JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark goes Caribbean tomorrow night when the Chilmark School’s annual fund-raising dance takes place at the Chilmark Community Center. The popular event is for adults only and brings out the tropical in everyone. There will be items for auction and by raffle, food and dancing to the returning favorites, the Smokin Flamingos, all to support the after school activities of the Chilmark students. By the way, be sure and check out the student’s art work on display this month at the Chilmark Library. Kathleen Cameron is their skilled teacher who brings out the talent in all of them.

Tonight, Friday, Feb. 11, the movie Hidalgo will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Chilmark library as part of the ongoing winter Friday night movies series. Free pizza and drinks are offered and all are welcome at no charge. The movie for Feb. 18 will be I Know Where I am Going, a classic romantic comedy from 1945.

The weather, although cold and sometimes very windy, is still not as unpleasant as it has been off Island. We still have no snow, just some pretty white ice coating the rocks on the jetties and on ponds around town. We saw two tourists swimming at Menemsha Beach yesterday morning . . . a pair of beautiful swans, feeding around the rocks, seemingly undisturbed by the cold! A pretty sight for my winter-glazed eyes.

And, since we are talking about birds, I have noticed a lot more chatter in the air early mornings this week. The winter chat line has been only crows and the geese in the early mornings at Menemsha but they were joined this week by many new voices. How nice.

Cathy Minkiewicz, current president of the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club, tells us that there will be a bus trip to see the New England Flower Show in Boston on March 17. Please call Sandy at the Tisbury Council on Aging at 508-696-4205 for information. The Polly Hill Arboretum is arranging a trip to see the gardens of the Delaware Valley in May. For information please call Karin at 508-693-9426.

The Chilmark Democrats will hold a winter caucus on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 1:30 p.m. They will meet in the second floor meeting room of the town hall. Elections will be held to choose delegates to the Massachusetts convention in June and to select a new chairman for the local committee.

Chilmark Chocolates is open for your Valentine’s Day shopping . . . so again, you don’t have to leave town for holiday shopping. The Allen Farm shop will be open this weekend from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Do you wish you knew more about the computer you use? The Chilmark library is offering six weeks of computer workshops taught by BZ Riger of Oak Bluffs. The first one on Wednesday last was about using Google and the next session on Wednesday, Feb. 16, will be about Facebook. There will be six workshops: Feb. 23 is Facebook for Entrepreneurs; March 2 is Blogging for Beginners; March 9 is YouTube and March 16 is Digital Photos. There is a lot to learn each week and BZ makes it all sound easy. The library allows us to follow along on their laptops but the number is limited so if you wish, bring your own. Everyone is welcome at no charge and you may attend any or all of the workshops.