Savor the moment and save the date. Poet and playwright Sonia Sanchez, professor emeritus at Temple University where she was the first Presidential Fellow and held the Laura H. Carnell Chair in English and taught in the Women’s Studies Department, will be the featured speaker at Della Hardman Day on Saturday, July 30 at 4 p.m. in Ocean Park.

Della Hardman Day began in 2005 when the Oak Bluffs selectmen proclaimed it to coincide with a three-day tribute planned in Mrs. Hardman’s honor by her former West Virginia State College (now university) art students. An artist and educator who enriched the lives of countless people of all ages and walks of life, Della Louise Brown Hardman wrote the Oak Bluffs column for the Vineyard Gazette for many years. She died suddenly in December 2005 at the age of 83. In a tribute to her that following summer the last Saturday in July was set as a day to celebrate the arts in Oak Bluffs in her memory.

The message on Mrs. Hardman’s telephone answering machine and the closing for her letters, columns and e-mails was always the same: Savor the moment, she said.

Morning Haiku, Sonia Sanchez’s first book of poetry in a decade, published by Beacon Press in 2010, is a collection of haiku that celebrates the gifts of life and mourns the death of revered African American figures in the world of music, literature, art and activism. The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University houses the Sonia Sanchez collection of photographs, correspondence, printed material, personal memorabilia, and other items.

The organizers of Della Hardman Day are deeply grateful to Vita Paladino, HGARC director, for her assistance. The Della Hardman collection is also housed at the center.

The Della Hardman Day Facebook page will also be updated soon.