In 1963 Pat, my husband was sent to Paris on business and I went along too. Our daughter Christine was with us. Pat was scheduled to go to Stockholm and since Chris and I had Eurail passes we thought it would be interesting to accompany him. It was Christmastime and as it turned out at the last minute Pat’s assignment was changed to London, but Chris and I decided to go to Stockholm anyway and we did.

Infected With Greed

By Louise Aldrich Bugbee, former longtime Gazette columnist, with 1,500 columns to her credit, and author of the book, Confessions of a Difficult Dame, in which many of these columns rest, now resides in Florida. From the Vineyard Gazette editions of December, 1992:

The miracle that is Red Stocking has happened again. Through a tremendous effort on the part of hundreds of donors, volunteers, vendors and Red Stocking committee members, we distributed food, clothing, books and toys to 334 Vineyard children from 230 families. The piles and piles of wrapped presents that filled Grace Church last Thursday were cheerfully and efficiently sorted and organized into a sea of numbered bags ready for Friday morning’s pickup. This represented an increase of over 50 children from last year.

The Shaw Cramer Gallery of contemporary fine crafts and paintings is presenting a Drawing Invitational: A Sense of Line through Dec. 31.

More than 20 Island artists plus off-Island artists will show their drawings, a genre that is close to their hearts but seldom exhibited.

Shel Silverstein was not an easy man, but he was a passionate and spectacular man and artist.

Now, eight years after his death, Mr. Silverstein’s intense, very private life and creative genius is chronicled in the biography A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak, recently released by St. Martin’s Press. The book is drawing intense and pasionate reactions, Ms. Rogak says.

Shel Silverstein was an iconoclast but he was disciplined, particularly about his work, which always came first. He developed some interesting rules for living his life:

“Comfortable shoes and the freedom to leave are the two most important things in life.”

“To me, freedom entitles you to do something, not to not do something.”

“I’m not content when I’m traveling but I’m not content when I’m not traveling. So I guess I’ll keep traveling.”

Shel Silverstein’s thoughts on . . .

Fashion: “Who is this ‘they’ and what difference does it make what they’re wearing? I’ll wear what I want to wear.”

Explaining his work: “You should never explain the philosophy behind anything you do, it’s not important. If your work is weak and needs to be explained, it’s not clear enough.”

Timing: “It’s just as disastrous to be way ahead of your time as to be way behind.”

Customers at Stop & Shop supermarkets in Edgartown and Vineyard Haven and the chain’s corporate office raised $6,907 in October and November to help feed the hungry through the Food for Friends program.

Shoppers at the Edgartown store donated $3,354, while those at the Vineyard Haven store gave $2,253. At each store, Stop & Shop’s corporate office donated another $500.

What would Christmas be without the annual hospice concert? If we are lucky, we never will have to find out.

Once again Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Oak Bluffs was decked out profusely in candles and greens, setting the stage for a varied and moving concert on Dec. 19.

Judy Williamson and Terre Young offered brief introductions on the importance of hospice, which offers a support system to people at the end of life when they and their loved ones need it most.

FARM Institute Launches

Winter Programs for 2008

Winter 2008 youth programs are scheduled to begin at the FARM Insitute in Katama starting Jan. 4.