To say goodbye to 2022, there will be the traditional hooting and hollering at the few bars still open this time of year. At the Ritz in Oak Bluffs, Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish get things started at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31, followed by DJ Ricky Prime at 10 p.m. until closing.
The Portuguese American Club features live music by Serendipity, with Pat Law, plus hors d’ouevres and champagne, all beginning at 9 p.m.
The Loft has DJ Smooth B, starting at 10 p.m. to keep the revelry going.
And that is the bar roundup for ringing in the new year, here on quiet Island. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ample other ways to celebrate.
At the Film Center in Vineyard Haven, there will be champagne bubbly with a screening of Love Actually on Dec. 31, with live music provided by John Hannon. The show and treats are free, a nice gift to start the year. The event begins at 4 p.m.
On Jan. 1, the traditional day of resolutions and regrets, what better way to restore some vim and vigor than with a polar plunge. Inkwell Beach and Lambert’s Cove Beach are popular destinations for frigid ocean dives.
The Christmas Bird Count also takes place on Jan. 1 this year, a perfect opportunity to lose yourself in the wonder of birds. Each year teams of birders (experienced and newcomers) fan out across the Island to calculate the population of birds on the Island, part of a worldwide mobilization that includes over 72,000 volunteer bird counters in more than 2,400 locations across the Western Hemisphere. The event begins at about daybreak but can accommodate the late sleepers as well. Email Luanne Johnson at LuanneJ@biodiversityworksmv.org for more information and how to participate.
There is also a free skate at the Vineyard Ice Arena, an open house at Island Alpaca and something called Tell it to the Horse at Native Earth Teaching Farm. It’s a Welsh tradition, evidently, to read poetry to a horse on New Year’s Day. The suggestion is to bring a short poem, perhaps a Haiku. Horses have short attention spans, it seems. The event is from 1 to 4 p.m., so stop by anytime during that period.
A walk in the woods will do fine too, when grappling with the reflective nature that a new year brings with it. Deer hunting season ends on Dec. 31 so the woods are as per usual “lovely, dark and deep” — but no longer dangerous beginning Jan. 1.
Happy 2023.
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