JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark has enjoyed a few days of the annual and always most welcome January thaw, just slight but ever so pleasant ... days of bright sun and some warmth. However, the winter temperatures are coming back this weekend.

Chilmark has many connections to Haiti these days and I have tried to collect some of the stories for you.

Ensign Gwen Mayhew, Navy nurse, the daughter of Greg and Lois Mayhew of Quitsa, is stationed on the U.S. Medical Ship Comfort. The ship is currently in Haiti, where she and others are working nine-hour shifts in the surgical wards to help the serious cases brought to them from the crushed city. The ship expects to be there for several months. She contacts her family through some e-mail and limited cell phone service. She has been spotted in several video news reports, although she tells her family that the press folks are now leaving the ship to make room for patients, who keep coming.

Zach Iscol and his producing partner, Radha, were asked to travel to Haiti with Zach’s former Marine commander and some 2,000 Marines who went to assist in the disaster relief efforts. Zach is sending blogs from Haiti and, as he is serving as a civilian embedded reporter, is able to send daily reports. His Web site is editorialprojectinhaiti.com.

Zach spent last summer at the family home in Quitsa working on a film about Iraq and the above Web site will take you to some of that interesting material. Zach is the son of Ken and Jill Iscol, Chilmark seasonal residents of long-standing.

Mark Bracken and his sister, Amy, are the son and daughter of Tom Bracken, seasonal resident of South Road, and of Hilary McGhee, of Menemsha. Mark is an emergency room doctor and worked in the hospital in Port au Prince and in Leogane. Amy Bracken is a reporter for Radio World. Both traveled to Haiti immediately after the quake and both have returned as you read this.

Andy Freed, a geophysicist at Purdue University, is going to Haiti this week with a group of National Science Foundation scientists who are hoping to conduct a GPS survey of Haiti to measure ground deformation following the earthquake. That will help to explain how the fault slipped and how the crust is continuing to deform. To date, there has been no scientific viewing of the fault and resulting fractures. The group is traveling with equipment to begin this important phase of the understanding of events. Andy is the son of Norman and Diana Freed of Chilmark.

Karin Flynn reminds us again that the book illustrating the project of quilt-making by Haitians for fund-raising, Peace Quilts, is available at local book stores and by calling her if you need more information. All money goes to Haiti.

Steve McGhee went to Palo Alto last week for a visit with his son, Geoffrey and his wife, Sara. Geoffrey is a journalist with a Knight Fellowship, studying at Stanford University.

The Chilmark Community Church will offer Wednesday night craft workshops at the church beginning on Feb. 3 at 6:30. All are welcome. The first project will be provided and the group will decide on later projects. The craft leader is Kim Cottrill and it is hoped that the finished items will be offered for sale for the benefit of the church.

Elmore “Bud” Mayhew is home after a brief stay at the Falmouth Hospital. He is out and about, for which his friends are glad.

There are lots of movie nights for the whole family scheduled in Chilmark this weekend and continuing through the winter.

The Chilmark library is offering Family Friday Night Movies at 7 p.m. tonight, and on Feb. 5. The library’s free noontime Chowder and a Movie events continue at the library on Feb. 10.

Tomorrow night, Jan. 30, is the final Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s family film night at the community center. A series of short films will be shown after a dinner prepared by Amy Miller and music offered by Rick Bausman and Chilmark school students. Arrive at 5 p.m. for dinner and 6 p.m. for the films.