We are saddened to receive word of the passing of Franny Barnard. Her obituary describes a full life and family tree with many new branches. I always enjoy hearing of the earliest years of a person’s life. Without knowing all of the details we can still gain a perspective on Franny’s youth by reviewing a few of the events of those days.

When was the last time we saw ice in the harbor? It might have been the winter that Norton Point breached. There hasn’t been any real ice since then. Last year Caleb’s Pond and Cape Pogue Bay were frozen over for awhile. When the ice broke up, it flushed away on a single tide. The opening seems to be keeping the harbor from freezing over.

With all of the major holidays behind us, we finally have a chance to catch our breath. I recommend naps for everyone. In my lines of work I never know when I will have to stay up all night. Both the ferry service and the fire department experience events that can cause me to miss my bedtime. I’m much happier and a whole lot smarter when I’m well rested.

What I like best about Thanksgiving week, other than sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, is that the radio stations start playing holiday music. You may think that I’m being sarcastic but I’m not. I’ve been listening to Christmas music all of my life and hearing it again transports me right back to my childhood. My favorites are the sentimental ones about getting back home for the holidays or having snow.

If you’ve been watching the British TV series, Call The Midwife, then you have an idea of what our own Judy Buss experienced during her training in the midwifery service. She bicycled between assignments in the same outfit worn by the actors including the hat, often in the company of her midwife mother.

The first potluck supper at the Chappy Community Center is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 19, hosted by new CCC board member Nancy Slate and Dennis Goldin. I’ve had the good fortune to taste Nancy’s cooking, so I’m certain that the appetizers will be out of this world. Gossip starts at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30. If you’ve already made plans with Lady Gaga, it’s okay to bring her along.

The Chappy Community Center held its annual meeting last Saturday, August 11, with a large group of subscribers in attendance. I heard a few things that I think the Chappy community should know. First, subscriptions to the CCC are down. This is a surprise, since the CCC provides so many activities and programs in the summer, as well as throughout the year. Second, numbers of kids taking sailing lessons are down, mostly because kids have “aged out.” Once they become 16, they get summer jobs and don’t have time for sailing.

There are three places where you can check up on the schedule of Chappy Community Center activities and events: their very thorough website, chappycommunitycenter.org, their gigantic chalk board on the outside wall of the CCC and the bulletin board at the ferry point. You would need a whole page of the Gazette to tell it all, but I’ll mention just a couple of events.

How much longer do you want to hang on to those containers of yucky stuff that have been taking up space in the cellar? Don’t forget the hazardous waste pickup at the Chappy Community Center tomorrow, Saturday, July 21. Volunteers will be there bright and early at 7 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. sharp to collect household chemicals, old oil paint and small quantities of bad gasoline and used motor oil (the recycling center charges $1 a gallon for the used motor oil). The idea is to keep these materials out of the regular waste stream and out of the ground water. Sorry, they can’t take tires or water-based paint. Pimpneymouse Farm is providing a pickup truck to haul the hazardous waste to the Edgartown collection site.