JO-ANN TILGHMAN

508-627-7669

(tilghmanjb@aol.com)

There is something about this time of year that is so positive. There is so much hope and optimism — whether we are preparing our gardens for vegetables or flowers, getting our boats into the water for another summer of sailing or racing,  fishing, or recommitting to exercise and eating healthy. Everything is possible for the summer at this time of year.

Should you be considering the start of a new exercise program for the summer, you might consider yin and vinyasa yoga with Amanda Cohen at the community center. Amanda has been teaching on the Vineyard since 2002 after completing teacher training with Sarah Powers in Mill Valley, Calif., in 2001. The yoga practice is a combination of quiet yin postures and more dynamic yang postures woven together with an emphasis on mindfulness. Yoga class will begin July 1 at 8:30 a.m.

If yoga is not what you had in mind, how about tai chi with Joanne Scott? Joanne’s class has already begun at the community center and is Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m.

Next week marks the beginning of a very full summer of activities at the Chappaquiddick Community Center. Center manager Margaret Knight has the office open from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for anyone seeking additional information about pending programs and events.

One of the new offerings this summer is a weekly art show featuring a Chappy artist. Edwina Rissland will showcase her work beginning June 30. Sharon Daly will exhibit beginning July 6, with Laurie Douglas exhibiting the week of July 13 and Gail Rodney the week of July 20. Everyone is invited to stop in at the center to view their works.

One of the continuing community center traditions is the Chappy Fair scheduled for July 19 and its book table. Cory Dean, who has managed the book table for years, is again taking on that responsibility and she has put out a call for books. If you have books you would like to donate for the sale, they can be dropped off at the center. 

Pat Knoll and Dot Dropick have selected best-seller Eat, Play, Love: One Woman’s Search Across Italy, India, and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert, as the Chappy Book Club reading for July. Everyone is invited to attend the book club discussion on July 24 from 10:30 until noon at the community center. Discussion questions are available at the center.

Dot Dropick has also let me know that the Friends of Edgartown Free Public Library is being revitalized and is conducting a membership campaign. The purpose of the organization is to support library programs in a wide variety of ways including shelving books, assisting at story hour, helping with book discussions, and baking for functions. The Friends also support special programs such as English as a second language.

The next meeting of the library Friends will be held on Tuesday, July1 at 11 a.m. at the recently reopened library on North Water street. Everyone who enjoys the library is welcome. Dot, who is on the steering committee, invites everyone to come and meet the Friends and share your ideas and talents to help the library. If you are unable to attend, more information is available at the library information desk.

The Chappy Store, again under the management of Nefetiti Jette, has reopened for the summer. Nefititi continues to stock the store with fresh sandwiches, beach supplies and groceries while adding Chappy Store T-shirts and prints ($10) of a painting done by Gail Rodney of the Chappy Store for sale.  Another change this year is that all newspapers must be pre-ordered and pre-paid either on a weekly or daily basis. If you have a special order or request, speak with Nefetiti and she will do her best to get the item for you. Hours for the store are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Friday when the stores closes at 3 p.m. to shop and restock.

We extend a happy birthday to Mark Culkin who celebrated his day on June 25. Mark is looking forward to vacationing on Chappy this summer.

Saturday, June 21 was a glorious day for the Chappy wedding of Alexis Scott, a daughter of Chappy sailors and tennis players, Hal and Joanna Scott, and Michael Faber, a son of Susan and Richard Faber of Memphis. The service was performed at the Federated Church in Edgartown by seasonal Chappaquiddick resident, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Pike, with many Chappaquiddick friends in attendance.

Marcia and Bruce Fowle are settling back into their Menace Hill home in preparation for the arrival of their children and grandchildren for the Fourth of July. Abigail Fowle, husband Brian Maxwell, and 5-month-old son Winslow of Portland, Ore., have already arrived. Suzie Fowle-Schroeder and her children, 7-year-old Reeve and 5-year-old Sam, are due this weekend from Housatonic. The last to arrive will be Margaret Fowle, husband Breck Knauft, and their children, 5-year-old Ada and 3-year-old Frances, of Huntington, Vt.

Susan Gomez tells of stopping on the Chappy road to admire the beautiful pink and red rhododendrons lining a driveway and being so focused on the flowers that she almost failed to see the deer that ran in front of her car, followed by a second, smaller deer. With more land having been cleared, the deer are showing themselves at times of the day we don’t usually expect to see them.

Deer. What is it about watching them? Even when they venture into our yards and eat our plants there is something peaceful about them. We know that if we move too quickly they will leap away and that may be part of the appeal of watching them; waiting to see how long it will be before they sense we are there. I have deer that nibble on my day lilies, check under the bird feeders for seed, and even drink from the bird bath. Yes, I know they can be pests, but I prefer plantings that will not tempt them so that when they do come into our yard I can marvel at their grace and peacefulness.

The possibilities for summer spread before us. Let’s forget the skunks, mosquitoes, green flies, ferry lines, ticks and poison ivy and focus, instead, on the endless sunny beach days, soft evening breezes and vibrant sunsets, tennis, sailing, ice cream, friendships, thunderstorms, and lightening bugs that lie ahead . . . may we enjoy them all.