After a few days of rain this week, we now have freezing temperatures. It has been down as low as 12 degrees with the wind chill factor. Over the next few days the temperatures will be sub-zero. Stay warm. Bundle up.

Hearts will be warmed upon Santa’s arrival on Dec. 23 at the Aquinnah town hall. As always, Santa will arrive by fire truck. All of Santa’s elves have been busy this week organizing the special gifts for each child, wrapping, decorating, and promising to cleanup after it all. There will be a pot luck dinner, please bring a dish to share. Festivities begin at 5 p.m.

A busy time at the Aquinnah Public Library over the next week. On Thursday, Dec. 15 at 3:30 p.m. there will be story time, and at 5:30 p.m. is the second meeting of the knitting group. New members are welcome. Yarn and needles provided and refreshments served. Free and open to the public. On Saturday at 10:30 a.m. is story time and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. is the annual holiday party. All ages are welcome. There will be swag making and cards and wrapping paper making. Refreshments will be served. Join in the merriment. On Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. will be the After School Club and at 5:30 p.m. is the book group discussing Andy Weir’s The Martian. Open to all.

First Baptist Church invites one and all to celebrate the holiday season on Dec. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the annual Christmas tea, luncheon and shopping at the parish house in Vineyard Haven. Tea, coffee, tea sandwiches, cookies and more will be served. There will be a baked goods table and crafts and gift items at reasonable prices. Admission is free, and tea tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children. For more information call the church office at 508-693-1539.

Community Baptist Church of Gay Head invites one and all to Christmas Eve candlelight services on Saturday, Dec. 24 at 5 p.m.,with traditional lessons, carols and lighting of Candles. The First Baptist Church in Vineyard Haven will have Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 7 p.m. with lessons, carols and lighting of candles. On Christmas Day there will be a combined service at 10 a.m. for First Baptist and Community Baptist churches at First Baptist, the corner of Spring and William streets in Vineyard Haven. For more information call the church office at 508-693-1539

Thank you to Senior Chief Robert Riemer and the entire crew of U.S. Coast Guard Station Menemsha in sharing their Christmas party with yours truly on Wednesday evening as we dined at the Ocean View restaurant with their families, the auxiliarists, and friends. A wonderful evening for all while their station was covered by personnel from Woods Hole. The evening was filled with laughter and friendship, spreading good cheer to last the year. Thank you!

As if that was not enough excitement, the next day was busy tending to medical issues that landed me in the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital emergency room for the night. Thank you to Dr. Jeffrey Zack, Dr. Karen Casper, and Dr. Jeffrey Barnes by telephone consult. Thank you to my nurses Kate, Heather, and Debbie and for Helen Green, R.N. for checking in on me. They all made my overnight stay as comfortable as possible and were attentive to all my needs. I am grateful for the ER staff and their professionalism. In two months, my longtime primary care physician and friend of 40 years, Dr. Peter J. Laursen, will be retiring and with the compassion and best of care I have received over the decades, my medical care will be in limbo for awhile. But I will be able to rely on the wonderful care I always receive in the MVH ER and infusion center.

Welcome to Charles Hoye and Katherine Olsen, who drove across country to become new year-round residents of Aquinnah. Charlie and Kathy are the parents of Noli Hoye Taylor, in laws of Isaac Taylor, and grandparents of Emmett Cole and Tillie Arrow Taylor. After spending several winters in Aquinnah, they decided it was not all that different than residing in Oregon and California. They will spend a few weeks in Tisbury before their Aquinnah accommodations are completed. Welcome — with open arms.

Faith Smalley, daughter of Jay and Millicent, has arrived home from her studies at Guilford College in North Carolina.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum conversations at the Howes House will present the history of celebrating the festive holiday season on Martha’s Vineyard on Monday, Dec. 19 at 1:30 p.m. Listen to the oral histories on Portuguese carols, Christmas during World War II, and the perennial favorite — the Flying Santa who flew over the Vineyard dropping gifts for children. The museum conversations are free and open to the public thanks to the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Charitable Fund. Please register by calling 508-693-2896.

If you are in Edgartown over the holiday, stop into the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. The collection of weathervanes created by Captain James D. Morgan of Menemsha will be on display through January.

In Aquinnah over the weekend, Joan Lelacheur will have an open studio of her wampum jewelry on Saturday from 10 to 5 at 42 Old South Road. On Sunday, Megan Sargent will have a fundraiser at Sargent Gallery from 1 to 3 to raise funds for the new barn at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary.

Belated happy first birthday wishes to Matahquhs Leonard Spears Vanderhoop, who celebrated his Dec. 8 birthday with a party of family and friends on Dec. 10.

Needless to say, my birthday book has been missing for a couple of months.

Send Aquinnah news to junemanning152@gmail.com.