Clearly we are doing a reasonable job shaping our next generation of future thinkers, innovators, artists, creators, writers, leaders and more. This has been a wonderful week of achievements for our students. To highlight a few is all I can do in my allotted column space, but I will urge you to embrace the minds and ideas of our young ones. They are quite fascinating.

Congratulations to the students who recently, under the guidance of West Tisbury School teacher Annemarie Ralph, won Cape Cod Times Classroom Awards. In the news/features category, fourth grader Isabelle Anthony was awarded a third place for her piece Straw Free MV. She is the daughter of Kelly and James. Emma Bena, daughter of Mollie Doyle and Thomas, hit the ball out of the park with two pieces taking home awards. Her review of Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls earned her a third place. Her opinion piece which argued for a longer school lunch time earned her a first place. Also winning awards were Latham Higgins, Clare Mone and Pandora Bassett.

Another success story to share is that of Graham Stearns. Yes, this 14 year old is making hay while the sun shines. In addition to the various recent accolades he has received, Graham was chosen to receive a John F. Kennedy Difference Award for his service work with Straw Free MV.

Ann Deitrich had a visit from family this past weekend. She was lovingly doted on as she should be.

This Saturday, April 7 from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Allison Cameron Parry, will host a three-part community healing Qigong event at Pathways. She has been working towards her Wisdom Healing Qigong level 1 teacher training certificate and kindly offers to share and facilitate some positive energy with our community. Although there is no set fee for each of the three, slightly different sessions, donations would be appreciated. If you have questions give Allison a shout at 508-397-1743 or email her at allisoncameronparry@gmail.com.

I had a nice chat with a gentleman named Tom the other day. He was waiting for Everett Poole to open up the Chandlery and sought refuge at the Texaco since standing in the snow/rain/sleet mess was really not sensible (or advisable for one’s immune system.) After a few moments of conversation, he revealed his role as a reporter for The Boston Globe. He was here to interview Everett for a piece focusing on his 40 years as town moderator. Although he wasn’t one 100 per cent certain what day the article would go to press he did seem to think it should be in either the April 5 or 6 editions. Keep a sharp lookout.

He was a dedicated professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He was an avid fisherman who could be seen palling around with Albert Fischer and plenty of others. He was a loving husband to Tobi, father to Ari and friend to many. Sadly, I share that Alan Klein died this past week after a brave battle with cancer.

Rizwan Malik reached out from the library to share that on Saturday, April 7 from 2 to 5 p.m. they will host a free disc cleaning clinic. Yes, if you’ve got dirty or scratched discs that seem unusable bring them in for a little buffing.

I squeezed in an early morning walk on Tuesday. It was a chilly one but the moon was still a faded white globe in the sky and the way the sun glistened on the frost encased marsh grass was spectacular. The red-winged black birds sang. The geese flew over head in perfect formation and, lucky me, I spotted a snowy owl. At that very moment, with the warmth of the sun on my face, I was joyful and reveled in the fact that it felt like spring. I am hopeful you all have moments like this.

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