JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

April sailed in on a gloomy day with just enough bite to the wind to remind us that warm sunny days are still special and not to be expected. Some of us are too busy now to care as the rush of the coming season is upon us! The rush to get the gardens ready, the rentals clean and the lobster pots out are just a few of the chores that come to mind. I see cars in front of closed up businesses indicating that cleaning and re-stocking has begun. Some shops are aiming for an Easter Sunday opening and some, like Betsy Larsen, hope to be ready by the end of April. It has been a long winter and most are eager to be busy again.

I did spot a couple of sure signs of spring this week. The Coast Guard personnel are out running on D.H.’s hill mornings and Jeff Bezanson is down from Bridgewater to start prepping his properties in town.

Clark and Pam Goff are back at their Tea Lane home after a two-week visit to England where they enjoyed walking tours in Wiltshire and Dorset. They commented on the profusion of daffodils and lambs in the countryside.

The Chilmark Community Church will have Easter Sunday services on April 12 with the Rev. Dr. John Schule officiating. There will be the traditional egg hunt for children after the services.

The Chilmark library will celebrate National Poetry Month with a program of poetry reading by Chilmark poets, Peggy Freydberg and John Maloney, on Wednesday, April 8 at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome.

The Parent Teacher Organization of the Chilmark School will hold a planning meeting at the school on April 7 at 6 p.m.

The public meeting to discuss the cell phone antennas will be at the community center at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 6.

Town meeting will be April 27 at the community center at 7:30 p.m. The warrant is printed and available at the town hall.

One item you won’t find in this year’s town report is something called Support of Poor. I have been reading the town report for 1890 and find that $675.07 was spent to care for the poor in town. Those not able to support themselves were taken in by neighbors who were compensated by the town for food and clothes. There were five people cared for in town in 1890. That year it cost $680 to run three schools in town and the treasurer reported that there was $288.15 in the town’s treasury at the end of the fiscal year. Now, keep some of those numbers in mind when you go to town meeting this year! It is hard to believe it is the same town! Selectmen in 1890 were Russell Hancock, B. T. Hillman and F. B. Hammett.