Chilmark is bathed in April sunshine as I write in early week, making the abundantly planted window boxes at the new Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank location look cheerfully spring like. Needless to say they will look even better when the snow melts off them. Most of Chilmark will be snow free by evening, unless the clouds roll back!

The bank opened officially on Monday and by all reports, is much admired. As with all Chilmark openings, coffee and cake was served and is still featured. Good luck to all!

Chilmarkers are still returning from late winter vacations. Scott McDowell is home from Hawaii, and Mitchell Posin and Clarissa Allen are back after an enjoyable visit with her family of five cousins in County Roscommon in Ireland. Andy Goldman and Susan Heilbronn are at their Menemsha home after an interesting tour of Myanmar, the country we used to know as Burma.

Zee Gamson is back in Chilmark, declaring an end to her extended 80th birthday extravaganza that took her to New York city to reunite with former students, old friends and three Vineyard friends. On to Boston, where she spent six days being entertained by family that included five grandchildren. And doesn’t this sound like the perfect way for Zee to be honored . . . three grandkids harmonized for her the Crosby, Stills and Nash song Helplessly Hoping. Cheers from us all!

We send condolences to Glenn and Dilly DeBlase on the recent death of Dilly’s father, David Douglas. David died in Florida but was a Chilmark resident and a long time resident of Martha’s Vineyard. He has many friends and family here who will always miss him.

Welcome to new Chilmark homeowners, Dr. Marshall Katzen and his wife, Bari Boyer. They have recently purchased what some of us call the Lavasseur house on South Road. When not on the Island, they live and work in Worcester.

Please mark your calendars for some upcoming dates of interest. Town meeting is April 25 at the community center at 7:30 p.m.; voting will be on April 27 at the community center. Please check the Chilmark website for details or call town hall.

The annual spring meeting of the Women’s Symposium will be on May 7 from 9 a.m. to noon at the community center. The subject for discussion will be Dancing Around and after individual talks there are discussion groups and refreshments. All women are welcome. Remember this is a popular event and it is wise to be early.

The Chilmark library is conducting a survey this month. Every five years the library prepares a five-year program and asks the patrons to submit their ideas. Please stop by and share your thoughts with the staff. Forms are available.

I had a deja vu experience this week when I spent one night at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. I was wheeled into a room on the second floor and the view from the window immediately took me back 82 years! I was a two year old again being held up to watch the boat cross the harbor and dock in Vineyard Haven. I was watching for my father who was on the steamer. The view is in very much the same position as it was in the old hospital. On that day in 1935 I was the youngest child to have had my tonsils out in that hospital. The things one recalls at this point in life can be amusing.

We send condolences to the family and many friends of Barbara Martin Walker who died on March 25 at age 92 in New Jersey. She and her husband Robert Walker and their family spent many summers at their home in what is called the Red Ground in Menemsha. It is a pretty part of the shore of Menemsha Pond. We look forward to the return of all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who have all become part of the Chilmark summer scene over these many years. Barbara was a woman of unusual accomplishments in an era when women like her were breaking barriers with their quiet, formal and polite ways. She was a role model for other generations to come.

A drive down any country road these days will, almost always, offer you a view of male turkey in full feather. The hens have some handsome dudes displaying for them this spring!

Send Chilmark news to slaterjn@comcast.net.