Nancy Gardella

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

I am very proud of my nephew, David Gardella. David is the athletic director at the Brooklyn Friends School, coaches basketball at Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y. in summers for disadvantaged children, and is a statistician (read scorekeeper) for the Knicks games at Madison Square Garden. However, over the past several years David has come in for much teasing at our family reunions due to the Knicks’ generally poor performance. David has now been vindicated by Jeremy Lin. I can’t wait for the next family reunion when David comes back at us.

Nothing bothers me more than seeing so many storefronts closed in our town in summer and especially in winter. Great as the few dining establishments are, it always seems we could use a more varied choice. The choice has come! My friend Seth Gambino, expert chef and businessman, is opening a burrito place right on the corner of Main, just before Brickman’s. The grand opening will be on Feb. 29. Burritos in town? I love it. I’ll see you there.

Here’s a shout out to Neil Brooks, now of West Tisbury, but grew up playing baseball in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. Neil is retired from the Air Force. I ran into him getting coffee at Cumby’s last week. He is a faithful reader of this newspaper and column.

Next week is winter vacation for the school kids and staff. The Mansion House is running many specials for those who can’t get off-Island, including a $12 walk-in fee for use of the pool, health club, and free classes.

On Wednesday, March 7 and Wednesday, March 28, both at 6 p.m., we will be developing long-range plans for the library. We need your input. I’ll see you there. The library is also offering a free talk on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the program room. Susan Strane, author of A Whole-Souled Woman: Prudence Crandall and the Education of Black Women, will speak on her book.

Since February is heart awareness month the gang at Vineyard Scripts is offering free blood pressure checks.

Martha’s Vineyard Film Society presents Michael Moore, head of the Marine Mammal Studies at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, for a Q & A after the movie Whale, tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theater. I’ll see you there.

Sad news has reached me from Florida. Nancy Bradford Whiting, a daughter of Eileen Whiting and the late Raymond Whiting of Tisbury, died at her home in Montpelier, Vt. on Feb. 3. She is survived by her mother and her sister, Maureen, both now of Hudson, Fla. She has been interred at the West Chop Holmes Hole cemetery. There will be a summer service in her memory and I shall let you know the date. Nancy was a kind and gentle person, an artist, a teacher, a lover of dogs. She had an irrepressible sense of humor. She will be greatly missed.

I have no birthdays for today’s date — call me! — so I’ll begin with Rosie Piccione tomorrow. Feb. 26 is claimed by Natalia Oliveira. Feb. 27 is a party for Rafaela DeOliveira, Steve Bradley and Ryann Gold. Finally, Leap Year babies can celebrate on their real date, Feb. 29: Sam Alley and Fella Cecilio. And on March 1 Nichole Daly and Maura Dickson take the cake. Many happy returns.