Art
Deadline Looms for
Island Health Insurance
Saturday, Dec. 15 is the last day that Islanders can sign up for health insurance with Vineyard Health Care Access Program and get accepted by Jan. 1.
Massachusetts residents will lose their personal deduction on their state income tax if they cannot prove they have health insurance by that date.
The program, which began in 1999, helps Islanders who need access to affordable plans and related health-care resources. More information is available by calling 508-696-0020.
Dukes County has received a grant for $55,000 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to conduct outreach and enrollment services for the state’s affordable insurance programs.
The programs are MassHealth and Commonwealth Care and, for people with higher incomes, Commonwealth Choice.
Lifeguard training again is being offered at the Mansion House Health Club in Vineyard Haven.
Mansion House is pleased to donate pool time and classroom space to support the training as certified by the Martha’s Vineyard Red Cross.
This course is designed to provide competent swimmers with the knowledge and certification necessary to become a lifeguard. Many of the Island towns’ lifeguards were trained in the Mansion House pool.
Storyteller par excellence Susan Klein captured the imagination of more than 40 people Saturday night at the Unitarian-Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard on Main street in Vineyard Haven, with her program entitled Silent Night, An Evening of Christmas Stories.
The raconteuse from Oak Bluffs opened with a sound check: “We’re recording all live performances from here on — just because.” Because, Ms. Klein explained, when she was old and gray she wanted to sit back and listen to us laugh again.
Again and again, it seems, Christmas brings us face to face with the same old question. Where does a rabidly materialistic society like our own get off celebrating the man who taught poverty by reveling in a superfluity of consumer goods? Perhaps they didn’t juggle exactly the same paradox, but the monks of 12th century England labored over the same vexing question of how best to reconcile Christian piety with the pull of earthly delights.
The Chilmark Library will hold a big used books sale, just in time for holiday shopping. Great bargains — hardcovers, books on tape and videos are $1, paperbacks are 25 cents, from Dec. 15 to 19. Everything goes half price Dec. 20 to 24 and then it’s free Dec. 26 to 31. Open during normal library hours, as follows:
Saturday, Dec.15, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 17, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec 18, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.