Chilmark parties on. Don’t miss the big Rockin’ Away the Winter Blues event coming up tomorrow, Feb. 9, at the Community Center. It is the annual fundraiser for the Chilmark School PTO outing program and offers dancing to Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, lots of food, some auction action and lots of socializing. Not to be missed.

Last week’s festivities drew a huge crowd of devoted fans to the Community Center for the celebration of Bette Carroll’s 90th birthday. A good time was had by all and we all appreciated the family planning that went into such a grand party.

The West Tisbury Congregational Church invites us all to a Shrove Tuesday Mardi Gras party on Feb. 12 at the church from 5 to 7 p.m. There will be Shrove Tuesday pancakes with many extras and music by Rick Bausman and his band. There will be lots of beads and masks to create a Mardi Gras atmosphere. The tickets are $5 per person and $15 for families.

We welcomed home a number of the Carroll family who are back after enjoying a week of fun and sun at Disney World.

Chilmark Democrats will meet at the Chilmark town hall on Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. The agenda includes the selection of new officers for the group and delegates to go to the State convention in Lowell.

Nomination papers are ready at the town clerk’s desk in the town hall. They must be signed and returned by March 13 at 5 p.m. If you are an incumbent running again, remember to get nomination papers signed. If you would like to run for office, pick up nomination papers at town hall. If you have questions, Jennie Christie, town clerk, will be happy to help.

The selectmen voted this week to make the special primary election for the candidate to replace John Kerry in the U.S. senate and the annual town election to be on the same day. There will be dual elections on April 30 at the Community Center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. We will vote separately but at the same time in the same place. Of course, one may chose to vote on the town ballot and not the primary or the other way around, but it is hoped that this arrangement will make it easier for our voters. The annual Chilmark town meeting will be on April 22 at the community center and the election for the senate choice will be in the same place on June 26.

Chilmark School’s fifth grade, all eight of them, will be home tonight from the annual fifth grade outing to Sugarloaf ski resort. Janice Brown, Becky Barca-Tinus, Hillary Noyes-Keene, Jim Karabees and Alicia Knight accompanied them.

The Chilmark library invites everyone to their Wednesday program on Feb. 13 to hear Scott Lindell tell us about Sea Vegetable Farming in the Coastal Ponds. Scott is the Director of the Woods Hole Biological Laboratory’s Scientific Aquaculture Program. His talk will begin at 5 p.m. and all are welcome at no cost.

The Chilmark Community Church is hosting musical get-togethers at the church’s meeting room on Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m. Irene Hungerford is coordinating things. Please call her at 508-645-3257 for details.

If that program gets you interested in food, you are ready to read Jan Buhrman’s mid-winter issue of her Kitchen Porch Culinary Experience. As always, it is full of interesting information, recipes and helpful hints. You can find it at kitchen_porch_culinary_experienc.mail.vresp.com. If you wish, you can call 508-645-5000 for information.

The Conservation Commission held a public hearing at town hall this week regarding the planned rebuilding of the U.S. Coast Guard boathouse in Menemsha. A large number of people attended and the Coast Guard had people there to answer questions regarding conservation and environmental impacts. There is still no date for the beginning of construction as the permitting process is still ongoing. It is hoped that the construction will not impact the environment or the seasonal business of the harbor, however, it is anticipated to be a seven-month project.

The Chilmark Tavern, a seasonal restaurant in summer, is a center for the arts at this time of year. Pathways is an artist-centered program calling together artists in all mediums and giving them a chance to view and discuss each other’s works; completed or in progress. They will host the third annual Valentine’s Poetry Reading on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. On Feb. 15 there will be a musical night of Love Songs with musicians of all sorts invited. The program is also offering music tonight.

Pathways has been well-attended and is a great way for all of us to keep track of what our artist friends have been doing this winter. Please get in touch with Scott Crawford at scott4pathways@gmail.com for more information.