HOLLY NADLER
508-687-9239
By this time in January we’ve forsaken our personal New Year’s resolutions, am I right? But I’m hoping it’s not too late to propose a few for our town:
Numero Uno: Can we finally lay to rest the description of Oak Bluffs as “honky tonk?” We have posh restaurants, elegant inns and one of the prettiest seascapes in North America. Even our dive-iest bar (you know the one I mean) serves with paper napkins and olives in its martinis. We are in no way, any longer, honky tonk.
Numero Due: How about if your town columnist quit trying to be cute by using Italian numerics?
Number Three: Can we offer up a prayer of thanks that, in the winter of 2009, there are no men on the streets of Oak Bluffs at two o’clock in the morning, drilling with jack hammers? Can you believe we lived through that? And doesn’t it sound paranoid to anyone who didn’t get bounced from bed by the explosive noise?
Number Four: Let’s stop begrudging the Arts District the designation of Arts District, and recognize the title for what it is — the biggest ’hood upgrade since anyone ever traded Illinois and Kentucky avenues for Boardwalk and Park Place. Did anyone on Dukes County Extension ever love saying he or she lived in the neighborhood of Buddy’s Auto?
Number Five: Why don’t we, for goodness sakes, go ahead and build the fabulous Bradley Square, museum and all, and take pride in another cool destination for our town?
Number Six: After completing Numbers Three and Four, let’s all meet in Ocean Park, join hands, and sing Kumbaya.
Last Sunday at the Hebrew Center, my favorite Oak Bluffs Methodist minister couple, Rev. and Rev. Armen and Vicky Hanjian, along with fellow peace activists in the group, Rabbis For Human Rights, showed slides and shared commentary on their recent trip to Israel, the West Bank, and the environs of Gaza. Armen, Vicky and the others were lodged by both Israelis and Palestinians, had a police escort through the conflicted streets of Hebron, photographed Palestinian schoolgirls in blue-and-white-checked uniforms and nursery school tots on the playground of a settlement that was recently evacuated for stepped-up bombing. Oy, it’s hard to write about this without feeling a wrench of profound discouragement. Here’s something uplifting, however: An outfit called, fittingly, The Olive Branch Enterprise, is bottling extra virgin olive oil from both Israeli and Palestinian olive orchards, and it’s harvested by a crew of Jewish and Arab women. It’s called Peace Oil! How can you not love a product like that? The question is whether to make hummus or latkes with it. Or both! You can order it on peaceoil.biz.
Does anyone know of a good year-round rental for my friend, Kathy Quinn, visiting me this week from Paris? She’s caught the Island bug of wanting to move here, and has taken to stopping strangers in stores, on the sidewalks and, I kid you not, back alleys, to ask if they know about available housing. She’s turning into a female Jason Robards from A Thousand Clowns, calling the multitudes to volleyball practice on the quad. We stopped in at the West Tisbury library on Tuesday and, as Beth was dialing the phone behind the desk to ask a friend if her guest cottage was still available for rent, Kathy applied for a library card, so she’s officially here now, with or without a home of her own. Please e-mail me if you know of anything.
News from the Oak Bluffs School: Classes will be closed for Martin Luther King Day, Monday, Jan. 19. The talent show will take place on Feb. 14. The Presidents Day holiday occurs on Feb. 16, and the winter recess is from Feb. 23 to 29. And here’s some exciting news — during the holidays, O.B. teachers and other faculty donated to the Island Food Pantry in lieu of exchanging gifts with each other, and they collected a whopping $1,099! I happened to be sitting behind the Pantry desk when Bill and Barbara Jones dropped off a big fat envelope stuffed with checks. Bravo!
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