JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

We send condolences to the extended family and many friends of Mary Larsen who died while at her Florida vacation home last weekend. Mary was the wife of Louis Larsen and mother of Christine, Louis, Danny and Betsy. Mary was devoted to her large, hardworking family and she found time to work for many years for the town of Chilmark as town clerk from 1964 to 1972 and then as the executive secretary from 1977 to 1995. We all appreciate her many years of service to Chilmark and we will miss her presence among us. A graveside service at Abel’s Hill Cemetery is planned for Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. with a celebration of her life at the community center at 2 p.m.

A well-loved Chilmark couple is celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on Jan. 25. Ozzie and Rene Fischer will enjoy a family gathering at their State Road home. The couple have been part of Chilmark for those years and we have all appreciated Ozzie’s farm produce and his good stories, with Rene reminding him of the details for all those years. Marie Fischer Scott will come from her home in Vermont and Douglas will come up from his home in Florida for the happy occasion, joining the couple’s other two children, Albert and Suzie, of the Vineyard. Cheers from us all!

Haiti is very much in the minds and hearts of all of us these days. Karen Flynn, a very active volunteer in Haiti for several years, wants us to know that the Fish Farm for Haiti project has survived the quake with some damage at the ponds in Lilavois. Donations to FishfarmforHaiti.org will help to restore this important self-help project. Karen is also involved in the work at Canapé Vert where more that eight of their Haitian friends lost their lives. Peace Quilts is a project that Karen and her friends have worked on. Men and women of Haiti make quilts to be sold for the benefit of Haitians. A book depicting the quilts was made this year and is ready for sale. The money fro m the sales goes directly to Haiti. The book is on sale at the following Vineyard businesses: Beach House, Bunch of Grapes, Rainy Day, Conroy’s Apothecary and upstairs at the Federated Church.

There will be an all-Island ecumenical church service to pray for the earthquake victims of Haiti at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown on Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday’s selectmen’s meeting at town hall was the place to be this week! It was the first drawing and awarding of lots in the Middle Line Road project, Chilmark’s affordable housing effort. Congratulations to the winners, Cameron Parry, Jennifer Slossberg, Lev Wlodyka, Matthew Bradley, Jeff Day and Chip Leonardi and their families. Cheers from us all!

Congratulations also go to police officer Slavin who was appointed to a permanent position on the Chilmark Police force and to Coco Adams who was appointed superintendent of the Abel’s Hill Cemetery.

Emily Day has been named town accountant by the selectmen. She is a town resident and wife of Jeff Day, a Chilmark police officer.

Welcome to recent homeowners with a long Chilmark association, Jeffery Wass and Deborah Sillemanwass whose home is on South Road. They are now year-round residents.

The Joint Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing on Jan. 14 on Beacon Hill to discuss the continuation of commercial fishery for striped bass in this state. Thirteen Vineyard men attended the hearing and nine of them spoke before the committee. The Island fishermen testified that there is already a good plan for the regulation of the harvest of striped bass, managed with an exact quota. The Vineyard delegation consisted of: Wes Brighton, Gus Leaf, Todd Mayhew, Brian Curry, Nick Warburton, Alex Freedman, Matt Mayhew, Lev Wlodyka, Jeremy Scheffer, Greg Mayhew, Warren Doty, Tristan Israel and Jonathan Mayhew. Let’s hope they had some influence on the committee.

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival is offering a night of dinner and a movie at the community center on Jan. 30. The evening is a family affair with babies welcome. Chilmark chef Amy Miller will prepare the foods. The dinner is $10 and the movie is $6. The event begins at 5 p.m. Rick Bausman will provide music.

More movies . . . the Chilmark library offers chowder and a movie on Jan. 27 at noon. The movie will be Mister Roberts, and the lunch is free of charge and open to all. The Friday family movie nights continue at the library. The next movie, Big, will be tonight at 7 p.m. It is free to all and includes popcorn and juice.