Santa on a Steel Horse

Twas about a month before Christmas and many a creature was stirring.

And why not? It was a beautiful fall day, Thanksgiving still two weeks away.

There were no stockings hung by the chimney with care, nor did visions of sugar plums dance in the air.

Thoughts of St. Nick and his bag full of toys were not on this day’s list of joys.

Then a horde of Harley Riders all of them wearing red caps, some even in chaps,

Special Education Talk

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, Charlotte Spinkston, executive director for Urban Pride, will present a workshop highlighting one’s basic rights under the special education law. The workshop aims to help parents learn how to be effective partners with their schools to help make decisions and determine a child’s eligibility for special education. It will also discuss ways to plan and monitor the educational progress of one’s children.

Garden Club Monthly

The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. at the Wakeman Center in West Tisbury.

The program this month is Holiday Creations. Dr. Else Membreno will offer ideas and demonstrate techniques for creating floral arrangements and decorations for the Thanksgiving holidays.

A hospitality hour with refreshments will follow the program.

The event is free for members and $5 for guests.

The sky’s the limit!

Well, up to now, the Milky Way galaxy has been the limit. Humans have never gone into space beyond our Milky Way galaxy. This is not surprising, as to breach the diameter of our barred spiral galaxy would take a space explorer 100,000 light years in travel time.

I am happy to be back on the Vineyard. Thank you all for your kind words regarding the loss of my father.

By REMY TUMIN

Buffalo, teriyaki, sweet and sour, hot as fire, deep-fried. Whichever way you prefer your chicken wings, finger-licking is always involved. A washcloth for your face might also be necessary.

Chicken wings may be reserved for Sunday afternoon football, but all bets are off on Saturday as town departments and organizations from across the Vineyard compete for the best wing recipe on the Island at the second annual Wingfest at Sharky’s Cantina in Edgartown.

Beetlebung Corner is really the center of Chilmark. The library, the school, the community center, the town hall, two banks, a restaurant, a general store, a real estate office and the post office are all within a few steps. This is all well and good for humans. However, for the birds Beetlebung Farm, which provides fresh vegetables and flowers in the summer, is their main attraction. By now the vegetables have been harvested and most of the flowers gone. Luckily there are still a few hardy nasturtiums blooming and a very late visitor arrived on Nov. 2 to enjoy the nectar of these nasturtiums. Marie Scott and Suzie Bunker, both daughters of Ozzie and Rena Fischer, spotted the hummingbird and alerted their father and their brother, Bert.

Leigh Cormie searched the voter rolls at the American Legion in Vineyard Haven.

“There I am!” he said as a volunteer thumbed through the pages.

Taking his ballot into the voting booth, he officially exercised his democratic privilege for the first time — in this country at least.

“This is a big thing for me,” he told the volunteers in his vestigial Down Under accent as he affixed an “I voted” sticker to his lapel.

The Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard has awarded grants totaling $25,176 this fall to 14 Island nonprofit organizations. “It was wonderful to be able to provide financial support to almost two-thirds of the organizations who approached us for funding this cycle,” said endowment chairman Anne Williamson.

VNA Coordinator

April McCarty has joined Vineyard Nursing Association as the nurse intake coordinator, the bridge between physicians and hospitals and the VNA’s home health care services.

“Having a nurse in this position is a shift for the VNA, in response to the growth in demand for services and the level of complications that many cases present,” said chief executive Bob Tonti.