Chilmark closed out an era on Saturday as the town gathered at Abel’s Hill Cemetery to say farewell to Lynn Murphy. The days of getting Lynn Murphy to do it are over. Fresh off a fishing boat as a young man, he found Chilmark and he stayed. He was a man of talents when it came to anything mechanical and when something was broken in your world the advice given was “get Lynn Murphy” and most often he could fix it. He had an inventive ability to jury-rig all sorts of things to create what was needed and it was always impressive. He had a love of boats and a fearless attitude toward the water in any of its moods. It was a happy coincidence of fate that Lynn met a group of landlubbers who arrived on Martha’s Vineyard with a fake fish and an idea for a movie. The challenges were heroic and Lynn was up for them! He made friends and fans, and no doubt, enemies, but he had the time of his life getting Jaws to float and bite and to keep the Orca afloat. We send condolences to his wife, Susan, and to the rest of his family and to the many folks who knew and loved Lynn. The multitude of Lynn Murphy stories that will be told and retold will keep his presence felt among us for a very long time.

Chilmark is very quiet this week with many familiar faces missing from the local scene...in most cases they are housebound with the really bad cold or flu bug that has swept through town. Cheers to all who are ailing and we hope to see you out and about soon.

Rodney and Pam Bunker enjoyed having daughter Samantha home on her winter school break. She has returned to her studies at Clark University in Worcester. Her sister, Emma, a senior at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, is playing hockey among her other studies.

The First Congregational Church of West Tisbury will host a concert at the church on Jan. 29 at 3 p.m. Performing will be the trio We Minstrels 3, joined by guest percussionist Lisa Esperon. The Trio consists of Eric Johnson, Ed Merck and Niki Patton performing the music and poetry of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque eras. This is a fundraiser for the church and tickets are $15. I am including this out of town event because the West Tisbury church funds a generous Wednesday night dinner for the public all winter and many folks from all towns enjoy the food and hospitality of the church. Please call the church for more details about the program.

The Mopeds Are Dangerous Action Committee has arranged a presentation of their program at the Oak Bluffs board of selectman’s meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 4:30 p.m. The meeting will be at the Oak Bluffs Library, downstairs. Please visit the MV Mopeds Are Dangerous Facebook page.

Our retired police chief, who is currently our temporary police chief, Tim Rich, is chairman of this committee and appeals to all who are interested in a rental-free moped program for Martha’s Vineyard to attend.
The town of Chilmark is seeking applications for the position of police chief. Please call the office if you wish to apply.

Well, once again we start the week off with rain. The question is how long can we hope for the January thaw to last?

Send Chilmark news to slaterjn@comcast.net.