Chilmark life is a learning experience . . . even in a blizzard. The appearance of mysterious snow balls caused dogs to bark, photographers to venture out into the storm and the rest of us, to Google! The truth is stranger than anything you could make up. It turns out that their appearance is a rare meteorological event. They are called snow rollers and form in any snowstorm when the winds and temperatures are right. The winds blow the snow along the ground forming balls that are sometimes hollow and can vary in size. They have been experienced wherever snow falls but are not common and have been recorded in detail. And, I hope you took pictures of our latest blizzard because, as I look outside now, I see that rain has cleared all but the roadsides in Chilmark!

Other than the weather excitement, not much else is going on in Chilmark. Across the Creek, the dredging continues, Josh Aronie keeps the food truck going in the Home Port parking lot and the Chilmark post office is caught up after several days of no mail due to ferry cancellations. We are back to winter normal for the moment.

The good news is that Chilmark Chocolates will re-open on Feb. 4. That is a sure cure for the winter blues.

Jackie Flynn Morgan has been transferred to New England Sinai Hospital, 150 York St., Stoughton, MA, 02070. We wish her well and look forward to seeing her home soon. The Flynns run the popular summer restaurant The Bite on Basin Road in Menemsha every summer.

The Chilmark Community Church continues to offer suppers on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. and all are welcome. Church services are from 9 to 10 a.m. on Sundays and, for the next few weeks, they will offer a book study hour after the service. They are reading and discussing the book Not in God’s Name, Confronting Religious Violence by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. The public is welcome to attend.

This Friday there will be a fundraising event at the Chilmark Community Center to benefit popular local artist Doug Kent. The art event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. with food, music and more. Doug’s artwork will be offered for sale. The exhibition and art sale will continue on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Howes House in West Tisbury will host a men’s senior strength class on Tuesday and Thursdays at 10:35 a.m. for one hour beginning Feb. 2. Katryn will be the coach. She has successfully taught women’s strength and balance classes for a number of years at Howes House as well as maintaining a full private training schedule. The first men’s class will be free and the charge is $8 a class afterwards.

Robert Conway and his late wife Phyllis spent one winter — awhile back now — making miniature wood models of many of the Chilmark buildings. Recently, Danny and Marie Larsen donated the model of the town hall to the Town of Chilmark. That prompted some folks to recall seeing some of the other models. The call is out to all who may have or have knowledge of other models. The hope is to borrow them to make a collection for a display in the town hall. The Conways were talented in their art and craft projects and the models are pleasing to look at. The miniature of the town hall is on display there now. Town hall sends many thanks to the Larsens for their donation.

Dee Smith of Tea Lane Caterers and Savory Pies surprised and pleased the staff at town hall last Thursday when she contributed some of her tasty treats to their lunch that day. They send her many thanks.

Good luck to Chris Fischer who will be teaching two classes for Stir Boston in Boston this month. Find out more at stirboston.com. He will be teaching cooking shellfish and citrus. Sounds good to me!

And lastly, please allow me two personal notes. Many thanks to the Vineyard Gazette for a very pleasant winter get-together last week that gathered many of those who contribute to the paper to Edgartown for a bit of frivolity And I send thanks and good luck to Katie Carroll, who will kindly write this column for me for February. Please contact her at squidrow@vineyard.net with news.