What fun! We are all invited free of charge thanks to the co-sponsorship of Menemsha Fish Market and the friends of the library. Questions? Call the library at 508-645-3360.

Margaret Penicaud tells us about PeaceCraft, a holiday shop at 9 Beach Road in Vineyard Haven where hand works will be sold for the benefit of the poorer countries. It is a way of giving the people a market for their wares. Beautiful items will be available from many countries. The sale will continue thru Dec. 24 and the shop will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This week the magazine Business Week featured an article by Prashant Gopal entitled Small Towns with Big Money. The article lists the 10 most expensive small towns in the United States. I guess it comes as no surprise to most that Chilmark was the first of the ten. Words fail me.