Chilmark is more than happy to welcome the shoulder season. The weather is agreeable and mostly sunny. The crowds are moderate and friendly and the chores are still doable at an easy pace. The U.S. Coast Guard has started their work project this week. Last night was a mild one with little wind as two tug boats and the harbor master maneuvered a huge barge into the Menemsha harbor and up against the Coast Guard pilings. The barge holds crates of supplies and a very tall crane for moving things around. It was a grand sight for the Menemsha crowd. The unusual happenings didn’t divert the attention of several fishermen on the jetty who kept on fishing. A number of folks gathered at Squid Row and two managed to watch the whole thing from the cross tree of their sailboat. All in all, it was a happening with lots of humor and suspense. The skill of the tugboat crews was obvious as they moved around in the small harbor. The next few weeks and/or months should provide for lots of sidewalk supervising. The sounds of the project are already making their way into my head as I write not too far from the site of the new Coast Guard boathouse-to-be!

We send condolences this week to the family and many friends of Hilda Jason who died Thursday, Sept. 5. She was the widow of well known Menemsha fisherman, Lenny Jason, and mother of Lenny and Dennis Jason of Chilmark. She leaves behind many beloved grandchildren. Hilda had many friends in the Chilmark community where she was a resident for most of her 94 years. She will be missed by all.

The Chilmark Church reminds us that the popular lobster rolls will be sold for the last time this season on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the church hall.

The Chilmark Library celebrates the 10th anniversary of the new building this week. The Chilmark Library initiated the Dewey Decimal system 100 years ago this summer and now is part of the electronic network, CLAMS, which they joined this spring. The digital revolution continues with the library offering the services of a technology librarian who will be at the Chilmark Library once a month on the first Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. offering help to patrons learning to download to their various electronic devices. Miki Wolfe from the Oak Bluffs Library has been helping folks all summer and has registered more new digital readers in Chilmark than in any other Island library. For more information, please call 508-645-3360. Kristin Maloney, assistant library director, wishes to thank all the Chilmark businesses that offered coupon treats to young readers as rewards for participating in the annual summer reading project. They are: Menemsha Market, Menemsha Galley, Menemsha Texaco, Chilmark Store, Chilmark Chocolates and the Bite. Keith Emin, Chilmark’s busy road superintendent, is back from an enjoyable 10-day trek into the Maine backwoods for some freshwater fishing with friends. Don and Susan Luce of Downingtown, Pa., are vacationing at the family home on Chowder Kettle Lane. They enjoyed a tour of Alaska this summer and experienced a once in a lifetime is enough encounter with a grizzly bear. Their son Tom and his wife Annie of Phoenixville, Pa., recently visited Menemsha with their son Mason and newborn son, Keston. Keston will be happy to remember his first Island visit was at seven weeks old! Don and Susan will welcome family members visiting in September.

The Chilmark store will remain open through Oct. 14 with the hours cut to 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday, Saturday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Remember to call ahead for pizza.

The Home Port restaurant and the Tavern restaurant will be open from Thursdays to Sundays for the next few weeks. Again, best to call ahead.

The Harbor Crafts Shop will cut hours to Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Bite will be closed on Tuesdays and open only until 3 p.m. during the week.

Now, if you will allow me a personal aside, I can report that one eye is working well . . . hope it is the one aimed at the keyboard, and the trip off-Island only reinforced the urge to be in Chilmark. Off again in October and I should be ready for swordfish spotting again . . . oops, I am back in the past again!