JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark is very quiet. No fishermen following the tides at all hours, no more lawn mowers to be heard and not much of anything going on to attract a crowd. We will get used to it. The sun is shining again after a dreary week, so things can’t be all bad. The leaves are just beginning to turn and there are some nice surprises of red amidst the general greenery.

The 30th annual Women’s Symposium will take place at the community center on Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to noon. The subject for speakers is Unexpected Harvest. There will be discussions and refreshments. This is a popular event so best to be early for convenient parking.

Jan Buhrman’s newsy column is out for October at kitchenporch.com. If you haven’t tuned in to this monthly food report you are missing a lot. It is full of news for the cooks among us, as well as the eaters! There is a lot of Chilmark news too. The news about the Wild Food Challenge that took place last week is interesting and, of course, stimulated a few memories for me. I still think my mother’s huckleberry slump was a pretty good wild food dish, but I can see that we lacked a lot of imagination — and I suspect courage — to try some of the other bounty around us.

Congratulations to the West Tisbury Library Foundation, Inc. for raising the matching $35,000 and insuring a wonderful new library for West Tisbury. Currently the library is in temporary quarters in North Tisbury — or Middletown to some of us — across the road from Conroy’s pharmacy. Bids are coming in from contractors and they are hoping to break ground in November. Another Island library to fare well is Edgartown, which received a large grant to begin their expansion plans. Congratulations to all the hard-working library supporters out there!

The West Tisbury weekly Monday night movie will move to Chilmark beginning next week, Oct. 22. The film will begin at 7 p.m. in the Chilmark library meeting room. The film will be Three Burials of Malquiades Estrata starring Tommy Lee Jones. The film for Oct. 29 will be Paper Moon.

We send condolences to the family and friends of P. G. Harris, who died last week. He died too young and leaves his family and friends grieved at his loss. He had deep Chilmark roots and a strong interest in the history and condition of his north shore lands. He will be missed by many.

There will be a interment ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. for Doris West Nevin. She died on May 13, 2011 at the age of 92. Doris was one of the West sisters who grew up on Middle Road, children of Captain Ellsworth Luce West and Elsie Athearn West. We are happy to report that the old farm stands pretty much as it was in appearance all those years ago.

This isn’t news to the deer, but we are currently in the bow and arrow part of the deer hunting season for the Vineyard. Hunters on the Island are allowed four permits for antlerless deer, more than off-Island due to our heavy population of deer. For more information, go to the Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife website. Surely there are lots of good recipes for that wild food!

It was sad to witness the breakup of the Betty B. She was one of a few of the old wooden fishing boats built back in 1941 by McLain’s boatyard in Thomaston, Me. The story goes that boats built there had to be brought down a steep hill by oxen to be launched. The Betty B was built for Linus Dodge of Block Island and had many other owners before her unfortunate landing on Lobsterville beach. When boats last that long they get all sorts of stories attached to them. Just mentioning the name of a boat to some old duffers can keep you in chat for a long time! We were sorry to see her go that way.

I haven’t been out and about this week due to a nasty cold that felt more like flu. I have since heard that others out there have had it too. To those who are still to get it — hang in, it does go away!