Since the majority of us will not be attending Lady Gaga’s hot tub christening party, I would like to suggest a consolation activity. We are all invited to Goldfish Day at Mytoi Garden on Friday, July 11, beginning at 4:30 p.m. to participate in the restocking of the pond with goldfish. This will be loads of fun for grandchildren, children and the young at heart. Snacks, refreshments and art projects will be provided.

Earlier in the day on Friday, 5 to 8 year olds can get a firsthand look at pond and marsh life in a snorkeling/wading adventure outing co-sponsored by the Chappy Community Center and The Trustees of Reservations. Meet at the Dike Bridge gatehouse at 10 a.m., and sign up ahead of time at the CCC. Next Friday, July 18, the outing will be geared for ages 8 and up.

The community center has a full calendar of events planned for this summer. Make sure that you drop in for the weekly craft sale and farmers’ market every Wednesday between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. The lobster roll dinners and the ice cream socials will alternate Wednesdays as well. Get rid of your old stuff and take home someone else’s old stuff at the inaugural annual community tag sale this Sunday, July 13. Share your hidden abilities at talent night on Thursday, July 17. Relish the height of summertime at the CCC Annual Fair on Saturday, July 19. Swat mosquitos to the beat of the Cattle Drivers concert on the lawn on Sunday, July 20. Stock up on winter reading material at the ongoing book sale through July 21. Submit your Chappy photos for the CCC calendar contest by noon on Friday, July 25. Celebrate a quarter of a century of memories at the CCC’s 25th anniversary party on Sunday, July 27.

There is something going on every day of the week: sailing, tennis, Tai Chi, pilates, mahjong, book club, play group, two kinds of yoga, adult and youth basketball, iGizmo instruction with MacLady, art and photo shows and more. Check the CCC website and bulletin boards for updates and details on the many activities planned. We still have a handful of 2014 CCC calendars for sale at half price. Most of the major events are already marked on it.

The Slipaway Farm farm stand will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all summer long. Before you head for town and those long ferry lines, check the farm stand. You may find everything that you need right here on Chappy. Along with a huge variety of vegetables, they also offer fresh eggs, frozen meats, cut flowers, six-pack seedlings, potted sunflowers, Mermaid Farm yogurt, Chilmark coffee and Not Your Sugar Mama’s chocolates. They also offer Chappy-oriented books for sale. The kids will love to visit with the pig.

As of Monday, only 140 Chappy households had submitted their checks to Comcast. We need a minimum of 270 subscribers to hold Comcast to their promise. If you have any questions, please call 774-310-1020 or send an email to ChappyCable@gmail.com.

Lest you think that hurricanes on the Vineyard are no big deal, going by your own personal encounters with storms called hurricanes over the last half century here, make sure to refresh your memory with a review of photographs from the hurricane of 1938. There are dozens of books and websites on the subject. Older folks may remember the destruction caused by Carol and Edna in 1954. We youngsters witnessed Bob 23 years ago, blowing just a tad over 100 MPH. Though Bob tossed a lot of boats up on the beach, broke a lot of tree limbs and downed lots of power lines, a storm of that intensity would have been barely above business as usual for us if it had occurred in midwinter. It would not even have been given a name. I wouldn’t want you to be thinking of yourself as an old hand at hurricane survival and be complacent when an actual self-respecting hurricane comes to town.

Perhaps rather than depending upon the five-category Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale to put an appropriate scare in us, we could start using terms such as “tempest” when hurricanes reach category 4. Definitions of the term tempest include words such as violent and furious. Those are the words I hear from folks who have been caught in big storms in other parts of the world. Storms the likes of which we have not experienced here since 1938.

Send your Chappy news to: peter@chappyferry.net