for the ARTS record
TWN narrows down the search for a Producing Director When Jane Karakula announced in October that she would be limiting her annual commitment to the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket to that of Summer Artistic Director, the TWN created a full-time, year-round Producing Director position. The deadline for applications was Dec. 1. The TWN received approximately 30. The organization narrowed that group down to a pool of 12 people with whom they conducted phone interviews last weekend. From those interviews, the TWN will select four candidates for on-island interviews next month. “The quality of this response was terrific. We’re very pleased and excited about the potential,” said TWN president Pam Murphy, who added that they are planning for the new hire to begin March 1.

Winter Solstice is day of optimism The Winter Solstice is fundamentally a “glass half-full” holiday.

It is time’s version of reaching the summit of our mountainous winter darkness, only so the ride down may be swift and bright. The solstice officially commemorates the location of the sun over the Tropic of Capricorn, and with it the return of ever-lengthening daylight. It’s a fair guess that mankind has been celebrating the winter solstice ever since it could gauge what and when it was.

This Wednesday at The Atheneum, Casey Boukus will lead a family event dedicated to teaching kids about the significance of the solstice. The party will start out with a craft class, in which kids will make clothespin ornaments and then pine cone bird feeders to decorate the trees outside the Atheneum as a way to give back to the environment. The story time will include at least one book on the Native American celebrations around the solstice.

“Traditionally, solstice is the new year in some religions. And in that context, it’s basically the idea that people were afraid that the sun wouldn’t come back. So the ceremony celebrates that the light will return and that we will be able to grow our crops again,” Boukus said. “But we tried to keep what

we’re doing with the kids very earth-based — very much honoring the idea of the sun and the natural world.”

After the kids make crafts and read, the second part of the program will be held outdoors in the garden, where kids will sing songs and light candles, “because that’s a symbol for the return of the sun,” explained the Atheneum’s Children and Young Adult Librarian, Maggie Head. (Your kids should pick up on “Oh, Solstice Tree” quite fast if they know the tune to “Oh, Christmas Tree.”)

Celebrating the solstice is not a new occurrence on island.

Susan Landmann, lead teacher at Magic Youth, hosts a Winter Solstice party for her students (ages 3-5) every year.

“The winter solstice is my favorite day of the year, because the dark days become light,” Landmann said. “I go to school in the dark and come home in the dark, and now I know I’m in the daylight every day. And it’s a very hopeful thing.”

Landmann said that kids “need to be aware of all kinds of holidays around the world, what people celebrate, and the similarities.”

“Many places have a Festival of Lights around this time of year,” she said. “Christmas is a festival of lights, Chanukah is a festival of lights, and Solstice is a festival of the light.”

Head said that the solstice could also be used to teach kids about commonalities between religions, because traditions of ancient solstice celebrations crept into religious holidays. For example, scholars agree that the ancient Romans incorporated many aspects of their polytheistic solstice holiday, Saturnalia, into Christmas — right down to the holly.

“You have to start at a certain age teaching kids to respect how people live and how they believe,” Head said. “It’s important for them to grow up with respect for others and understanding of the world as a multicultural place.” When: Wednesday, Dec. 20, 3 p.m. Where: Nantucket Atheneum, 1 India Street Cost: Free For more information, call 228-1110, ext. 0. Musicall makes its curtain call If you’ve ever gripped the handrail going down to the basement of 4 East Chestnut Street to buy a CD – or a cassette, or an album — you may want to make one last trip before the end of Friday’s business day. After 24 years selling anything that plays music, affable storeowner and former Rolling Stone scribe Charley Walters is closing Musicall, opened by Steve McCluskey and Chris Colbert in 1972 on Center Street. Islander Gene Mahon moved the store to its current location in 1979, after buying the business — which Walters bought only three years later. In the last few years, the increase in popularity of online music purchases has compromised sales, according to Walters, who is married to island author Nancy Thayer. Though the store may close, the man is still open — to new ideas for his future, which, for the first time in almost 33 years, will be one store lighter. For more information, call 228- 9306.

Close-Knit family time From the listless waiting of Hollywood backlots, to the rocking chairs of Appalachian grandmothers, knitting is an activity that has quietly but steadily seen a wild resurgence in popularity in the last decade. Nantucket is no different, with a full course of classes offered by Atheneum librarian and craftmaster Nancy Tyrer, who is hosting knitting classes that double as adult-youth quality time. Because the first wave of her December knitting classes were so popular, Tyrer is extending her workshops through the winter. The second class of simple scarf-making meets Jan. 2, to be followed by a sachet class on Jan. 16. So if you think you and your young knitter might want to attend mid-month, now might be a good time to buy a pair of size 7 knitting needles as stocking stuffers. For more information, call 228-1110, ext 0.

— Marli Guzzetta