JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

If you missed everybody this week, they were all in Vineyard Haven trying to get on a boat headed off-Island. Everyone involved, including the Steamship Authority staff, said it was the heaviest October weekend travel crush they could remember! Needless to say, we came back to Chilmark’s peace and quiet and were glad to be here.

Chilmarkers are happy to note that the South Road roadsides have been trimmed, making some of the curves easier to navigate. I wonder how many remember how Mr. Arno and his crew used to trim all the shrubbery on South Road every year? They created a neatly trimmed and shaped roadside that reminded some of the byways of England. Nowadays we need safety before beauty, and we have that now.

We send condolences to the family and many friends of Stanley Halperin of Canton and Chilmark who died this week. There will be services in Canton on Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. and a graveside service at Abel’s Hill cemetery in late June 2010. Stanley had retired from a long and successful law career in New York city to Canton, where his wife, Joan, may be reached at Orchid Cove, 1 Del Drive, Canton, Ma. 02021. They have been seasonal residents of Flanders Lane for over 40 years and his love for Chilmark was well known to his many friends here who will miss him.

Hugh and Suzanne Weisman hosted the wedding of their daughter Alexandra to Malcolm McDowell on Oct. 11. The wedding was at the Gay Head Light and the reception was at the family home near Stonewall Pond. Her sister, Jennifer, with her children Annie and Timmy and her niece, Marguerite Smith, were in the wedding party. Mac and Kathy McDowell, parents of the bridegroom, were here and enjoyed hosting the rehearsal dinner at the Chilmark Tavern. The bride and bridegroom are both educators in New York city. Alexandra grew up as a seasonal resident of Chilmark and her many friends here join in wishing the couple great joy!

Seth and Joanne Wakeman are in town for a fall vacation from their home in Stonington, Conn. Seth grew up as a Chilmark seasonal resident and the couple comes annually to renew their friendships in town.

Rod and Deborah Nagengast of Albany were in town over the holiday weekend visiting old friends here.

The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club will hold its first fall meeting on Oct. 20 at the Wakeman Center. The meeting begins at 1 p.m.

Dig out your old harmonica — Warren Doty is inviting the town to come out on Oct. 17, Saturday night (tomorrow if you are reading this on Friday) to the Community Center for an evening of music and song. He hopes everyone who can, will bring an instrument and join in the fun. It begins at 7:30 p.m.; all are welcome. A potluck dessert will be served.

On a more serious note, we are all invited to the Community Center on Oct. 20 to discuss the proposed wind farm some think is destined for our nearby waters off Chilmark and Aquinnah. Please come and express your opinion or things will move along without your comment, and you live here! The meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Bill and Zee Gamson are happy to tell us of the arrival of their second granddaughter, Madeleine Blanche, who arrived Oct. 7. She joins big sister Reba Gamson Knight and her loving family of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who are all overjoyed at her arrival.

Author Elizabeth Dembrowsky will speak at the Chilmark library on Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. She will discuss her new book, My Monk. Elizabeth is a writer of plays and a photographer. She is a native of Stoughton and now lives in New York city.

The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School is hosting a speaker, Teresa LaSala, who will talk about Parenting with Positive Discipline on Oct. 20 at the school from 6:30 to 8 p.m. All are welcome.

And another reminder that the flu shots are coming — Nov. 11 at the regional high school — after you have completed the paperwork and registered at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. You can pick up papers at the library or town hall. They are also available at the pharmacies. The shots will be given from 8 a.m. to noon.

Good luck to all the fishermen who are still out there hoping for the big one to bite. I see that some Chilmarkers are still holding top honors with a few more days to go before the big finish. Let’s hope for good weather.