JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmarkers know how to throw a good party. On Wednesday, the ladies of the Women’s Symposium group joined the members of the Friends of the Chilmark Library to share their culinary and party making talents and create a wonderful birthday party for Rhoda Diamond, who celebrated a significant day! She was genuinely surprised and enjoyed the moment. Cheers from us all, Rhoda, and best wishes for a grand year!

Welcome home to Allan and Winkie Keith, who are back at the Keith Farm from a vacation in the Caribbean.

Bob and Bonnie George are back at Quansoo after a winter trip that took them to Florida and back, visiting friends and family along the way.

The Women’s Symposium will meet for their first meeting of this year on April 30 at the Chilmark Community Center, from 9 a.m. to noon. There will be speakers, discussion groups and refreshments.

The gremlins that plague my numbers were at work last week. Please note that the annual town meeting will be on April 25, Monday after Easter, at the community center at 7:30 p.m.

A reminder, the Celebrity Waiters Dinner for the benefit of the Haiti PeaceQuilts is April 2, Saturday night, at the Federated Church in Edgartown. It promises to be a fun family night out. For more information, please call Jeanne Staples at 508-627-8363.

We send best wishes for a speedy recovery to Basil Welch, who is at home following a brief stay at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital with a bout of pneumonia.

The usual hustle is on at all the seasonal business locations. Doors will soon sport opening times and dates. Please send me the information about your town business for inclusion here.

The Dear Abbeys, a musical group of 13 young men, will spend the weekend of April 9 through 11 at Tom and Helen Porter’s home on the Crossroad. They may be doing impromptu numbers around town. Tom vouches for them but is not going to be down that weekend! I hope we hear them perform.

Tip Kenyon was in town this week for an early spring catch-up on home and friends.

I haven’t walked the south shore this winter but I hear that the ocean has broken through the dunes and is invading Chilmark Pond. A few more spring storms may change the scenery again, as they do every year.

The Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living is sponsoring their fourth in a series of luncheons on Saturday, April 9, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Grill on Main in Edgartown. Ruth Cronig Stiller and her daughter, Gayle Stiller, will be their guest speakers. They will talk about the contributions of the Jewish community to life on Martha’s Vineyard. Please call Leslie Clapp at 508-939-9440 for information and tickets.

The final Friday Family Movie will be at the library tonight, April 1, when they will show North by Northwest, a popular Alfred Hitchcock mystery. All are welcome at no charge, and the popcorn is free too!

Sue and Brigida Larsen are still working hard to prepare themselves for their roles in the upcoming Avon Walk for Cancer taking place in Boston on May 14 and 15. They travel to Canton on April 10 for a crew training workshop. Chilmark was generous in support of the walk last year and we are hoping for a good response this year. Susan and Brigida can be reached online at avonwalk.org/goto/susan.larsen and their local address is 108 Hammett Lane, Chilmark, 02535. Go, girls!

Tuesdays are pizza supper nights at the Chilmark Community Church. All are welcome and outdoor games are featured for the young folks. Please call Julie at 508-645-3723 if you can join the fun.