THOMAS DRESSER
508-693-1050
Though the thermometer is still registering chilly temperatures, we want to think spring. The first crocus is peeking through the ground. Julian Robinson spotted a snowy owl by the hospital last week.
We’re grateful at the outpouring of support for Linda and Eddie BenDavid at the recent fund-raiser at the PA Club. A lot of people from all over the Island showed their encouragement.
The Oak Bluffs library invites students ages 9 to 12 to the Wimpy Kid Book Club today from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. And tomorrow all ages are welcome to try Wii with friends and family from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
The library offers a computer literacy class on Tuesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. Learn the elements of the Internet, e-mail and how to search the Web with continuing education instructor Rich Hammond. Seating is limited; sign up at 508-693-9433.
Movie night (with popcorn!) at the library will be Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. The movie is the tale of a mother who smuggles illegal immigrants to help her family. Sounds intriguing.
Ongoing classes at Featherstone invite new students. Frank Folts Jr. teaches a popular wheelthrowing class in the pottery barn on Mondays in March from 7 to 9 p.m.; the cost is $115 or $30 per class. Ronn Speed offers his transcendental flute program on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. for $130.
The Oak Bluffs School thanks all who supported the second grade’s annual Island Food Pantry Drive, with over 950 items donated. Mrs. Gately’s Gardeners, mentored by Priscilla Sylvia, donated $100. Much appreciated.
Russell Shapiro won the spelling bee. Congratulations, Russ.
Town Profile
Carrie Tankard moved to the Island in 1967 from New Jersey. “We didn’t know any other place, and George’s Mom and siblings were here. We saw the riots as a sign we don’t need to be there. We saw changes in the neighborhood, [kids] getting into drugs and we wanted out. Our children were teenagers and we got out,” she recalls.
Carrie and George Tankard were married in 1955, and were together a full half century. George died nearly five years ago.
Carrie speaks proudly about her house in the Highlands. “We put it together. George was a painter and also did carpentry and plumbing. He did everything that needed to be done. This has been my home more than forty years,” she says.
The Tankards raised six children, three daughters followed by three sons. “For a long time, none of the children were on the Island; they were spread from Wareham to Kansas and North Carolina,” she smiles, adding: “They really wanted to get away. But it gave me places to visit.” Now three of her children live on Island. For over 30 years, Carrie worked as a dental assistant at Dr. Peter Strock’s office in Vineyard Haven. “It was a good job, I liked the patients and enjoyed the work. You see people from different parts of the world,” she says. She retired in 2000.
“When you’re retired, and don’t have to do as much, you don’t,” she says. Her words ring true for a lot of people. But Carrie has a solution. “I try to do one project each day. I choose a laundry day or a day to clean the bureau drawers. I do errands in a circle to save gas and time, from the post office to the market to the gas station,” she says. Carrie keeps her mind sharp doing cryptograms and crossword puzzles.
Her late husband painted houses. Carrie prepared an album of memorabilia on his life. “Shortly before he died,” she recalls, “he was invited out by a couple of friends. He always wanted to pay his own way, so I slipped him a ten-dollar bill. After he died I went through his clothes and found the bill. I put it in the album.”
Of her seven grandchildren, ranging in age from 3 to 27, Carrie sees the youngest the most. Nikeya lives right in Oak Bluffs and Carrie cares for her several times a week. Her granddaughter Mia is the first grandchild to get married; the wedding will take place in October.
How did she get involved with the African American Heritage Trail? “I did the black history for the NAACP. Elaine Weintraub was at the Oak Bluffs School and a mutual friend suggested we get together,” she recalls. The two women traveled to Nantucket to see their trail. “We realized we had visible areas we knew about for a similar trail. We started pioneering these places in 1989 and it became a real trail,” she says. Besides many responsibilities as mother and grandmother, Carrie serves as vice president of the NAACP and is a member of the League of Women Voters, where she conducts voter registration at the high school. She is a communicant at Good Shepherd Parish.
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We just finished John Grisham’s The Appeal. He’s a popular writer, but his books are based on the same formula, which gets old. Maybe it’s just me.
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