Busy Friday

From the first day I came here, I have been crazy about WMVY, the local radio station that plays a lively mix of new music from semi-obscure artists and favorites from R.E.M., Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac and Vineyard residents such as James Taylor and Carly Simon (I don't know that Joni Mitchell has ever lived here, but she also gets plenty of airplay). It reminded me of WIDR-FM, the "alternative music" station of Western Michigan University. I wanted to help out at WMVY, even if it was on a volunteer basis, because it seemed like the kind of organization that has really connected with the community; you hear the station playing in businesses and restaurants everywhere around the island and their bumper stickers (with a distinctive blue lobster emblem) are equally hard to miss.

So after meeting with program director PJ Finn last Wednesday, I was invited to drop in and put my talents to use -- not behind a microphone -- but in the office. I helped assemble packages to send out to donors in the station's recent fundraising campaign (some would receive mugs, others baseball caps and a couple wanted MVY tote bags) and worked on organizing material for a quarterly report. The station staff couldn't more helpful or likable, and it was a delightful morning.

Then I was off to the Playhouse to usher once again. I'm getting quite good at it, if I do say so myself, and I moved easily from organizing the concession counter to helping patrons and seating latecomers. "Fly" is in its final days, and the show is even sharper and more effective than it was when it opened (these are not the kind of actors who decide to kick back and put on the cruise control once the critics and their friends have seen the early performances). It is still doing sell-out business -- as I predicted it would -- and getting sensational word-of-mouth. The next production, "Walking the Volcano," is now in rehearsals.

Once the show was out, I walked over to Grace Church for the Friday afternoon lobster roll festivities. Business is booming there as well; according to their posted chart, last Friday they sold over 900 of their delicious mini-dinners. And why wouldn't they? To get a jumbo-sized sandwich, a bag of chips and a medium-sized drink for only $13 around here is a real bargain.

Now that I had my lobster roll, it was almost time to leave for the Island Community Chorus concert at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs. Anna Marie, one of the house managers at the Playhouse, is one of the altos in the chorus and had invited me to the concert. I was also looking forward to seeing the Tabernacle, which I had only glimpsed from a distance as I was driving through Oak Bluffs. It's an impressive structure built in 1879 that looks something like a gigantic, ornate gazebo with stained-glass windows and dozens of rows of bench seating: It sits in the middle of Trinity Park and it's open on all sides, which encourages passersby to drop in. As its name suggests, the Tabernacle was originally built to host "revival meetings" and religious services, but you don't have to be an evangelist or a faith healer to perform there anymore.

The chorus performed an assortment of selections, including a spiritual, some Broadway favorites and even "Stormy Weather," which director Peter Boak jokingly noted was inspired by the June conditions on the Vineyard.

Thankfully, storms were nowhere in the vicinity on this particular evening. In fact, there had been so much sun during the day on Friday that the aftermath of Thursday's torrential downpour was all but erased. Good riddance, I say!