JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark feels like August this week as I write on Tuesday evening — hot, muggy and very crowded. The Menemsha sunsets have been drawing big crowds and the beaches are well occupied every day by smart people trying to stay cool! What happened to July? I am hoping it is behind the fog that is hanging around the Elizabeth Islands!

The U.S. Coast Guard is beginning to get ready for the rebuilding of the boathouse. A barge came in to the harbor today with large cranes hinting at work to come. The timing is difficult but there are reasons for everything and I am sure we will all work together to get the job done quickly.

This is the time of year that I greet many friends who have been enjoying short summer vacations in Chilmark, some for several generations. I often wonder what their Chilmark is really like? Some stay two weeks or a month every year and that is what they know of Chilmark. There is no doubt they love and are faithful to the town they know and come back to every year. It makes me think of looking through a kaleidoscope. Every fractured piece of color is someone else’s Chilmark. It humbles me into driving slowly, picking up litter, parking efficiently and offering a smile to all. I want them to continue their love affair with the town I feel so fondly about, but you do wonder what their favorites memories are.

Dan Karnovsky and his son, Nick, prepared the course in Menemsha Pond last week for the first sailboat race of the season. Sunfish and Herreshoffs have been racing in the pond for many years now. Races will follow the first race that was on July 3 on Wednesdays and Saturdays through August. This year they dedicated their first race to the late Bill Glazer. He was an avid racer for many years and the fleet will miss him.

We all send happy birthday wishes to Bob Conway of Stonewall who will be celebrating his 90th birthday on July 16. He is looking forward to a visit from his daughter, Robin Morley from New Jersey and her daughter, Tara Morley. Cheers to you, Bob, from us all!

Kathy Hayes of Rhinebeck and New York city is in Chilmark for a July vacation. She began her annual visits back in 1963. Kathy and I reunited in Chilmark by coincidence once many years ago. We looked familiar to each other and then remembered we had worked together for Northeast Airlines in Manhattan back in the early 1950s. Chilmark is the place to meet those you didn’t remember you knew! Her granddaughter, Tava Sampson of Brooklyn joined her for a week.

Thanks to Andy Goldman for this interesting new item. Four of the Chilmark Community Center alumni are competing in the Maccabiah Games in Israel. The athletes are Ellie Greenberg, soccer, Eli Levy, swimming, Davey Merkel, squash and Sara Greenberg who is competing in the lacrosse world cup in Toronto. It is great to know they worked on their sporting skills while at our community center! Congratulations to all!

Chilmark artist Heather Sommers will join Ruth Kirchmeier and Elizabeth Taft to talk about their art groups at the Shaw Cramer Gallery in Vineyard Haven on July 16 at 6 p.m.

Please remember that the Chilmark Church continues to offer lobster rolls and the fixings on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the church hall. They also welcome the Vineyard Sound, a singing group who performs at the church on Tuesday evenings at 8 p.m.

The Chilmark Library will be the place to be on July 17 when the Menemsha Fisheries Fund will offer an hour of information and tasting. Menemsha fishermen will tell us all about fluke and also offer us some tastes of this delicious fish. The program is free and all are welcome at 5 p.m.

This is the 19th year of the Chilmark Library’s Elisa Brickner Annual Poetry Contest. The contest is open to students in grades 6 to 12. There are two categories, junior high, grades 6 to 8 and high school, grades 9 to 12. The deadline for submitting a poem is August 12. Any subject, style and length is accepted. All work must be original. The prizes are $200 for first prize and $100 for second prize. Please contact Kristin Maloney at the Chilmark Library or call her at 508-645-3360.

Please remember to share your news with me as I am rooted in Menemsha these days and would love to know what is going on over south.