What would Christmas be without the annual hospice concert? If we are lucky, we never will have to find out.

Once again Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Oak Bluffs was decked out profusely in candles and greens, setting the stage for a varied and moving concert on Dec. 19.

Judy Williamson and Terre Young offered brief introductions on the importance of hospice, which offers a support system to people at the end of life when they and their loved ones need it most.

M enemsha was all hunkered down

’Twas quiet like all Chilmark town

In winter when it’s cold — and snow

Is falling as all folk do know

And Dutcher Dock is still — except

For Scott McDowell who’s so deft

At making copper fish to sell

For he must pound and tap as well

To make his fish come out just right.

His cod and sole are quite a sight.

Few boats are tied up at the dock

And so it came as quite a shock

To Santa Claus to see bright lights

Vineyard home cook Charlie Cameron enjoys a laissez-faire approach to cooking. He grew up with parents who went to France on their honeymoon in the 1950s, and stayed for two years. They were “serious foodies,” he explained, who passed their love for cooking on to him. While at Vassar College in the 80s, Mr. Cameron dropped out for a year and a half, because he just wanted to cook for a while.

“I’d heard about this place on Martha’s Vineyard called The Black Dog, where they’d train you to cook,” he said.

Shel Silverstein was an iconoclast but he was disciplined, particularly about his work, which always came first. He developed some interesting rules for living his life:

“Comfortable shoes and the freedom to leave are the two most important things in life.”

“To me, freedom entitles you to do something, not to not do something.”

“I’m not content when I’m traveling but I’m not content when I’m not traveling. So I guess I’ll keep traveling.”

Shel Silverstein was not an easy man, but he was a passionate and spectacular man and artist.