JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

The July full moon is here and the skies are clear enough for us to enjoy the wonderful light. The days may be hot but the evenings are pretty near perfect this week . . . hope you all are enjoying them.

We send condolences this week to the family and many friends of Polly Meinelt, who died July 16. All who knew her will miss the positive and enthusiastic way she embraced life. She also had a wonderful recall of Chilmark history and families that she shared willingly. We will all cherish and enjoy sharing our memories of Polly.

Peter and Liz Neumann of California enjoyed a July visit with Peter’s daughter, Hellie, at her Middle Road home.

Bob and Polly Grose of Virginia are at their Quitsa home for the summer.

The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club would welcome new members, both year-round and seasonal. The club meets monthly with interesting and creative projects and speakers concerning ecology, gardening and environmental issues. The club welcomes all men and women who are interested in the club’s activities. Please call Bonnie George at 508-645-3214 for more information.

John Jacobs is happy to be entertaining his son, Jake, and his wife, Cindy, and their children, Coty and Sophie, who have come from Denver. Jake, who flies for FedEx and is based in Alaska, had the most jet lag. John’s daughter, Susan Stohl, and her children, Jacqueline and Tommie, are here from Portland, Ore. All are enjoying renewing Chilmark friendships and introducing their children to the delights of a Chilmark summer.

Bob and Jane Wachsler of Tiasquam Ridge had their grandchildren Anne, Paul, Max and Zadie Niedergang visiting from Portland, Ore., this month. Their friend, Sarah of Germany, accompanied them. Many treats of a Vineyard summer were enjoyed and a highlight of the visit was a day of sailing on the Janie Bird.

Please make a note of the date, Tuesday, July 29. It is the Chilmark town affairs open meeting with the Chilmark selectmen at 7 p.m. All non-voting residents are invited to come and discuss town affairs with the selectmen and other board members.

Chilmark seasonal resident Arnie Reisman has co-produced a film entitled the Powder and the Glory with Ann Carol Grossman. The film will be shown at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Sunday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m. It is a 90-minute study of the lives, times, rivalry and more of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. This film will be shown next at the Woods Hole Film Festival on Monday, July 28, at 5 p.m. at the Redfield Auditorium in Woods Hole. The film will be seen on PBS this coming winter. Please go to powderandglory.com for more information or call the center at 508-693-0745.

The Chilmark Library invites us to two pending programs. On Wednesday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. a film, The Realm of the Lobster, will be shown. It is an underwater study of the life of our favorite summer edible. No samples.

Linda Greenhouse will speak on Thursday, July 24 at 5 p.m. at the library about legal trends at the U.S. Supreme Court. Her talks are popular so best to arrive early.

We send condolences to the family and friends of Alice Fairstein who died on July 3. She first came to the Vineyard in 1959 and returned many times with her daughter, Chilmark seasonal resident Linda Fairstein and her husband, Justin Feldman. All those who enjoyed her annual visits in Chilmark will miss her.

Harriette Poole Otteson is at her Menemsha Crossroads home after a midsummer trip to four foreign countries: Russia, Finland, Ukraine and Estonia. In Finland, with a little planning ahead, she was able to spend a day visiting with 10 cousins who were happy to meet her in Helsinki. Other highlights of the trip included spending her birthday in Red Square and taking an 8-day river and lake cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Harriette’s great-grandmother spent a year in St. Petersburg while waiting for paperwork to be completed allowing her to emigrate from Finland to the United States, in 1902.

Marjorie Good of Woodbury, Conn., is at her Menemsha home for the season.

Steve and Susan McGhee are happy to have Steve’s son, Paul and his wife, Barbara, visiting from Manhattan. Their 3-year-old daughter, Alicia, is the joy of the visit.

Please keep me posted on all the fun stuff going on in your summer so we can share the good times.