Books & Ideas
Escape from Siberia
As America takes a long weekend to remember the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform, Islander Anita Hotchkiss and the Vineyard Haven library are offering Islanders an opportunity to learn more about the kind of atrocities that Allied forces fought and died to end.
In 1939, amid the political turmoil that eventually erupted into World War II, a treaty between the Soviets and Germany was signed dividing Poland in half.
The American Red Cross will hold an adult and child CPR/AED and first aid class on May 29 at the Farm Institute at 14 Aero avenue in Edgartown.
The CPR/AED class will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and costs $55. The first aid class follows and lasts until 4 p.m. and costs $65 for the full day of instruction and certification.
Theatre Classes
Island Theatre Workshop announces classes for children and adults starting Monday, June 1, at their new home on Music street in West Tisbury. For details, 508-693-2769.
“My dad has a barn,” chirped a wide-eyed, hyperactive Mickey Rooney. “And my mom can sew the costumes,” the pigtailed, pinafore-bedecked Judy Garland replied. And off they went, hand in hand, singing and dancing their way across the barnyard.
Well, it was something like that and they didn’t even live on the Vineyard where the performing arts culture has grown and grown. No more drafty barns here and mom can now sit in the audience and not have to sew costumes.
Mr. Brigish’s Journey to the East
In 2008, South African-born documentary photographer and West Tisbury resident Alan Brigish set out on a journey that would become Breathing in the Buddha, a recently-published book that serves as an image-driven chronicle of everyday Buddhist life across Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Laos. This Saturday, May 29, Mr. Brigish will share some of the experiences he had along the way, illustrated with photographs and video clips, at the West Tisbury library at 4 p.m. The talk is free.
HUNDRED-DAY HAUL: 27,000 Miles in 100 Days. By Chris Huff. Vitallight Press. 285 pages. Soft cover, $19.90.
M aybe you know Chris Huff because back in the 90s he mowed your lawn. Or because in that same party-hardy epoch, you and he knocked back some serious drinks at the Lamppost, the Rare Duck and the Ritz. Or you joined the throngs who donated, over the brand new World Wide Web, cash to fund the guy’s road trip throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states, this madcap laying of rubber to take place in the last hundred days of 1999.