Come to the fairgrounds for the first farmers’ market of the season on Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. until noon. The event started 50 years ago with a few radishes and heads of lettuce set out on folding card tables.

This being Martha’s Vineyard however, even in those early years the market had its cachet. One summer, I recall seeing the soprano Beverly Sills, wearing a broad smile, T-shirt and denim bib overalls. She was seated at her own table, selling scallions from her garden.

The market has burgeoned. This year it will offer honey, pies, alpaca knits, jams and jellies in new-size jars, orchids, take-out full meals, dahlias, seafood, sunflowers, cookies, chocolate, live music, and, of course, fruits and vegetables. There will also be shoppers wearing chichi straw hats and matching baskets.

Dogs — chichi or plain — are not allowed.

The farmers’ market also takes place every Wednesday, starting June 12, and adds the attraction of picture book storytelling and silly songs by Hannah from the library.

West Tisbury resident Claudia Taylor has been chosen as the Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate, and will be honored Saturday, June 8, at 4 p.m. at Featherstone Center for the Arts. Claudia’s roots are deeply entwined within the Vineyard’s lyrical history. Her great-grandmother was the eminent Trudy Taylor. Her grandparents are Brent and the late Alex Taylor. Her parents are James and Natasha, and her twin sister is Paige.

Claudia studied in England at the University of York, and earned a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge at Oxford. She is 28 years old.

We expect gales of laughter to spill from the Grange Hall this weekend as the venue becomes a showcase for some quick-witted, unscripted comedians. I can’t imagine a scarier way to make a living. The show is called TBD “to be determined” Improv. Shows are Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8, at 7 p.m.

Around the neighborhood: Anna Alley is home from a long-planned and poignant trip with her siblings to Omaha Beach in Normandy, where their father landed on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Todd, Caroline, Lucien and Siena Murtha have arrived after a fabulous trip to South Africa.

Cynthia Riggs has published a memoir called Wait, Spring. It is available at the bookstores this summer. Cynthia has led a life so full and rich that her memories could fill several volumes.

The Rural Scholars of the Dukes County Health Council will meet at the library on Friday, June 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. Paddy Moore urges health professions to attend, as the session will review and analyze data from the past 10 years of studies. There will be an assessment by senior Umass medical students, who had been asked to recommend ways to strengthen and improve health services on the Island.

The town is rocked by the terrible news that Janice Haynes has died. She had a cancer that progressed very rapidly at the end. Janice worked at the town hall. She was married to Jeremiah Brown. Her parents are Bill and Betty Haynes, her brother is Bruce. The whole family has been active in the community on many levels. Janice was our baby-sitter way back when, and the community has lost a fine citizen.\

We have a singular turkey who strays from her gaggle to look up at me imploringly at bird feeder-filling times, hoping I’ll spill a little. So I do. I suspect she’s the same winsome girl who followed a few paces behind me recently as I strewed grass seed on the lawn, at $30 for a small bag. She followed right along my path, vacuuming up the seed as I went.