On Saturday, July 30, Vineyard residents and visitors are invited to Savor the Moment when Della Hardman Day returns to Oak Bluffs. The celebration begins at 4 p.m. at Ocean Park.

The late Mrs. Hardman was an artist and educator who earned her doctorate when she was 72 years old. She was first introduced to the Vineyard at the age of three and moved to Oak Bluffs full-time in 1986. She was a community member who immersed herself in volunteer work, bringing people together and conversing with all she met, especially if they were from her home state of West Virginia.

She also wrote the Gazette’s Oak Bluffs column for more than seven years, succeeding the late Dorothy West in 1998. “Savor the Moment” was her signature sign-off and a principle she lived by.

The first Della Hardman Day was organized in 2005 by a group of her former students who wanted to thank their teacher for the joy, curiosity and learning she had brought into their lives. After her death in December 2005, the town of Oak Bluffs designated the last Saturday in July as Della Hardman Day and a committee of friends and community members has organized an annual celebratory event in Ocean Park.

This year marks the centennial anniversary of Mrs. Hardman’s birth. Her daughter Andrea Taylor, who is organizing this year’s event, noted recently to the Gazette how relevant her mother’s way of living continues to be.

“I think the values my mother espoused and represented were what we’re now calling diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said. “She engaged with everybody, all kinds of people. Her life leaves us with timeless questions of what it means to be an open and receptive member of the community and what opportunities do we have that not only enrich our lives but those of people around us.”

Mr. Haki Madhubuti, a poet and professor who founded Third World Press, will speak at this year’s event. Mr. Madhubuti will read poems that embody Mrs. Hardman’s life.

The event will also include speaker Chester Higgins Jr., a photographer and author who worked on staff at The New York Times for 42 years.