Archive for June 10th, 2007
Friends in Need
Two of our friends need our help.
First, John Billings is dealing with the effects of cancer with chemo and radiation treatments, and needs reconstructive surgery in a Cleveland clinic. He’s been living with his daughter in Florida, taking care of her two children, but has not been able to work for some time now. John does have partial health insurance, but it doesn’t cover everything, and it doesn’t cover housing in, nor transportation to and from Cleveland.
Friends will be gathering on Wednesday, June 20th, between 5:00 - 9:00 pm at Jetties Beach Restaurant for great food and a cash bar, a live auction with auctioneer Billy Santos, and music by Sheppard’s Pie. Tickets will be $25 at the door, or in advance at Even Keel Cafe and the Rose & Crown.
Save the date and plan to attend. More details later on that, but for now, we’re asking for you to donate auction items. It could be your house in St. Barth’s, flight time on your airplane, your artwork, a shopping spree, your chef abilities for a dozen people or so, meals in your restaurant. Be imaginative. Contact Jenny Garneau at 508-325-0048, or ackess@nantucket.net.
Rachel Parrotto Budzynski is a young mother, daughter Isabella, who has led an active and healthy lifestyle, and was a practicing acupuncturist here on Nantucket. Rachel is in the biggest fight of her life. She was diagnosed in January with a rare form of cancer: high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoid. Her prognosis is highly uncertain and she may require some form of chemotherapy every year for the rest of her life. Rachel has had to go on medical leave due to her illness. As a result, her income has been eliminated and with that the Budzynski family needs our help.
Rachel’s friends and family have come together for “Raise It Up For Rachel!” at the Rose & Crown on Sunday, June 24th, from 6:00 - 10:00 pm. The money raised will supplement living expenses, transportation to and from Dana Farber Cancer Institute, lodging in Boston during chemo treatments, daycare expenses for Isabella, and the option for additional treatment and rehabilitation.
Tickets are $25 - $50 per person (sliding scale). There will be a silent and live auction, as well as raffle(s) and mystery prizes in balloons for purchase at $20, $50 and $100. Debba at the R&C will be the auctioneer. DJ music, cash bar, and food.
For tickets, information, and donations, send an email to “raiseitupforrachel@hotmail.com.” Volunteers will be checking in to answer any questions. Or call Mindy Levin at 325-4777, Laura Wasserman at 325-0562, or Virna Gonzalez at 917-494-0187.
That same day, mentalist and hypnotist Paul Carpenter will perform at Bennett Hall in a benefit for Rachel. I’ll announce the exact times and ticket prices here as soon as I know.
Add comment June 10, 2007
Readers Write
I often get emails from friends and subscribers who appreciate the newsletter, and others who are just checking in from off island - sometimes far off island. Here are some of the most recent.
From Karen Szahun:
Still love being kept in the loop with your newsletter - thanks! So, after a winter of moving around, I have finally settled down here in New Orleans. I LOVE it!! I’ve been down here for a few months & am having a blast! Funny thing…driving over the street car tracks a few weeks ago I stopped for a man on a bike to go across, he stopped for me, we exchanged a look of confused recognition & then moved on. Later on that same day I was going out of my front door and that same man was stopped in front of my house on his bicycle. I said…is your name Barry??…from Nantucket?? He smiled & said “You’re in the band!!!”. We both laughed. It was Barry Donovan - a contractor out on Nantucket. It was surprising & wonderful to see a familiar face on the street down here! Anyway, still playing music (got to play with Charmaine Neville a few weeks ago!), teaching music at a summer camp for 2 to 12 year olds, and am in the process of starting up a sports-based youth program in the city. Exciting times down here!
From Kerry Flynn:
Best wishes on two years of great writing. Mahon About Town is the must-have go-to to know what’s going on on island and afar. I love your missives from home while away on the other side of the world. I am currently in Vietnam for two months as a volunteer caregiver and English teacher at assorted orphanages around Da Nang, and love reading all about what’s going on at home. My weekdays are spent in Da Nang working at several orphanages around the city.
Besides my hearty congratulations to you on your landmark anniversary, I wondered whether you might entertain a little PR work for me on behalf of my mission here. I haven’t been in Da Nang quite long enough to know what I might do to help the people here, but I was thinking that a little column in Mahon About Town might be a good introduction to islanders and summer visitors who subscribe so that more people might be familiar with what I was doing before I hit them up for money or donations or whatever for the lovely people here.
Anyway, here’s the website that describes the work I’m doing. It’s just wonderful here, and the children are just amazing. I will definitely make this organization a part of my life for years to come. The children need so much, and westerners could really offer so much without even breaking a sweat.
And here’s the website I set up t chronicle my time here.
From Greg Bourbeau:
Thank you very much for your help getting the word out about Arm Chair last night. 50 people showed up at Beverly’s house and the evening was a great success.
From Susan Fernald:
Mahon about Town is an incredible service/pleasure/resource! It is great for folks on-island, but really really important for Nantucket ex-pats (or should we call them ‘ex-acks’?). You have near instantaneous response time, an ear-to-the-ground for getting the word out on impromptu events and, on a sadder note, for sudden losses.
From Kim Cooper:
Moved out to Sonoma recently and if I didn’t have your Newsletter, I don’t think I’d remain grounded..even if I couldn’t party with the dolls til lingerie, i can share their fun thru your pix..thanks
From Wesley Morris:
CONGRATULATIONS and best wishes for your continued success on this, your anniversary of the newsletter! Martha and I hope to see you “about Town”, doing your thing, for the next fifty or so years at least !!! And if I ever do actually bring my law practice to Nantucket, whether in “semi-retirement” or full-time, yours will be the first door I knock upon for advertising and advice.
Add comment June 10, 2007
Jetties Restaurant Soft Opening
Last night (Wednesday, June 6), a grinning Marshall Thompson held a soft opening at his new Jetties Restaurant. Soft doesn’t mean small though, and the party ranked with one of the best of the year thus far - that eclectic Nantucket mix of 20 somethings to 60 somethings, with new friendships spawned throughout. The kitchen sent out samples of the menu - though I got there too late, I heard good things. The party started when the sun broke through, and ended abruptly on northwest gusts that suddenly blew up.
The Film Festival advance team was there, with Jill and Mystelle talking about having moved the NBC Tribute and Late Night Storytelling to the Jetties so more of us could attend. Ande Grennan never strayed too far from the bar - the newly installed outdoor bar is actually Ande’s Westender bar, and he may have been having detachment issues.
The grinning Spencer sisters seemed to be everywhere at once, Hannah here just for awhile as a volunteer coordinator for the Film Fest. Richard Sylvester is back in town for the summer looking to put some jazz together. Cisco Surf reporter Christian was there with wife Nicole and child. Doug Bennett didn’t appear to be campaigning for anything, though he was dressed in a tieless suit. The N crew shot some photos, then schmoozed, and Scott Capizzo recorded it all on video for Geno TV.
Please forward the newsletter to anyone you know who was at the party by clicking on “Forward” at the end of the newsletter.
For more photos, go to the Mahon About Town Photo Pages.
Add comment June 10, 2007
