Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you. -Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The above is one of my favorite quotes. You can apply it to worldly endeavors, passions at the town level or to simpler moments within your own family. There’s a lot to care about as fall makes its way to town.

The 75th Derby is well underway and participants are doing a fine job adhering to the rules and regulations in place for 2020. A lot of familiar names have made their way to the board and the fishing stories are abundant. It goes to show, you can continue to have a true sense of camaraderie while keeping some distance.

Middle schooler Lathrop Keene has a productive day on the water with his dad, John. He weighed in a nice bonito which earned him a daily pin.

Adam Knight, who’s still around after college plans got a little wonky, also weighed in a nice bonito which earned him a daily pin and the desire to get back out in search of more.

Jeffrey Maida, Johnny Graham, Annette Cingle, Graham Stearns and Casey Elliston, among others, have weighed in fish topping the daily leader boards. At the time of my writing Annette’s False Albacore was holding strong on the overall leader board.

The jetty has been lined with friends who make their way to town each fall to enjoy the camaraderie of the Derby. Sarge, Brian, Brad and more have become regular fixtures nestled in under the Green 3 day marker. It’s nice to see their smiling faces and hear their laughter as they connect, albeit masked. The nice thing about fishing is distance is your friend— less chance of hooking someone or being hooked.

Father and son Terry and Zac Horrocks have returned with fly rods in hand. Zac is known to fish his boat in any kind of weather so his presence is always noted even in the most blustery of days.

Boney Toes is back in the water with husband and wife Cynthia and Ralph DeFelice on board. Dockside chats with them are always a pleasure.

Surf has been, firing as they say, courtesy of the overactive tropics. There’s been a lot of talk about swells, sets, rollers, barrels, breaks, longboards, shortboards and wax.

Owen Singer has been in town recently much to his family’s delight. Mom, Claire Ganz, has taken advantage of his love for the surf and managed to snag a few sweet shots of him riding his board.

Chris Jones is at his Larsen Lane home for a spell. He’s first mate on the Esme which tucked into Menemsha Harbor which gave Chris the opportunity to catch up with friends.

Bella Thorpe, a senior at MVRHS, didn’t spend her weekend fishing, but she wasn’t home watching TV either. She traveled to Saugerties, N.Y. with her Woodbe Farm teammates to participate in the Region 8 Regional Dressage Championships at Hits-on-the-Hudson. She and her mare, Bella Ymas, returned home with a beauty of a reserve champion ribbon after riding to near perfection their first time at the third level. I’ll admit dressage competitions and levels are a tad confusing, but I do know the level they’re competing at now is more challenging than where they’ve been placed in the past. Bravo for the Bellas.

Happy seventh anniversary to Zoe (Pechter) and Simon Thompson who celebrated in typical parents of young children on Sept. 21.

Our well organized town clerk, Jennifer Christy reminds us all that early in-person voting will be held daily from Saturday, Oct. 17 through Friday, Oct. 30 at the town hall. You can get all the details by visiting chilmarkma.gov/town-clerk or ring her at 508-645-2107. Details on voter registration can be found at the same place.