JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Summer has come to Chilmark ... and it promises to be a long, hot one. I guess we should heed the old advice to think carefully about what we wish for! We have lots of news this week, so let’s move on.

Parents please note that on this Tuesday, June 29, the Chilmark Public Library will host singer and dancer Melissa Green and her band, in a program for children. It is called Read, Sing and Dance and begins at 10:30 a.m. at the library. It is the beginning of the annual summer reading program; this year’s theme is Go Green at Your Library. Children are invited to sign up beginning June 28 for the reading program and then will receive the reading logs and the coupons of appreciation from the local merchants.

Lawrence Harrison will be the guest speaker at the library’s Wednesday evening program on June 30 at 5:30 p.m. He is the director of the Cultural Change Institute at Tufts University and will discuss multiculturalism. The program is open to the public at no charge. All are welcome.

We all send happy birthday wishes to Harriette Poole Otteson, who found a unique way to celebrate a significant birthday this week. She took a biplane tour over the Vineyard complete with some barrel rolls and inside loops. Bud Mayhew, a lifelong friend and neighbor and former flyer, accompanied her on the trip. Harriette reports that it was a wonderful flight and she enjoyed it all. The day continued with a luncheon party and a family dinner party. Cheers from us all!

Bill and Lorraine Kirkland of Panama are at their Menemsha home for the fishing months. Bill grew up with Menemsha as his summer home and continues every year to visit Menemsha, where he enjoys the friendships and the fishing.

Jonathan Neumann of Portland, Ore., has joined his parents, Conrad and Jane Neumann, for a summer vacation. His wife, Christina, and their children, Elijah and Simona, will be arriving in early July.

The Neumanns have good news this week, as they are announcing the arrival of a grandson born to Cris and Lesley Neumann in Ireland. Auden Conrad Neumann arrived on June 21, joining his two older brothers and already is booked to visit Chilmark in September! Cheers from us all!

Sad news reached me today of the death on Wednesday of Robert Vincent of Schenectady and Chilmark. A complete obituary will appear soon. No plans have been made yet for a memorial or burial.

Thomas Hubert and his wife, Lia Kahler, have come from New York city for their summer vacation at their home on Molly’s Way. Thomas is just back from a trip to the Black Forest area of Germany, where he visited with his mother and helped her celebrate her 100th birthday.

Tip and Kit Kenyon are back at Abel’s Hill for the coming season. Tip says they enjoyed the company of their four sons over the Memorial Day weekend, when David, Jim, Jon and Ted all gathered at the family’s Abel’s Hill home. The Kenyons winter now in Westwood.

Bill Vincent and his daughter, Katie, visited the family home, the Lucy Vincent house, last weekend. They had as their guest Nick Persons. All are from Niskayuna, N.Y.

Carol Brown Goldberg sends us notice that one of her new art works is on display at the Greater Reston Arts Center. The show will be held from June 24 to July 31. The art piece displayed is a bronze sculpture from her Baltimore Marble series.

Julie Coleman will continue to lead her women’s walks this summer. Judy Maynes will be her coleader this year. The next walk will be on July 1 at Sepiessa Point Reserve. The walks begin at 9:30 a.m. and walkers will meet at the second parking lot, on New Lane off the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road. Please call Julie at 508-645-2261 or Judy at 508-645-3460. Julie recommends that all participants wear stout shoes and carry water bottles.

Jeff and Amelia Bazanson were in town this week enjoying some vacation time. Amelia told me of her recent adventure in her home country, Guatemala. She took her daughters, Elita and Barbara, to Guatemala to do some sight-seeing. They climbed the Pacaya Mountain in the town of Calderas, where the lava had been on the surface of the ground for some years. She entertained the girls by taking a bag of marshmallows on the hike and toasting them over the exposed lava runs. However, two weeks later, when they were safely back in Bridgewater, the volcano exploded and destroyed two towns and caused many deaths. The family was happy to be home safely.

The Chilmark Community Church will host weekly performances by the Vineyard Sound, an a cappella group, who will sing at 8 p.m. at the church after the Tuesday night lobster roll sale, which is also weekly, 4:30 to 7 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

Jacob (Jake) Auchincloss, who graduated from Harvard in May, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps at a ceremony attended by family and friends in the transept of Harvard’s Memorial Hall on June 11. Jake is the son of Laurie Glimcher of Cove Road, Chilmark, and Newton, and Hugh Auchincloss of Bethesda. His grandfather, Melvin Glimcher of Middle Road, Chilmark and Cambridge, is a Marine and presented Jake with his Mameluke sword, an important emblem of the United States Marine Corps officer corps.