Welcome Willa

Cooper, Connor, Maggie, Hanni, Cully and Katie would like to announce the birth of their sister, Willa Beth Johnson, who was born on Dec. 3, 2009 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Willa weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces at birth. Her parents are Beth and John Johnson of Tisbury. Her grandparents are Marion Mudge of Tisbury and Dale and Jen McClure of Oak Bluffs.

Holiday shoppers can support the Vineyard’s nature sanctuary and find gifts honoring the beauty of nature through fine arts and crafts at Felix Neck’s shop, which will represent selected Island artists and artisans year-round.

Featured are paintings by Vasha Brunelle, Rose Abrahamson, Elizabeth Lockhart Taft, Susan Silva, and Chilmark painters Wendy Weldon, Linda Thompson and Marianne Neill.

College credit (without leaving the Island) is on the course schedule for the winter session of the Adult and Community Education program (ACE MV), as well as its popular enrichment and training classes on a wide range of subjects.

There are seven courses for graduate and undergraduate credit from Northeastern University, and another credit course is pending through Cape Cod Community College. There has to be a minimum enrollment of 10 students for these courses, so early signups are needed for a course to run.

New Writers’ Group

The Bunch of Grapes Writers’ Group with Cynthia Riggs meets every Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. to noon, upstairs in the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore. New and seasoned writers are welcome, laughter required. For details, e-mail [email protected].

Nursery Decks the Halls

The Oak Bluffs Association has announced that Crossland Nursery is this year’s winner for best business decorations in Oak Bluffs. An award of free membership is given annually to the business which does the best job with holiday decorations.

Crossland Nursery, owned by Mark Crossland, has donated his time and talented crew in an effort to transform Ocean Park, the harbor and Sunset Lake into a magical holiday landscape.

On the last Sunday in Advent, Dec. 20, the United Methodist Church of Martha’s Vineyard will present this year’s Christmas Pageant, written by E. St. John Villard, during the 10 a.m. sermon time at Trinity Worship Center, across from the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.