NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

I finally returned last Monday night. I knew I was on the right Island when the first person who greeted me did so in Portuguese. Lucky for me, I remembered to vote the next day. I caught up on all my newspapers. I thank you all for your thoughtful letters with your various suggestions for the election. Everybody won because we all participated in the democratic process. I do hope the passage of the beer and wine ballot will improve business in Vineyard Haven. I thank all the candidates who ran for posts and spent so much time on their campaigns. Same time, next year?

Yet another grandchild for Martha Dunham! Martha’s son Crawford, and his wife, Leslie, of Durham, N.C., have been through an incredible process to bring home eight-year-old Pavlina from Ukraine. Leslie kept close watch on the adoption process on her blog. The couple flew to Ukraine, but were delayed by numerous bureaucratic snafus and then, yes, the volcanic ash which kept them there longer. They were actually gone from Feb. 6 until April 26. Their return with their beautiful new daughter was a 21-hour flight from Kiev to Zurich to Chicago to Raleigh. What a scrapbook this little girl is going to have! Congratulations to the whole Dunham family and welcome, Pavlina!

The last meeting this season for the Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Network will be held Thursday night, May 6, at the Baylies Room of the Whaling Church. Sign up before May 3 and get a discount on your registration. Anyone who signs up between now and May 6 will receive a free copy of guest speaker Lynn Donohue’s book, Brick by Brick: One Woman’s Journey. As I mentioned last column, Lynn was a high school dropout, living out of her car. She later joined the bricklayer’s union and has become a millionaire entrepreneur. A light supper will be served at this fascinating meeting. I’ll see you there. To register, visit the Web site mvwomensnetwork.org.

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library have some eco-friendly polypropylene bags with the library’s logo for sale. A mere dollar gets you one of these reusable fashion accessories. The sale will help fund many programs, including the summer reading program.

Our Martha’s Vineyard Film Society is offering a sneak preview tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at Katharine Cornell Theatre. The National Geographic film Shark Eden will not be released until September 2010. This informative documentary about our ocean’s food chain was produced by Adam Geiger and Colette Beaudry of Chilmark. Their company is Sealight Productions. I’ll see you there.

Anniversary bouquets go out to Andrew and Kathy Farrissey on May 6.

The birthday bandwagon pulls along Ronilton Oliveira, Bob Jewett and Andie Williamson today, but wait, there’s more: tomorrow, May 1, sees Andie’s twin, Ellie, celebrate with Marina Natichioni, Megan Stiller, Kirsten Claussen, Mary Muckerheide, Lindsey Ben David and Barbara Murphy. May 4 is for Anna Duarte and Jonathan Spencer Norton. And on May 6, Sarah Francis, Jim MacDonald and Joey Murphy take the cake. Many happy returns.