JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
Chilmark, on Monday, is enjoying the usual lovely day that follows a mean Northeaster ... I am writing to you early this week so that you will have the paper on Thursday. There isn’t a chance of my telling you much that is new as I am pretty much snowbound from the Sunday storm. We are being dug and plowed out as I write and I can only hope to hit the ground running and learn some exciting news for the rest of this column.
Santa made his annual visit to the Chilmark firefighters’ children’s party last week. All went well and the visit was acclaimed a big success with lots of thanks going to the chief elf, Katie Carroll, and her helpers.
The blizzard dumped many inches of snow all over the Island — everyone you meet has a different number of inches in their yard but there is a lot of snow from any view, some drifted into quite high piles. All the roads in town are open and there are many plows working hard to get the driveways clear.
There were no seals or surfers at Squibnocket Beach this morning. The ocean water was a strange brown color and there was lots of ice on the higher rocks. There is also plenty of ice on the Menemsha jetties. And the wind keeps blowing.
A letter from 1933 has come to my attention. Members of the Norton family have submitted it to the Chilmark Historical Commission, and I will share it with you. The letter is dated Dec. 21, 1933 and postmarked on that day in New Bedford. It is a letter from Charles M. Norton to his son, Reginald Norton, of Menemsha. The letter reads as follows:
“I, Charles M. Norton is (sic) to inform the citizens of Chilmark and Gay Head that I planted 1/2 bushel of seed scallops in the Menemsha Pond about the year 1916 or there about and for witness I can name Malvina M. R. Norton and Sophonia Hillman and can say that Benjamin (illegible) got scallops out Menemsha Pond with a drag in his small boat enough for his own appetite. Never told of putting scallop seed in the pond because I wanted to see if they would numerate and I am glad to say that it was successful. It has been good for those it has benefited. I have not been benefited any by it myself. I hope these few lines will stop all argument. Signed Charles M. Norton, New Bedford, Ma.”
Does any Chilmark person want to add to this bit of history? So, if this is true, scallops weren’t always in the Pond! How quickly we take things for granted.
So my holiday wish for you, dear reader, is that you will soon enjoy a treat of Menemsha scallops, as they are being harvested this winter on the clement days and can be found for sale locally . . . thanks to Mr. Norton?
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