JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
Chilmark enjoyed a holiday of perfect proportions with long sunny days and lovely sunsets. Many families and friends gathered for ceremonies honoring the memories of our cherished servicemen followed by picnics, reunions and celebrations of togetherness. The Chilmark Community Church conducted a blessing of the Menemsha fleet on Sunday morning complete with a bagpiper and an accordionist. It was an impressive service and one that many hope will become a tradition at our harbor.
The Menemsha sunsets seemed spectacular until we learned that the air was full of the smoke from a forest fire north of Quebec. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore . . . in sky or water. The most discussed item at any gathering was and continues to be the unremitting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Welcome back to Bob and Emma Shalhope, who are here from Norman, Okla., for their extended season at their Menemsha home, Barn Again.
Ed Greenebaum and Joan Caulton are here for a seasonal visit from Indiana. They are already busy getting the gardens going.
I also spotted, at different times over the weekend: Shirley Reiss of Weston, Dr. Ed Rothschild of Center Island, Bill and Betsy Ramsey of Wayland and Anne Dunk and her family who were with Anne’s dad, Howard Harrison, and Elizabeth.
Terry and Cathy Meinelt came from Topsfield for a weekend visit to their new home on Wade’s Cove and a visit with Terry’s dad, Ted Meinelt.
I also spotted Bob and Sarah Nixon who were in a whirl opening their inns and the Home Port. They are assisted this year by Dennis Barquinero as general manager.
The family of longtime Chilmark seasonal resident Jim Goodman gathered in town on June 1 to celebrate Jim’s birthday, a significant one! Cheers from us all, Jim!
A sign on the Menemsha Market tells us they will be opening for the season on June 14 and, down South Road, the Allen Farm shop is now open daily. This year they are offering a variety of homegrown meats which should please us all.
Bill and Zee Gamson are at their home off State Road after an exciting trip to Istanbul. They were shown the city by a former student of Bill’s. Some highlights of the visit were a boat ride on the Bosphorus and visits to palaces and mosques. They traveled on to Israel where they visited many friends and are now at home awaiting a visit to them by their son, Josh, and his family.
The Chilmark library program on June 9 will be the showing of the documentary film The Fish Belong to the People, at 5:30 p.m. The Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund and the Friends of the Chilmark Library sponsor this series and invite you all at no charge.
You might want to mark your calendars for the following Wednesday, June 16 at 5:30 p.m., when wildlife biologists Luanne Johnson and Liz Baldwin will talk about the Island otters.
The Jim Thomas Spiritual Choir will be singing at the Chilmark Community Church during their 9 a.m. services on Sunday, June 6.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will present and discuss the draft comprehensive conservation plan for Noman’s Land island refuge on June 23 at 7 p.m. at a public meeting at the Chilmark Community Center. Copies of the draft plan can be picked up at the library and town hall.
The Chilmark library Web site now has videos. If you go to the site and follow directions, you can enjoy videos of some library and town history.
Happy birthday to Hilda Mitchell who is celebrating on June 6. She and her husband, Donny, are former longtime Chilmark folk who we are happy to remember and to send good wishes.
The Sustainable Book Club will meet on June 17 at the Aquinnah Library to discuss the book Song for the Blue Ocean by Carl Safina. All are welcome.
I am late with this item but it is never to late to pass along good news and we send congratulations to Greg and Lois Mayhew of Quitsa on the birth recently of their first granddaughter, Mariah, born to their daughter Katie and her husband, Derek Christianson.
The Chilmark School will hold their graduation on June 18 and the last day of classes for the season will be June 24. Cheers to all!
And, yes, the brown bird hatched her eggs over our garage door and now we are tiptoeing past her in the hopes she can get what appears to be two chicks launched soon.
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