There will be no second potluck this month as it would fall on the day before Thanksgiving. Instead, on Saturday, Nov. 24 there will be an open house/craft fair at the Chappaquiddick Community Center from 1 to 3 p.m. This is an annual gathering for family and friends to browse the creations of Chappy crafters, pick up or purchase the just-arrived 2019 CCC calendar and enjoy warm cider and various nibbles. Anyone interested in participating in the craft fair, please call the CCC office at 508-627-8222.

The next potluck supper will be the annual ferry captain and crew appreciation supper to be held on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. Please bring a dish to serve at least six. The guests of honor are the folks that keep the ferryboats shuttling back and forth day and night, fair weather and foul. This is a well-attended event giving everyone an opportunity to converse with the ferry drivers and deckhands for more than the usual 60 seconds.

There will be no second potluck in December. In place of it will be the Christmas Eve dinner on Monday, Dec. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. Call the CCC office to sign up for main courses, side dishes and desserts.

Even though it’s still weeks away, here is the Chappy ferry schedule for Christmas Day. The ferry will run on the hour during the day. The night will be the normal winter schedule. Specifically, the ferry captain will go down to the ferry at 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 a.m., noon, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 p.m., start up the ferry and take across anyone who is in line at that time. The night shift captain will begin the normal winter night schedule at 6 p.m. which means that the ferry will run until 8 p.m., then again from 9 to 10 p.m., then again from 11 to 11:15 p.m. As always, when on Chappaquiddick, if you have an emergency that requires an ambulance, the hospital emergency room, the fire department or the police, dial 911 or 508-693-1212.

The first snowfall of the season always seems to come as a surprise. Often it comes as a blizzard. Now is the time to call your snowplow person to make sure that you are on their list. If you have a portable generator, this would be the right time to siphon out the old sour fuel and replace it with new fuel and a dose of fuel stabilizer. You will be singing my praises the next time you need it and it starts right up.

Lately, we seem to have a storm every week. Keep an eye on the webcams on the ferry website where we post a warning when and if ferry service might be interrupted due to high winds or high tides. Living on an island, it’s good to know when the tides will be high on a stormy day as that is likely when the

water will be up in the street. You don’t want to be driving your car through a half foot of salt water. If you’re headed for the ferry and the road is flooded with salt water from an overflowing Caleb’s Pond you can be sure that the ferry isn’t running anyway.

Occasionally someone will arrive at the Chappy ferry and express surprise that it is still running. They had heard that SSA trips were canceled and figured that the Chappy ferry wouldn’t be running either. I tell them that just because the big ferries aren’t running doesn’t always mean that we aren’t. On the other hand, if we aren’t running, you can be sure that they have stopped as well.

Chappaquiddick town news can be sent to peterchappyferry@gmail.com.