JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark is deep into openings and new beginnings. Most of the town businesses are either opening this weekend or next. The Chilmark Store will open May 10; The Bite and the Galley, both Menemsha eateries, will open May 16, with Beetlebung Café following on May 20. The Beach Plum Inn restaurant is open from Thursday through Sunday for the next couple of weeks, and the Home Port Restaurant will open on Memorial Day weekend.

Chris Fischer, chef at the Beach Plum Inn, tells us he will be introducing a Sunday supper series beginning this Sunday with a spaghetti and meatball night! The new chefs, Matt Safranek and Angela Vezzose, are busy at the Home Port Restaurant preparing for their opening at the end of the month.

Sarah Nixon of Washington, D.C. and Chilmark was in town over the weekend to enjoy the festivities of opening night at the Beach Plum Inn. She will return with her family when school is out and oversee the many activities at Memensha Inn, Beach Plum Inn and the Home Port.

Bill and Roz Glazer are back at their Menemsha home after a winter in Key West and a visit with family in New York city.

Roberta Morgan is at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital this week recuperating from her knee surgery done in Falmouth last week. She is busy doing therapy and eager to get back to her Menemsha shop, Harbor Crafts, by the end of the month.

Pierre Bourque is having a show of his recent paintings at the Chilmark Library. The paintings are on display in the library’s meeting room and may be viewed during regular library hours.

The Martha’s Vineyard Democrats invite like-minded people to attend a planning meeting at Howes House on May 11 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. They are preparing for the contest for the U.S. senate seat vacated by John Kerry. The candidates are Edward Markey and Gabriel Gomez. The election will be on June 25 at the community center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Tom Dresser has written a book titled The Women of Martha’s Vineyard. He has chosen Lucy and Sarah Adams as his Chilmark subjects. They were little people and wonderful singers and entertainers. They had a long career in show business and eventually returned to Chilmark and opened a popular tea shop. He will be speaking about his book at the Island’s libraries in the near future. He’ll be at Edgartown Books on May 11.

Emily Gadd is at her Abel’s Hill home and enjoying thoughts of beginning her gardens. She reminds me that she spends her winters in Montana, not that other state I mentioned last week.

Caleb, Chris and Celia Slater came from Northbridge last weekend to get their boat in the water and, in their spare time, to do many chores for us — their parents and hosts. Caleb managed to get his boat in the water in time to go up the pond and catch a keeper bass for supper. He enjoyed an encounter with a huge gray seal that he estimated to weigh about 700 pounds. The seal followed the boat and lurked about waiting for the big bass but Caleb outsmarted him!

We did some research this morning by coming home from Oak Bluffs via the roundabout. It seems much smaller than the off-Island roundabouts and, thus, not very effective. We were stopped while a long line of cars passed from Edgartown to Vineyard Haven. The crossing to the up-Island side of the circle took several minutes. What happens in Oak Bluffs can stay in Oak Bluffs.