JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark has survived the busy week that was! The dreaded closing of South Road was manageable after all and the heat and excitement of the annual Agricultural Fair was, as always, lots of fun for all! The Chilmark Road Race created its annual excitement and this year we cheered for a winner from Dublin, Ireland. Our small town is truly international in August.

Congratulations to all the winners at both the road race and the fair. I also heard that the Oak Bluffs fireworks were the best ever, so you have an idea of what is going on in Chilmark and beyond in August to date!

I hope your August is going well. I can only add this personal observation: there seems to be many more people visiting this August than I ever remember. I sometimes wonder at the end of the day . . . where do they all find places to sleep?

The Chilmark Library’s Wednesday program will be an author’s talk by Ali Berlow about her new book, The Mobile Poultry Slaughterhouse. Ali is the founder of the Island Grown Initiative and editor of the popular magazine, Edible Vineyard. The talk will be on August 28 at 5 p.m. and is open to all at no charge. The Friends of the Library sponsor the program.

The Chilmark selectmen have called for a hearing at the town hall office concerning the sale of beer and wine in Chilmark on August 27 at 7:30 p.m. Voters are invited to attend and contribute their opinions on this subject.

Chilmark artist Linda Thompson will be offering an exhibit of her landscapes at the Bank of Martha’s Vineyard from August 23 to 29. She will exhibit paintings of up-Island landscapes including Lucy Vincent Beach. The opening reception will be on August 23 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Marjorie Phillips of Larsen Lane traveled to Boston with her daughter Anne and grandson Benjamin Davey to see the play Wicked. They enjoyed it very much, and while in Boston shared a meal with cousins Bill, Betsy and Greg Ramsey and Heather Diskin.

Cris Neumann, along with his wife, Lesley, and sons Corin, Evan and Auden, is arriving from Ireland this weekend for the family’s annual vacation with Cris’s folks, Conrad and Jane Neumann. They will be at the family home on State Road.

Norman and Diana Freed of State Road have enjoyed visits from their daughter Deborah and her children Shoshana, Miriam and Jonah. Shoshana won second place in the high school division of the Elisa Brickner annual poetry contest at the Chilmark Library, and won a second place prize for a watercolor at the Agricultural Fair. Her brother Jonah won a first place prize for his origami creations and third place for his butter at the fair, and sister Miriam won a first place for a scarecrow entry and she won the Whiting Award for her watercolor entry. Congratulations all around!

Please remember to share your excitements of summer with the rest of us by emailing me your news of visits and, of course, the dreaded back to school notices!