Chilmark is a busy place and most of the activity has nothing to do with seasonal holidays. Many of our friends and neighbors are hard at work on committees and commissions that are meeting nightly at the town hall to deal with town business. This is the month when the deadlines for real estate taxes, warrant articles, financial reports, budgets and end of year reports are due from the sub-structure of the town government. There are eight to 10 major committees with seven members and many more with three to five members — all volunteers who care enough about Chilmark to show up and take part. The regular meetings are open to the public and take place at the town hall. Listings for meetings and details up for discussion can be found at the town website: chilmarkma.gov/pages/chilmarkma.

And, as if to make the town hall a more welcoming place, a number of the blue ground flowers in the parking lot are in bloom!

More good news coming from Chilmark is that the scallop season is, so far, a good one. The commercial fishermen are working hard . . . and this weather helps!

I call your attention to a public hearing scheduled by the planning board on Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed bylaw regarding the size of houses to be built in Chilmark. All are welcome to attend and address the subject.

The community center is a busy place this time of year. There will be a holiday flea market on Dec. 15 featuring an assortment of vendors selling gifts, treasures, crafts and foods for your holiday enjoyment. The Chilmark Community Church is sponsoring the sale, and Annette Anthony is the go-to person for renting space or other questions. Her phone number is 774-563-0016. The lunch will be provided by Dee Smith of Savory Pies, a popular Chilmark business.

The Chilmark Firefighters Association will host the annual Santa visit to the community center on Dec. 19 at 5:30 p.m. All Chilmark children are welcome.

The Chilmark Community Church invites us all to welcome their new pastor to town. He is Seongmom Ahn of Korea. He received his bachelor of arts degree in Korea and his master of divinity degree from Boston University. He and his wife and their two children will soon settle into the parsonage on the Menemsha Crossroad. He preaches at the Sunday service on Dec. 9 at 9 a.m.

The Soup Suppers continue on Tuesday evenings at the church on Menemsha Crossroad. They begin at 5:30 p.m. and all are welcome.

West Tisbury Library continues to show movies on Monday nights at the Chilmark library meeting room at 7 p.m. They will be showing science-fiction movies from the l950s through the month of December. This Monday features Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and on the Dec. 17, Them!

The Chilmark Library meeting room will be the local venue for the annual evening of music by the Vineyard Classic Brass Ensemble. They will begin the concert at 6:15 p.m. The Chilmark members of the ensemble are the Dunkl family and the musicale is an annual favorite for up-Islanders.

The Friends of the Chilmark Library host their annual holiday party on Dec. 19 beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the library meeting room. Wreathmaking and socializing are the favorite pastimes at this popular event.

Up-Island photographer and artist John Wightman will hang his annual holiday gift show at the Sovereign bank in Chilmark beginning Dec. 7. This year his work includes small and affordable gifts items, many featuring up-Island images. The show is open during regular bank hours all month.

The Minnesingers are preparing for their annual winter concert under the direction of Jan Wightman. They will present their concert at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown at 8 p.m. on Dec. 7, and at the same place on Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. The Minnesingers are traveling to Croatia in April, where we know they will be well-received.

Although it is December, the temperature as I write is 51 degrees. There is a big blue hydrangea in full bloom in front of Barn Again on D.H.’s Hill, and there are many birds chirping at dawn — all features of a different season of the year . . . let’s hope global warming is something we can all live with!