Blog

It's the first Annual MV Mini Maker Faire this weekend - Saturday, May 7, 2016 from 10am to 4pm at the Ag Hall in West Tisbury.

If you know Chilmark, you will be familiar with the Chilmark Tavern, not a “tavern” per see, but a summer dining hot spot next to the Chilmark Store, tucked in the corner by Tea Lane Associates Chilmark office.

Over a week later and there's still a "16th Annual Martha's Vineyard Film Festival buzz" about town! I keep bumping into people that were there and we are still exchanging experiences, asking questions, and discussing the impact each of the movies we saw had on us!

The 16th annual Martha's Vineyard Film Festival is this coming weekend - March 17th – 20th 2016 and is one of the highlights of the Vineyard’s Spring social calendar. The festival attracts movie buffs from far and wide and guarantees a weekend of entertaining movies, though provoking conversation and great food. Tea Lane Associates have been sponsors of the festival for many years and are proud to sponsor the screening of the 2015 and 2016 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winners for U.S. Documentary, “The Wolfpack” this year. A gripping film that follows a resilient gang of brothers locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Last week was a quiet one on the Vineyard. Winter school break, which happens a week later than the rest of the Massachusetts, meant teachers and islanders with school aged kiddies either headed north for snowy white mountain slopes or south for sandy white beaches.

Given any usual wintry Saturday night on Martha’s Vineyard and you might be inclined to think most islanders would be cozied up in front of a roaring fire with a good book or a movie. But around once a month you will find a good many winter residents of all ages at the Chilmark Community Center, which is transformed into a coffee house style music venue by Alex Karalekas and his team of volunteers. 

Chilmark students kicked off their Holiday Break with a round of carolling at Beetlebung Corner. Their first visit was to the amazingly vibrant 100-yr-old Rena Fischer at Beetlebung Farm (see photo). The rest of the tour included Chilmark Town Hall, the Larsen's home across the street, the Chilmark Post Office and the Chilmark Library. Making their way through all of the classic Christmas songs, it turned out that Jingle Bell Rock and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer were the singers' favorites. It was a treat to hear the childrens' voices ringing through a quiet and warm winter afternoon in Chilmark. Merry Christmas to all!

The Island Community Chorus performed Saturday and Sunday April 11th and 12th at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown. Sunday afternoon the audience was enthusiastic and so were the ninety-something members of the choir. They seemed eager to perform and perhaps more confident given that they performed the previous evening. The setting was light, open and intimate offering a nice opportunity to admire again, Margo Datz’ trompe l’oeil work (she completed the mural in 2013) and to appreciate the rich quality of sound.

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn played at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Art Center Wednesday April 15th to a full and extremely enthusiastic audience.  For those who do not know this married musical duo, Bela is a gifted banjo player who composes and performs with great musicians from all over the world in a vast range of genres. He has been nominated for 30 Grammy awards and has won 15; Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, his band from the late 80’s, combined blue grass, jazz and rock- he’s a “musician’s musician” and it’s clear that Bela’s mind never stops…

Another winter ritual on Island is having dinner at the Newes Friday evenings with Mike Benjamin.  Formally called The Newes from America Pub at the Kelly House, this Edgartown pub and restaurant is popular for all the right reasons.  The building is one of the oldest on the Vineyard, built in 1742, and its exposed bricks, warm hearth and colonial character beckon people right in.