Bettye Foster Baker>
508-696-9983
No Parking signs have been posted all along the narrow streets of Oak Bluffs and that night of wonder where we become ecstatic in anticipation of the fireworks at sea is upon us. All along Ocean Park and Sea View there will be porch parties where bands will be playing, and sidewalks will become dance floors. Some of the best food to be found will be spread on tables as revelers gather on Victorian porches to cheer on one of the most spectacular and beautiful sights of the summer season — the Oak Bluffs Fireworks at Sea. Many invitations go out to family, friends and guests to join in and share the excitement of the evening.
One of the most fun celebrations occurs on the porch of Gwen and Peter Norton. There is a lovely postcard invitation that goes out to come dine and enjoy the spectacular fireworks from their exquisite cottage, garden and gazebo and that place that is so uniquely American, whose roots stretch back to Africa, and the old world — that wonderful wrap-around-porch. The evening never disappoints in its elegance, warmth and community spirit — a throw-back to the best of times. Here the gathering becomes that quintessential space where social communion, a salute to summer’s reluctant ending and shared joy is stunning. I receive family photos from friends all winter as a reminder of the specialness of this evening. It is the perfect time to say hail and farewell to those you may not have seen all summer and to relax over some sumptuous food before the first fireworks volley is shot high into the sky and the night becomes perfection to the eye and the heart.
Speaking of perfection, Featherstone, the ideal art setting on our Island became a place of adoration of the late artist, Lois Mailou Jones’s wonderful cretonne textiles and other designs which were magnificently displayed in their exquisite creative expression and beauty in this joint exhibit with the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. Francine Kelly, Featherstone’s director, and Linsey Lee, oral history curator at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Edgartown reported that 250 people attended the opening, the largest of any opening in Featherstone’s history. Many had no idea of the freelance aspect of Lois Mailou Jones’s artistry as depicted in the 35 intricate textile designs on exhibit as they walked through the gallery and shared perspectives during the reception. These designs left me breathless as I contemplated their intricacy and extraordinary colorations. The Gold Block Pattern, watercolor, 1927 and Totem Poles, tempera, 1928 as the exquisite cretonne works were remarkable in the breadth of media Jones employed.
Robert Jones, Lois Mailou Jones’s nephew who spoke eloquently about the exhibit and his aunt’s work and its significance, said these works had been new to him when he found them not so long ago in her basement in Washington, D.C.! The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, evaluated the work, characterized it as a “treasure trove” and produced the first show in Boston. Over four million people saw that show. Since then the textiles have been exhibited in Atlanta, Philadelphia (twice), South Carolina and Washington, D.C. and other venues. The first major exhibit of Lois Mailou Jones’s work will be exhibited at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina this year. A catalogue will be created and sent to all Class A museums. This is an exhibit that should not be missed along with the final lecture on this phase of Jones’s work by Dr. Cheryl F. Findley, assistant professor of art at Cornell University, on August 26 at 7 p.m.
The Ken Williams Memorial Scholarship Fund, Incorporated is holding its 10th annual golf tournament at Mink Meadows Golf Course in Vineyard Haven on Sunday, August 24. Get ready for this — this year’s hole-in-one grand prize is $10,000 cash! Tournament cost (tax-deductible) is $150 in advance and $200 the day of the tournament. Registration will take place at 7:30 a.m. and the tournament will begin at 8 a.m. with an awards luncheon following at approximately 1 p.m. There will be a silent auction of golf and non-golf items at the golf course from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Items include a trip to the ESPN Golf School, a foursome at Crumpin-Fox Golf Course, gifts certificates to restaurants in Boston’s North End, gift certificates to Martha’s Vineyard’s own Smoke’n’Bones, Mikasa crystal and so much more! Proceeds from the tournament provide high school seniors from the Island with college scholarships — the Ken Williams Memorial Humanitarian Scholarship ($1,000) and the Mandred Henry Scholarship for Social Justice ($1,000). All golfers are welcome to join us for a day of charitable golfing. To register: See Chet Nowak, Mink Meadows Golf Pro or visit online kenwilliamsgolf.eventbrite.com. Volunteers are needed. If interested send an e-mail to kwmsfund@aol.com.
Hi! Ho! Come to the Fair! When you get there look for an award-winning quilt, Island Daylilies by Herb Ward. Herb generously donated the beautiful quilt for a raffle to raise money for the 2009 Federated Church choir trip to Paris and other venues in France and Switzerland. The raffle will be held on December 14 and the winner does not have to be present. Mr. Ward has rented booths and sold chances at the Oak Bluffs Harbor Fair, Tisbury Street Fair and will also sell chances at the craft fairs in Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. Look for Herb Ward and his quilt at the fairs, or call him at 508-693-7683. Tickets are $5 each and five for $20.
The Bibliophiles, Incorporated marked its 20th anniversary with a gift to the Oak Bluffs Public Library on Thursday, August 21. The Bibliophiles, Incorporated, a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization, is the nation’s longest standing, continuously operating African American reading group. The gift was presented by the club’s president, Deborah E. Collins, esquire, and co-founder Joyce Wilson Harley, esquire.
How often can special birthdays be celebrated with friends — some from age two? Nandi Agaja Anderson, daughter of Dedan Agaja Anderson of Berkeley, Calif., and Jonita Fair-Payton of Houston, Tex., celebrated her sweet sixteen birthday party on Saturday, August 9, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Clubhouse on Towanticut avenue. The party was attended by approximately 60 of the teenagers that she’s befriended during her many summers here on the Vineyard since she was only two years old. Attendees danced to the music of Darren Patrick, Deejay Big D, Oak Bluffs. Nandi chose a New Orleans theme. Guests wore Mardi Gras beads in the tradition of the Mardi Gras city. Several family members were on hand to help celebrate. Nandi’s great-grandmother, Mrs. Henry B. Mitchell of Alexandria, Va., her father, Dedan Agaja Anderson, a lead designer of video games at Sega in San Francisco, Calif., grandmother Dr. Carolyn Anderson Brown, associate professor of history at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., grandfather, Humberto R. Brown, director of Health Disparity Initiatives Research at the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health in Brooklyn, N.Y. Also in attendance were her aunt, Dr. Haydée C. Brown, resident in orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, and cousin, Yani J. Brown, a rising freshman at Syracuse University. Nandi’s mother, Jonita Fair-Payton, was not in attendance having just given birth to Nandi’s new brother, Pierce Alexander Payton. Congratulations, Nandi!
On Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, Bettie Eubanks, Impressionist painter and Paulette Wexler photographer, will host The Weekend Garden Gallery at 106 County Road, Oak Bluffs (one mile from hospital) in the garden. Both will feature some of their best work at this two-day gallery reception. The public is invited. Bettie Eubanks, well known Island artist and seasonal resident of Oak Bluffs is known for her passionate bursts of colors, inspired by her Martha’s Vineyard surroundings. Her paintings reflect the joy and passion of life through texture and mixed media. Bettie says, “Our days are a constant infusion of information and expression. Art allows the unique opportunity to infuse our souls with joy and possibility.” Both Bettie and Paulette, who characterize themselves as the Dynamic Duo, are award winning artists whose work is in corporate and private collections. The team invites the public to come out and enjoy an afternoon of art in a garden setting.
The crown jewel of Oak Bluffs has to be our children’s room and program at our public library. The response to the summer reading program has been astounding. Karen Achille, children’s librarian, informed me that they have enjoyed an enthusiastic response to their events and programs through the summer reading program, with 157 children participating. The combined total number of hours of reading so far exceeds 1,600. All of the summer programs were well attended and the library couldn’t be more pleased. On Tuesday, August 26, at 10:30 a.m., the library will be hosting an end-of-summer-reading awards and rewards party in the gazebo at the library for children who have participated. If it rains, come to the children’s programs room. There will be rewards for the boys and girls, ages 4 to 8 and 9 to 14 who have read the most hours. A raffle of the remaining prize incentives and a leftover coupon will be given away. Refreshments will be served.
Planning a wedding, anniversary, family reunion, special tribute? Have guests coming? Let me know. This column shares memories, coming events and all that’s new and exciting in Oak Bluffs. And by the way, don’t forget to open your gifts.
Comments
Comment policy »