Seems to me like summer is already winding down. Odd, with a full half of August still to be used up. But August always has been the strangest month for me on the Island. I compare this month to a four-course meal in which the entree is hurried to the table, gobbled up with vigor, and then everything that comes after is only vaguely considered on the periphery of one’s overstuffed self.

There is one very important event yet to happen, however. The First Annual Lucy Enos Benefit Golf Day will be held on Thursday, August 27. This is an all-day event during which 50 per cent of all proceeds will go directly toward funding Lucy’s school trip to Ireland. Please show up to the Royal and Ancient Links on Chappy, and show your support for this academic adventure. Islanders will be charged $25 for greens fees, while all you other fine people will be charged $50. Lucy is a hard working young lady, putting in 80-hour weeks on the Chappy Ferry (aside from being a deck hand, she also pushed the ferry on Tuesdays and Fridays to save on gas). But these days, kids no longer stow away on oil tankers on trips abroad, but avail themselves of the services that airlines provide. And airfare ain’t cheap. So let’s make the 27th a really great day by coming out in droves to support dear Lucy, and her efforts to improve Irish-American relations. For more information (though I can’t imagine there’s really much more to say on the matter), you may call me at 508 627-2729.

Another don’t-miss event will take place this Saturday, August 22, at the Chappy Community Center from 5 to 6 p.m. My Chappy, an open discussion by four authors who have written about “their” Chappy in recent books, offers four unique visions of the island they love. The authors and their books are Edo Potter and The Last Farm on Chappaquiddick, Gail Rodney and Seen One Summer: A Martha’s Vineyard and Chappy Sketchbook, Melinda Fager and Living Off the Sea, and Tom Dunlop and The Chappy Ferry Book and Reflections on Martha’s Vineyard, with special guest Peter Wells. This event is sponsored by Vineyard Stories and refreshments will be offered during the book signings.

This was conveniently scheduled to take place during my brief hiatus from the island. I contributed to Melinda Fager’s Living Off The Sea, and have a great deal to say about a great deal of things, but the other authors wouldn’t cede to my reasonable demands of luxury coach travel accommodations and a personal introduction by Gore Vidal. So, I’ve been squeezed out. With or without me, it should be a great time.

Lastly, the seagulls have asked me to kindly remind everyone at the point to please drive over the various shells they have left on the pavement for cracking. It takes a village to make it all work. They would do the same for you.

Send Chappy news to ibwsgolf@aol.com.