JUNE D. MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

Saint Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Chilmark Chocolates opened yesterday for the next three weekends and then will close until just before Easter. While in Chilmark, Lisa Bibko Vanderhoop has a variety of Valentine cards and her 2012 Seadogs Calendar at the Sovereign Bank at Beetlebung Corner from Feb. 6 to 14.

Serving Hands Food Cupboard has changed the day of distribution to the last Friday of the month from 2 to 4 p.m. at the First Baptist Church parish house in Vineyard Haven. No early birds, please. Thank you to the highway departments in the towns of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury for their unwavering efforts in transporting the more than 50,000 pounds of food each year from the Boston Area Food Bank to the Vineyard, and also to Island Food Products, a program of the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living, for providing transportation and refrigeration. For more information, please call Betty Burton at 508-693-5339.

The Martha’s Vineyard Neighborhood Convention will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center with a bag lunch at 10:45 a.m.; beverages and dessert will be provided. Due to religious restrictions, please do not bring any luncheon containing meat. Your offering during the luncheon will be directed to Island charities. Worship will be by Rabbi Caryn Broitman. The program will include “Chappy — the Early Days” with Edo Potter.

The Martha’s Vineyard Youth Task Force invites parents of seventh and eighth grade students of the Martha’s Vineyard schools to attend an evening of Chat & Chowder with delicious food prepared by the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School culinary arts program. There will be a discussion and parents will learn of resources to support the family as the children transition through middle school to high school. The program is on Thursday, Feb. 16 in the high school cafeteria from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Please RSVP to ytf.theresa@yahoo.com.

Thank you to WMVY Radio for presenting the 26th annual Chili Fest on Saturday for the benefit of the Red Stocking Fund. Tricia Bergeron needed volunteers and I sold raffle tickets with cousin Kaye Manning. As Alby Rose said, I would be a “brave soul,” and that I was. I did not try any chili, but I sold many raffle tickets for a 46 inch flat screen television, saw many of my down-Island friends and am still in awe of the enormity of it all. I would volunteer again if Tricia needed me. For now, I will be wearing my WMVY Chili Fest T-shirt and sending a donation to the Red Stocking Fund.

Have you shopped yet at the new boutique section in the center of the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Chicken Alley Thrift Shop? As there have been many high priced items donated recently, they are now on sale at an affordable price in the boutique.

Condolences to the family and friends of Joyce Bernard, who passed away in Falmouth this week.

Congratulations to Gary Coates, Jr., son of Gary Sr. of Georgia and Eloise Moreis Boales and her husband, James Boales, of Aquinnah, in his first competition in the North American Grappling Association. The competition was held at Twin Rivers in Lincoln, R.I. on Jan. 28. The New England Championship is the world’s largest, and is open to all styles of boxing. Gary won a gold medal in Brazilian Jujitsu and a bronze medal in Muay Thai, which is similar to kick boxing. He is a member of the Gracie and Matta team of Tisbury.

Congratulations to Anthony Devine, son of Kevin and Tabitha Devine, who will graduate today from basic training in the United States Army at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. Anthony graduated from high school in Fort Walton, Fla. in 2011, where he was on the swim team, and spent his summer on the Vineyard, where he worked at the YMCA. He is the grandson of Wendy King Oliver of Oak Bluffs and Herbert Devine, Jr. of Randolph, the great-grandson of Shirley Sylvia Pachico of Oak Bluffs and Cynthia Moreis Veira of Mashpee. He is following in the footsteps of his father, Kevin, a highly decorated veteran, and has been in the Army for 20 years, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Welcome to Aquinnah’s newest resident, Keyshawn Joseph Devine, son of Heather Ferreira and Keith Devine. He was born at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital on Jan. 29 and welcomed home by his brother, Kayden, and his sister, Jasmine, and by his large extended family. Keyshawn is the grandson of Byram Devine of Tisbury, Shirley Grant of Brockton, Sandra Ferreira of Oak Bluffs, Tony Ferreira of Oak Bluffs and great-grandson of Peter Jenkinson and Susan Benway Jenkinson. He is also a descendant of the late Captains Thomas Tilton and Horace Devine.

Condolences to the family and friends of Douglas Dias, who passed away in Falmouth. Doug always had a kind word for all and a joke as well. He is survived by his brothers, Bill and Bob, and his children, Christopher, Jennifer and Antone and his fiancee, Jannette Vanderhoop, and their daughter, Oceana.

Thank you to Rev. Veronica Helen Lanier for spending time with the members of Community Baptist Church of Gay Head on Sunday. Her words of inspiration were a blessing from this remarkable 93-year-old missionary who has devoted her life to missions in Chicago, San Francisco, Lynn, Salem and many points in between. She was commissioned by American Baptist Church in 1956. In 1970 she was the first ordained female Baptist minister and the first African-American Baptist minister. She has spent time in missions with Burmese, Hispanics, and many other cultures. She retired in 1988 and has since volunteered to coordinate all missionaries in New England. For 30 years she was the on-call minister at Children’s Hospital in Boston, tending to the needs of the children and their families from Friday nights through Monday mornings. At this time, she is organizing a mission in Wisconsin over the summer which will be attended by members of both Vineyard Baptist Churches. Of note, she has known Rev. Ellen Tatreau since she was a nine-year-old child in Chicago. It is always a pleasure to have Rev. Lanier in our midst.

Happy second anniversary wishes to Judd Fuller and Dana Radford on Feb. 8.

Happy birthday wishes to Jeffrey O. Day, who will observe a major milestone on Feb. 4 and shares the day with Laurie Thompson and Jeffrey Lunn, who will also observe a major milestone. Blair Hill and Mavis Camillo also share the day on Sunday. Aquinnah selectman Spencer Booker will party on Feb. 6 and shares the day with Hellie Neumann. Aquinnah selectman James Newman shares the day with Cheryl Andrews-Maltais on Feb. 8. Brook Zern will party on Feb. 10.