Chilmark joins the rest of the Island in mourning the loss of a valued and much loved member of the Island community, Pat Gregory. He is fondly remembered by folks in many walks of Vineyard life and will be forever missed. We miss you Pat, says a lot but we will also miss the more innocent times we shared with Pat Gregory before we all were reminded that we live in a brutal world in the grip of a gun madness that will someday require our full attention. We send condolences to his family and to all who mourn this tragic loss.

There will be a memorial gathering for Penn Kimball, a longtime Vineyard resident, who died in November. The gathering will begin at 4 p.m. at Abel’s Hill Cemetery.

We send get well and hurry home wishes to Trudy Taylor who is recovering at a rehabilitation facility off-Island as I write. We all look forward to seeing her out and about soon.

Ed Greenbaum and Joan Caulton recently arrived from Bloomington, Ind. and are enjoying an early spring visit to their Menemsha home.

The Home Port Restaurant will be open as you read this. They are preparing to be open for the holiday weekend for both back door and dining room service with their new chef, Josh Aronie. The Beach Plum Inn Restaurant is also open Thursdays through Sundays. The Chilmark Tavern is offering dinners from 5:30 p.m. with new chef, Jenna Sprafkin.

The Galley and The Bite are both open and ready for your casual dining when in town. The Chilmark Store has the pizza ovens hot so there are plenty of choices now for your dining pleasures. Both fish markets are also open and dishing out chowder and fish in all forms. We are a happening place all of a sudden. Nice to have the sunshine as a backdrop.

Congratulations to Cody Alexander Coutinho who graduated from Merrimack College last week. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science in civil engineering. Cody is the son of Robert and Linda Coutinho of Chilmark who attended the ceremony accompanied by Cody’s grandmother, Margaret Maida, his brother Zachary, uncle Jeffrey Maida and Anita Smith. Cheers from us all!

Jon Mayhew’s show of varied art works continues at the Santander Bank in Chilmark. It is Jon’s first show of his photographs, paintings and sculptures. Jon is the son of Paul Henry and Beth Mayhew of Chilmark. His works may be seen during regular bank business hours.

The Don Hurleys are at their Quitsa home for a spring vacation.

Congratulations to Rose Goff Maidoff of Chilmark who graduated this past Sunday from Mt. Holyoke College. The ceremony was attended by her parents, Ingrid and Jonah Maidoff, and her grandparents Clark and Pam Goff. Cheers from us all!

The Chilmark Community Church invites us all to the annual blessing of the fleet to be conducted in the Menemsha Beach parking lot. Chairs will be set up near the Menemsha Texaco station. There will be music and it is an opportunity for the children to participate and to appreciate the fishermen and fishing boats. There will be no church service that day and the blessing festivities will begin at 9 a.m. in Menemsha. The program will include a Memorial Day remembrance.

Chilmark writer and teacher Nancy Aronie, is on the road again. She will be teaching at Omega in Rhinebeck, N.Y.,  from June 1 through June 6.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum will open an exhibition called Sea Change: Martha’s Vineyard in the 60s. Photographs, videos and oral histories will tell the stories of the Vineyard through those exciting years. Chilmarkers Douglas and David Seward have contributed pictures and oral histories. Frank and Merrily Fenner are also featured. The opening party is on May 23 at 5 p.m. The exhibit will be on display throughout the summer.

Vocational students at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High school are rapidly completing the harbor master’s building now located on the bulkhead in Menemsha. When they complete the construction it will be placed on a permanent foundation and be open for business.

Cheers from here for a happy holiday weekend with friends and family and we will all keep in our hearts the memory of those innocents who have fallen to violent acts of all kinds.