JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Several parties were held around town on New Year’s Eve. The trend in recent years seems to be more toward family or neighborhood gatherings to welcome in the New Year. Paul Magid and his wife, Anita Botti, of Pond Road, held a New Year’s Eve dinner party for 40 of their friends and neighbors, Binnie Ravitch held her annual New Year’s Day celebration at her Ice House Pond home, and Julie Humphries did the same. The traffic in town last Saturday morning could be counted on the fingers of one hand. People stayed at home with family, watched bowl games and relaxed. The weather to begin the New Year was exceptionally mild, with an afternoon temperature of 50 degrees and just about erased all of the snow except for the big piles deposited at intersections. Last year the weather bureau report was the warmest year on record. Only December had below average temperatures.
Ben and Paddy Moore, of Alley Way, spent four days over Christmas with their son, Gus Moore, his wife, Dawn, and their children, Ian and Mina, in New York city, and visited on Sunday with Hub Moore his wife, Zoe, and children, Frida and Happy, in Brooklyn. On Christmas Eve they attended a service at the Collegial Church with the students performing the parts of the angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph, and the wise men. Ian played a magnificent and threatening Herod, and given the fact he is 6’3” tall, Ben reports that he was quite believable! They greatly enjoyed not only their grandchildren, but the music and other children as well even though they missed the Congregational Church nativity pageant at the Agricultural Hall.
Ben reports that getting out of New York in the snowstorm was another story — but thanks to the subway system and Amtrak, which recovered very well after the initial cancellation on Sunday night, they arrived in Providence only an hour late and made it to Woods Hole, only to discover that the 3:45 boat was cancelled. They were more than relieved when the 5 p.m. boat was given the green light, and they were able to get down their frozen driveway safe and sound. He notes that it was lovely to go to the Big Apple and be with family, but it is even more rewarding to return to the Vineyard and home!
Anna and William Kohlasch of Lexington spent part of their school vacation with their grandparents, Peter and Beatrice Nessen of Boston, at their home on Old County Road. The adventure of the holiday snowstorm, wonderful times at the library, and sledding on the hill by the Tashmoo overlook made their days fly by.
Cynthia Riggs, of Edgartown Road, celebrated New Year’s Day with her sisters, Alvida and Ann, over at the Cleaveland House, the family homestead. She also is hard at work on a new mystery novel (Lynn Christoffers will be doing the photography work for the book) and in her spare moments she is planning her annual Groundhog Day party — can you believe it is less than a month away? — which has become a tradition in town. Before the holidays she had several members of her family visit her.
Engineer Arsen Hambardzumian, of East Taunton, was here on Tuesday for the day doing septic inspection in Vineyard Haven.
Warren and Marilyn Hollinshead, of Pond View Farm Road, report that they have just returned from probably the longest trip of their lives — actually two trips, the first to Egypt and Jordan and then, after being back here only a few days, they left to join friends on a monthlong trip to the South and North Islands of New Zealand. They got back home just in time for Christmas with their daughter Anne’s family and then over New Year’s with daughter Dana’s family. It’s so good to be back home.
The next meeting of the Islandwide Democratic Council is tomorrow morning at the Howes House at 9 a.m.
Antonio Saccoccia, of Vineyard Meadow Farms the chef/owner of the Grill on Main in Edgartown, reports that he has been working hard this winter offering great culinary deals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He has produced a terrific three-course, prix fixe menu at $29 per person. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays he serves two-for-one entrees. He also hosted the Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas business after-hours meeting and did a wonderful job. He is an excellent chef and will not disappoint you.
Lynne Demond, of Natick, our favorite amateur geologist, was in town last weekend. She visited with friends, then celebrated the New Year in New York city, where she participated in the New York Road Race on New Year’s Day.
Judith Boyd married Dennis Brunton on New Year’s Day at the Ritz. Judith had lived in town for several years at Nip ’n’ Tuck Farm.
Muriel Bye, of Edgartown Road, an election warden, wants to remind you that the voter registration cards you will be receiving in the mail shortly need to be filled out and returned to Tara Whiting, chairman of the board of registrars, so that your name will remain on the voting list.
Nevette Previd reports that Bonnie Marcus, a certified executive coach, will speak on career goal setting at noon on Tuesday for the Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Network. The group also is cosponsoring with ACE-MV a five-week course on company branding, starting the same day. The program will be held at the Mansion House from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Mansion House, which is sponsoring the program, will also offer tours of its spa and fitness center beginning at 11 a.m.
Colleen Morris, over at the library, reports another full schedule of activities. Tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. she will lead snowflake craft sessions. Also the Martha’s Vineyard Museum curators would appreciate it if you would stop by the library from 3 to 4:30 p.m. to share your thoughts on the town. On Sunday Cathy Walthers will hold a book signing for her new book Soups and Sides (with soup tasting) at 3 p.m. On Monday night at 6:30 Dr. Enid Haller will lead the Lyme and tick-bourne disease discussion and support group at the Howes House. The movie in the library at 7 p.m. is The Party, a Blake Edwards comedy classic with Peter Sellers. Now, she is making some of her special popcorn and, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to go to the movies with her?
“On Jan. 1, 1943, all of us were asked to contribute in some way to the war effort. In addition to rationing stamps, scrap drives and purchasing war bonds, did you know that women were also asked to save just one tablespoonful of waste cooking fat each day? They were urged by the federal government to do so as it would go a long way toward the glycerin requirements needed for the war effort. Each community was assigned a monthly quota in the Massachusetts waste fat collection campaign. The government did not ask for these fats until you’ve got the cooking good out of them. But after that is done, every spoonful is needed. After the first four months of the campaign, cooks in this town had contributed about 90 per cent of its allotted monthly quota. However they consistently met or exceeded their assigned quota of making bandages for the Red Cross. Many times they helped neighboring towns complete their work on time.”
Happy birthday to: Ike Russell, Lila Griswold, Sam Hiser and Alexis Holden Garcia today; Joanie Ames, Tad Crawford, Will Whiting and Oliver Becker tomorrow; Joyce Capobianco, Ann Burt, Davis Solon, Diane Powers and Shuva Sellers on Sunday; Sam Arruda, Sara Whyte, David Gaskill, Dorothea Arnold and Johnny Hoy on Monday; Annabelle Brothers and Rose Campbell on Tuesday; Gay Nelson, Kern Grimes and Christa Fischer on Wednesday; Joe Eldridge, Pierce Kirby III and Brian Athearn on Thursday.
Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s edition, the first in the New Year. Trivia facts you can use at the next party: Western Union delivered its final telegram five years ago this month, and 100 years ago Sunday the first picture from an airplane in this country was taken. Please call or e-mail me with your news.
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