[Studio MV] Children Blast Off To Worlds Unknown [MV]

Sitka Creations is happy to share another blog from it’s Arts + Culture blogger Anna Marie. Anna Marie lives on Martha’s Vineyard and is a featured blogger for Sitka Creations. Enjoy! Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Summer Reading

Children Blast Off To Worlds Unknown

By Anna Marie D’Addarie

How many books does it take to get to Venus? Just ask one of the children signed up for the Summer Reading Program at the Oak Bluffs Public Library. He or she will gladly tell you it takes exactly one hour of reading to reach Venus.

More than 100 children have jumped on the “Starship Adventure” at the Oak Bluffs library, joining the thousands of other children across Massachusetts to be part of the annual Summer Reading Program. Families who summer on the Vineyard take advantage of this great program, packing their children’s school reading lists along with the sunscreen. One young girl eagerly signed up with two very tired looking parents in tow. Her mother said, “She insists we stop at the library as soon as we get off the ferry. We haven’t even been to the house yet.” Sounds a bit unbelievable but similar stories can be told by librarians state-wide as children line up to read books all summer long. Not to be outdone by summer people, Island children can’t wait to join the ranks of readers and usually win the top prizes, such as having your own shelf at the library. Last year’s winner filled her shelf with her favorite books and decorated it with pictures too.

This year’s theme of interplanetary travel has lured in young readers and given Children’s Librarian, Jessica Bower, a chance to decorate the Children’s Room with fun, space-y items. A large, round Mylar spaceship sit atop one of the reading tables, its portholes are cut out and the “astronauts” are stuffed animals. Ms. Bower’s original idea was to have children use the tent-like spaceship to sit in and read, but after putting it together she didn’t feel it was big enough so she filled it with stuffed animals. The children love to play with it. Above the circulation desk in the bright Children’s Room hangs a mobile of all the planets in our solar system. Library Aide Allison Brown put it together from a kit. There are many other out-of-this-world decorations but the real stars are the books.

For those of you who think the Harry Potter series is unique you probably don’t have children. Any child with a library card can rattle off authors and book titles from their favorite series’ such as Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” or “Warriors” by Erin Hunter, the “Twilight” saga by Stephanie Meyer, or “The Vampire Diaries” by L.J. Smith. Harry Potter may be the bestselling children’s series, but he certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on the hearts and minds of young readers.

So, how do you get to Mars, Mercury, or the farthest planet, Neptune? You read and read and read. The Summer Reading Program is simple. For every hour you read you get closer to a planet (Venus is the first destination). The more hours you read, the more planets you visit, the more prizes you win. The program goes from July 1 through August 30 and is open to children of all ages, even the very young. Pre-readers can participate by being read to by a parent, guardian, or sibling. Children track their hours on a book list and parents place their initials next to the total. When the children come to the library they add their hours to a card that is kept at the circulation desk. The library staff encourages the children, discusses the books with them, and recommends other titles.

This summer Ms. Bower has enlisted the aid of the Black Dog Kids (the children’s line of the popular Black Dog company). If the Oak Bluffs summer readers read 800 hours collectively Black Dog Kids will adopt a polar bear through the World Wildlife Fund. As our planet changes, the polar bears struggle to survive. Our children can make a difference by opening a book, or many books, this summer. I have no doubt they will reach this target.

Many other Oak Bluffs businesses have generously donated prizes. These businesses are: Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium, The Corner Store, Flying Horses Carousel, Glimpse of Tibet, Giordano’s Family Restaurant, Good Ship Lollipop Candy Store, Hair by Dana, Mary’s Linen Store, Reliable Market, Rose Bud Balloons, and Dinghy Dogs. I feel it is important to recognize all these businesses who stepped up in these difficult and uncertain times, many of them are small, family-owned stores. The free ice cream cones, hot dogs, and balloons are symbols of neighborhood generosity and what makes the Vineyard such a special place to live.

Think about these young summer readers when you are picking up your light, beach read or revisiting “The Great Gatsby.” The love of reading starts early but it’s never too late to soar to places far away. They are as close as your local library.

For more information on the Oak Bluffs Public Library visit: www.oakbluffslibrary.org

[Studio MV] Meet SITKA’S International Art + Culture Bloggers!

Anna Marie D’Addarie
Martha’s Vineyard, MA

Anna Marie

“Living on the island isn’t for everyone. Thank God,” says Anna Marie D’Addarie. She washed ashore on Martha’s Vineyard 10 years ago with her husband, Don. A recent widow, a situation she does not recommend to anyone, Anna Marie is a free-lance writer who also works full-time for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. Anna Marie volunteers in the community when she’s not working one of her many part-time jobs such as knitting instructor at Island Alpaca Co., House Manager at the Vineyard Playhouse, and Library Aide at the Oak Bluffs Public Library. Anna Marie considers her family and friends to be the greatest blessings in her life.

Lidija Butković
Belgrade, SERBIA

Lidija Butković

Lidija Butković is natural-born cosmopolite and incorrigible philanthropist; a (not) meant to be journalist and convinced polyglot. Addicted to chocolate and books. She adores good advertisements and ice-skating. Never misses the Belgrade Book Fair. Her favorite part of a day is the morning with a cup of Earl Grey. Lidija’s unfulfilled wish is to see the ocean. (We’ll get her to MV one of these days!) In her spare time she lives her life; when she grows up she wants to be a child!

Tirzah De Franco
ECUADOR

Tirzah Russell

Tirzah De Franco is a Tennessee native who stumbled upon a new life in Ecuador. She has spent over a decade working in Ecuador and just might stay. When she is not teaching English she loves doing community work, spending time with the locals, and savoring their food, especially anything with peanut sauce in it. Her favorite place to be is out in the tropical mountains, rivers, or beaches.

Kelly Kidson
Vientiane, LAOS

Kelly Kidson

(Painting Credit: “Sid” by Sitka’s Owner, T.R.)

Along with editing blogs, Kelly is the Web Marketing Manager for Sitka Creations and part of it’s team of Web Designers. She welcomes your ideas or requests: kelly@sitkacreations.com or twitter @kellykidson

Kelly is originally from the Adirondacks of New York, spent over a decade in Rhode Island, was inspired by her travels in Eastern Europe (with Sitka’s owner) and later, Southeast Asia. An always-thinking-business-DIY-geek; she blends her previous corporate design and marketing experience with her various (rather un-related) grassroots start-up venture experiences. When not working on SITKA projects, her spare time is spent studying the Lao language, dabbling in freelance writing, exploring Laos via her scooter and camera lens. She has a preference for strong Turkish coffee and Pentel Needle Tip pens; in a world without money she would gladly work for either.

ARIV
Martha’s Vineyard, MA

ARIV

Alfred Rivera is an ever-so-close to nearing middle aged upstart and a career dishwasher bent on recycling pre-existing gentrified personalities, and strange things that he has heard on a bus into a pseudo-fabulous 155 pound mammalian box-set of yellowing teeth, speed-dialed wrong answers with tectonic slabs of over-confidence. ARIV can sometimes be found playing (music) in cafe’s and clubs on Martha’s Vineyard. We’ll keep you posted!

Are you an artist or organization with an upcoming event that you would like reviewed?
Please contact us about the possibility of it being included on our blog!
Email: info@sitkacreations or Twitter @sitkacreations

[Studio MV] High Flying On Martha’s Vineyard

High Flying
By Anna Marie D’Addarie

“History is the river we stand in,” Chet (Charlie Hudson, III) tells the audience at the beginning of “Fly,” the first play of the summer season at the Vineyard Playhouse. This play is all about history: not Black History or white-washed American History, but all our histories: each one of us who calls him or herself and American can lay claim to part of the story. Some of us may not like what we see.

“Fly” tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II from flight training to success in the sky for the all-black air corp.

The play is framed with the Inauguration of President Obama where the Tuskegee Airmen were honored guests. Director, and co-playwright, Ricardo Khan has his cast of seven men tell the story with an in-your-face style that leaves no doubt these men will succeed and will not be broken by the racism all around them. On the first day of flight training, Capt. O’Hurley (Joe Forbrich) brags to the new trainees that he washed out 69% of the previous class. He has high hopes that he can break that record with the group he sees standing in front of him.

How these men get through the training is a testament to their sheer willpower. At almost every turn they are told they will not succeed: they are not smart enough; they do not poses the physical skills; they will turn and run in the face of danger; they are not patriotic enough to fight for their country. We in the audience know none of this is true. We sit comfortably in our seats in 2009. A black man is our president. But how many of us would have had the courage these aviators had to fight bravely for a country that didn’t even recognize them as men? Where does such courage come from? “Fly” tries to answer that question.

Tuskegee, Alabama
For those of us born after World War II, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen may be just a footnote. If nothing else, I hope this article inspires you to learn more about them. I had the pleasure of meeting James W. McLaurin, a DOTA, a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman. Mr. McLaurin is a big man who has a bright smile, a large hand that engulfs yours when he shakes it, and kind eyes with a twinkle in them. His voice is deep but not loud. He lives on Martha’s Vineyard part of the year and “Fly” has brought him into the spotlight. Mr. McLaurin met with the cast during rehearsals and provided valuable information but more importantly, inspiration. You can’t help but feel a deep admiration for him. At the opening night party on June 21, Mr. McLaurin spoke of those days in Tuskegee. He was 21 years old but had his pilot’s license for 5 years already. He said, “We all just wanted to fly.”

Telling the Story
The cast is very aware of their responsibility in telling this story. This isn’t just another play to add to their already impressive resumes. One night after a preview show, the tired cast stayed behind to talk to a Navy fighter pilot, a man in his 90s, now in a wheel chair who had just seen the show. The veteran congratulated the cast and one of them responded, “No. We thank you for your service.” It was a touching moment, one of many moments this play inspires.

“Fly” moves smoothly between memory and stark reality with the help of Ted Louis Levy who enhances the plot with his tap dancing, sometimes a sound effect, other times Greek chorus, always wonderful. Choreographer Hope Clarke elevates simple cadence to high art through Mr. Levy. The cast picks up the beat and soon everyone is flying including the audience.

The set is almost bare. A large projection screen fills the up-stage wall. Green military trunks and five stainless steel chairs are in a V formation on stage. The chairs become the fighter planes and the actors tip them back and forth precariously, keeping the audience on edge as we fear for them. Good staging by director Khan.

The sound effects, by Jim Novack, are perfect. Just the right amount of jarring gunfire and engine noise that seems to rise up from far away, inching closer, taking the audience into the action.

The cast, excellent all, are: Ted Louis Levy, the Tap Griot; Charlie Hudson, III, Chet; Robert Kama Robinson, W.W.; Samuel T. Gaines, Oscar; Mark Hairston, J. Allen; Joe Forbrich, Capt. O’Hurley; Walker Lewis, Col. Snopes. The play was written by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan.

“Fly” was commissioned by the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education and the Vineyard Playhouse production is billed as a “work-in-progress.”

Speaking at the opening night party to the assembled audience, cast, and crew, Mr. McLaurin said he has seen many (if not all) of the videos, documentaries, and films about the Tuskegee Airmen, but this play was the first time he cried. Nothing more needs to be said.

For history, photographs, and additional information about the Tuskegee Airman visit:
www.tuskegeeairmen.org

The Vineyard Playhouse is a community based professional theater operating year round.

For more information visit: www.vineyardplayhouse.org