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MADAKET SPEAKS

The following letter was originally sent to West End Restaurant and Market owner Ande Grennan and is reprinted here at the author’s request.

Dear Andrew:

I was surprised and chagrined to read in the 12/6 Independent that you favor expansion of the West End Market. The Madaket Area Plan, approved by NP & EDC, makes clear that further commercial development does not fit with its vision.

That a liquor store is a necessary part of expansion of the market is particularly reprehensible. That the store would include a redemption center where kids could exchange beer cans for penny candy does not make it for me.

Attempts to equate the plan for Madaket to what works well in ’Sconset are not justifiable. ’Sconset is town; Madaket is country. Our histories are very different.

If the planning department would like to make the two communities more similar, consider moving the ’Sconset Market and the package store to Gully Road on the way to the beach.

Not having to drive to town to buy alcohol would not likely cut down on many trips from Madaket. We would still have the Post Office, banks, the library, pharmacies, the Stop and Shop, and a desire to be part of the Nantucket community drawing us to town.

We were told by the Planning Board chairman that body would like input from our area as a master plan for the island is developed. We have given it. Are we now to be ignored?

Yours truly,

— Sylvie O’Donnell TRUE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

To the editor:

On Stroll Saturday, the Methodist Church was busy helping visitors keep warm, giving directions to lost souls and shelter to those in need. Many thanks to Marjorie Strunk, who organized our tables on the lawn, and to the church ladies who baked. More thanks to Phyllis Smith and Zona Butler (and family) who decorated our tree and placed the manger scene around it. It was a joyful day! While we were busy giving to others, we had a surprise gift given to us. One of our summer visitors donated a large number of Red Tickets to the church. All she asked is that we tell her if we won. What a wonderful gift in the spirit of Christmas!

One of Chris Widener’s “Seven Keys for Joyful Living” states, “It brings happiness to accumulate. It brings joy to give away. . . . Giving something away to the less fortunate will bring you deep, abiding joy.”

We celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, on December 25th. May you all feel His blessing in this wonderful season. Last Advent, our small congregation gave with their hearts to World Vision, providing an operation for a child with a cleft palate, and restored the eyesight of the another child. What a joyful feeling it is to know that we could affect their lives so dramatically. This year we hope to do even more. What will you give to the Christ child this year? Will you help make someone else’s life a little easier? Will you donate to the food bank? Will you visit people in the nursing homes? Will you give your Red Tickets? May you find real joy in truly celebrating His birth.

— Joyce Miscovitch Nantucket United Methodist Church,

Mission Committee NHA LEADS WAY

To the editor:

The Nantucket Historical Association deserves credit for producing a great patriotic evening of stories and song on December 7, featuring some of Nantucket’s real veterans.

This is part of the many programs being presented by the NHA this winter for the Nantucket community, featuring many aspects of Nantucket life in the wonderful new museum. Director Bill Tramposch and his staff are really giving the town a season of wonderful activity and many memories.

The veterans’ day was something special, since the veterans of World War II are passing away at the rate of one thousand per day. Perhaps the Town should remember this and do more for Veteran’s Day next November 11. Meanwhile, the NHA is leading the way.

Sincerely,

— Robert F. Mooney