JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

slaterjn@comcast.net

Chilmark will be a busy place this week as everyone hurries to make their emergency moves to avoid the threatening hurricane. Never a dull moment here. I hope that by the time you read this Irene has made different travel plans. Did I mention the earthquake? Many of us felt it those who were sitting down seemed to notice it most. All these adventures are happening, and, always, we have the possibility of a presidential sighting. It will be hard to find any downtime this week. Let’s hope the events I am about to tell you about all come to pass and we wrap up our August in a cheerful manner.

The 150th Agricultural Fair in West Tisbury was a smash hit this year. Everyone agreed it seemed better than ever. Congratulations to the many ribbon winners from Chilmark.

New telephone poles are going up around town. Can we hope that they will bring us cell phone service soon?

The Chilmark Community Church will continue to sell to-go lobster rolls at the church on Tuesdays for three more weeks.

The Boston String Quartet will play at the Chilmark Community Church on August 28 at 7 p.m. They will play a popular program of music. The admission is $5 for children and $15 for adults with the admissions going to support the church’s music fund.

We send congratulations to Preston Williams, longtime seasonal resident of Spring Point on North Road. He was the Houghton Research Professor of Theology and Contemporary Change at Harvard Divinity School from 1973 until 2002, when he retired. On August 20 the school will unveil a portrait of Preston to be hung in the Braun Room in Andover Hall at Harvard University. The portrait was painted by Steve Coit of Cambridge. Preston and his wife, Connie, have been living seasonally in Chilmark since 1987.

Bob and Phyllis Conway enjoyed a visit from their son, David, of Whippany, N.J., during fair week.

Conrad and Jane Neumann were happy to have their daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Marty Shellhaus, and Jennifer’s daughter, Christina, visit from Hammondon, N.J., for a week.

John and Barbara Armstrong of Basin Road entertained John’s mother, Barbara, of Orleans, and his brother, Dave, of Harwichport, for a day or two this past week.

Jim and Diane Morgan and their family traveled to Vermont for a week of vacation and Jim’s mother, Roberta Morgan, enjoyed accompanying them. All are back in Chilmark as I write.

Ruby Leilani McDowell came from New York city to enjoy her first birthday with her grandparents, Hugh and Suzie Weisman, at their Chilmark house. Ruby’s parents are Ali Weisman and Malcolm McDowell. Cheers from us all!

Elliot and Francis Lehman, longtime seasonal residents of Prospect Hill, have come from Chicago to stay this year at the Hollsworth house in Quitsa. The Prospect Hill house this year is the vacation site for their daughter, Kay and Stanley Schozman of Brookline and the Lehman’s grandchildren, Daniel and Julia Schozman of Cambridge and cousin Jonathan of Chicago. The Lehmans first came to Chilmark in 1966. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2010.

Bill and Julie Coleman celebrated Julie’s 69th birthday with a visit from their daughter, Chandra, her son, Lucas, a four-year-old boyfriend, Lawrence, and daughter, Ella, 13 months. They also marked the 30th anniversary of having their Chilmark house. Cheers all around!

The Chilmark library program for August 31 at 5:30 p.m. will be a multimedia presentation by Matt Taylor of his new book, Jaws: Memories From Martha’s Vineyard. The program is about the making of the movie, Jaws. Matt is a West Tisbury resident whose parents, Bob and Connie Taylor, live in Chilmark. There is still a lively interest in that movie. Just this week two men came in my shop in Menemsha asking for any details about the movie, as they were dedicated fans. It turns out it was a father and son from Sydney, Australia, who traveled here just to visit the scenes from the movie.

Bob Rosenbaum will be showing his new photographs at the Sovereign Bank in Chilmark beginning on September 2 with the reception from 4 to 6 p.m. This year’s photos are of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, where Bob traveled in March. The show is on display during banking hours.

Gabriela Herman, lifelong Chilmark summer resident, will have a Pop-Up Photo exhibit on Aug 27 at Beetlebung Farm from 4 to 7 p.m. These will be pictures of the farm and farmers that she has been shooting all summer. The title of the show is Beetlebung Food Diaries.

Bill Vincent spent the last week at the family home on South Road. He was joined by his daughter, Katie, and her fiancée, Nick Persons, all of Niskayuna, N.Y. Nick’s dad, Mike Persons, and Bonnie Newberry, visited for a few days. They also entertained Bill’s college friend, Mike Zmaczynski of East Hampton.