Margaret Knight>
508-627-8894
Some of us gathered at the Edgartown Library on Tuesday for an inaugural celebration and viewing of the ceremony. I figured there would be a bunch of Chappaquiddickers — those of us without satellite dishes. I was right — about half of those there had come over on the ferry. We clapped and cheered, wiped our eyes, ate cake and popcorn, and rejoiced with our fellow citizens. I think everyone felt the inaugural address was inspiring. I felt hopeful as we gathered there with others to witness the changing of the guard and listen to President Obama speak of our need to work together. It made me feel as if I cared more about everyone.
Chappaquiddick has been serious about winter recently. We’ve had temperatures in the single digits, snow, and lots of ice as a result of melting snow and rain on top of the frozen ground. Brine’s Pond was the site of hockey games and ice fishing over the weekend, but skates seemed more appropriate than boots for just about anywhere on the Island. Anytime the temperatures are above freezing, huge puddles form on the dirt roads, which turn into a mix of ice and mud. After three trips in and out of my road in one day, I could understand why people head to Florida or California for the winter. But besides the way that winter keeps changing the look of the land, there are other amazing things to be seen here.
Last Sunday morning at 7:30, as I turned my car onto the main road and headed toward the ferry, I saw that I was only the second person to have driven on the road that morning. I could tell because an inch or two of fluffy snow had fallen in the night, and because the road was frozen, the snow had completely covered it. No one had driven up from the ferry yet so one half the road was unmarked by tires.
As I passed the community center and headed down the straight stretch past North Neck Road, I started noticing little trails on the other un-driven half of the road. Each trail ended on the roadside in a delicate ball of fluffy snow. They were all sizes, each at the end of a winding path that left the tar exposed, all headed in approximately the same direction — southwest. At one point, it looked as if a massive snow ball game had been played and all the frolickers just departed — except that there were no footprints anywhere.
I rode over on the ferry with Judy and Dick Dimond, and we all remarked about these mysterious snow balls — Judy called them snow curls. They looked as if somehow the wind, which had been gusty in early morning, had picked up a bit of the fluffy snow and curled it round and round, the way kids do to make a snow man, but going in only one direction so that often you could see the hole in the middle of the ball.
Later Judy called me because they had stopped at the Park and Ride lot in Edgartown and found it covered with the snow curls, some as big as 18 inches, and she sent me some pictures she’d taken of them. I tried to find information on the Internet about them, but couldn’t; neither of us had ever seen anything like them before. By the time I came home at 11 a.m., the rain had dissolved them.
Lily Morris will hold her card making workshop tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the community center. She’ll bring her extensive collection of rubber stamps for printing, and materials for carving stamps, and also collage materials. She will give guidance, as needed, so people can make Valentine’s Day cards or whatever kind of cards they want. The cost is $10, all materials included.
Claire Thacher has become executive secretary for the Chappaquiddick Island Association. It’s the first time the group has hired someone for the job. One of her tasks will be taking notes at town board and committee meetings. From 2004 until now, Terry Forde, CIA president, has done the monumental work of communicating with the membership and keeping track of Chappaquiddick’s interests in town affairs for the organization.
A recent Island Theatre Workshop newsletter mentions that tryouts will soon be held for an original one act musical, An Island of Women, which will present the lives of three Vineyard families when most of the men are out at sea in the whaling industry. It was created by Island historian Elizabeth Villard, with music by Phil Dietterich. For information about that or other ITW productions you can call Liz at 508-627-2529.
Congratulations to Jimmy DiMattia who won the Edgartown School National Geography Bee final last week. Jimmy is in the fifth grade and competed in the bee with students in grades four through eight. He’ll go on to the next round of competition. We wish him much success.
The Edgartown Library, in conjunction with the Martha’s Vineyard League of Women Voters, is holding a series called Edgartown 101, to help educate us about how local government works and how we, as citizens, can engage more fully with it. It will be held on six Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m., this week through Feb. 25, for about an hour, and will feature town officials as panelists.
On Jan. 28 the forum will be on town finances — explaining where Edgartown gets the $30 million in its annual budget, and how the town decides where that money is spent. The panelists will be Alan Gowell, chairman of the Edgartown board of assessors, and Donna Lowell-Bettencourt, chairman of the finance committee. You can attend any or all of the programs; information about the weekly session is on the Web site or at the library.
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