Arts & Entertainment
The Ceilidh on Vineyard Avenue
In Scottish, it’s called a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), which literally translates as a visit or gathering where friends and family share songs, stories and dance.
When the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals closed the doors of the Katharine M. Foote memorial shelter in Edgartown in May, the Island was introduced to a new but financially pinched place for homeless critters. Home to two dogs, two kittens and five cats, the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard feeds off limited funds from the county and towns.
Victor Hugo once said, “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”
For 30 years Martha’s Vineyard Community Services has quite literally been counting on dreams to ensure the future of the Island residents who depend on the care it provides.
Since 1979, the Possible Dreams Auction has been one of the most successful fund-raising events held on the Island, offering bidders the chance to score a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and to help the core of the Island community at the same time.
IN SEARCH OF OUR ROOTS: How 19 Extraordinary Americans Reclaimed Their Past. By Henry Louis Gates Jr. Crown. January, 2009. 424 pages. $27.50.
The fifth annual African American Cultural Festival sponsored by The Cottagers, Inc. of Martha’s Vineyard will be held on Friday, July 31, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Hartford Park in Oak Bluffs. It is free and open to all.
The festival will feature Cottager history and Vineyard family stories, an African American marketplace, mini talks on history and culture, activities for children, nonprofit services booths, belly dancing and decoupage workshops, and food by Chef Deon.
The Vineyard recently received an honored guest and a living historical figure to its shores. On Wednesday, the Honorable Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue, Haiti’s minister of women’s affairs and rights since 2006, came to serve as guest of honor at a weekend-long celebration of solidarity between the island of Hispaniola and Martha’s Vineyard, sponsored by the Vineyard organizations Peacequilts and MV Fish Farm for Haiti.
