Soup Supper Season

To some the Vineyard is a place of wealth and ease with an idyllic backdrop of beaches, rural vistas and busy summer days. And for a few months of the year, this is the dominant reality. But the facade fades, at first subtly, and then more drastically, as the off-season takes hold.

Those who do not know the pleasures of the quieter side of Island life will never fully understand that beneath its obvious beauty, the Island is mostly a reflective soul.

But the off-season, as anyone will tell you, can also be a lonely and dark time for many on the Island. This is the time of year when jobs are scarce, when unemployment runs high, and when the most basic right of having enough to eat is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Thankfully, there are many organizations here that understand this and do something about it. The Island Food Pantry, which resumed its winter schedule this week, is serving more people than ever. There are also the community suppers which take place at various churches around the Island, and when they are all up and running, guarantee a free meal nearly every weeknight during the winter months and well into the months when the days grow longer. The true beauty of these suppers is their lack of stigma. The diversity of diners, from church members breaking bread together to seniors looking for company to the downright hungry, all coming together as one, blurs the lines between the needy and the generous.

This Monday, October 24, at five o’clock, the Edgartown community suppers begin again in the Baylies Room of the Old Whaling Church. They will continue throughout the winter and into the spring. Stay tuned for the reappearance of more community suppers at other churches in other towns in the coming weeks and months.

Much about the Island has changed over the years, there is no doubt about it. And yet the Vineyard at its core is still is a community that knows how to take care of its own. May it always be so.