JANE SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark is now on the downhill side of the first long weekend of the season and our hope is that the sun will return and stay with us so that our visitors will want to return! The weather was grim until the actual holiday itself when the sun was bright on the parades and picnics. Some of the weddings scheduled for Saturday and Sunday had to make do with some real New England-style weather. One such wedding was seen taking place on the Lucy Vincent Beach — that union has met the test!

We regret reporting that the Grey Barn had an unfortunate fire and has had to close down the cheesemaking and dairy activities, including the farm stand. We hope they will recover and be back to normal soon. We are happy that no human or animal was hurt.

Elmore Bud Mayhew is back at his State Road home after a stay at Massachusetts General Hospital. His friends are happy to have him home and look forward to seeing him out and about soon.

Bob and Emma Shalhope are back at their Menemsha home after wintering in Norman, Okla. They were only eight miles from Moore where the terrible tornado struck. Bob and Emma will visit their daughter Adelaide in Scotland this summer and will also enjoy a visit to Chilmark by son Robert and his family from Denver.

Congratulations to Jacob Glazer who received a master’s degree in landscape design from Columbia University on May 21. His brother Aaron of California surprised him by coming east for the ceremonies and his sister Hilary of New York city also attended. Jacob is the son of Bill and Roz Glazer of Chilmark and Key West. All the families will visit Chilmark during the coming summer months.

The Bite served its first bowl of chowder of the season to 4-year-old Olive Dakota Mills. She was visiting with her parents, her cousin Liliana, and her grandmother and great-grandmother. They are staying at the Rasmus Klimm house on Basin Road. Olive and Liliana are great-great-granddaughters of Rasmus Klimm, a well-known fisherman of Menemsha in earlier times.

Members of the Lazarus family gathered at their Middle Road home for a family reunion and a start to the Chilmark visits for the family members. Mary Ann Lazarus was here from St. Louis, Billy and Suellen were in from Washington, D.C., and Richard Lazarus and his wife Jeannie Austin of Cambridge were here.

A visitor of another sort came to Chilmark this weekend. An American white pelican dropped by for a view of Chilmark Pond from Mary Jane Pease’s dock. We hope he finds his way back to his local digs or, maybe, likes it well enough to stay here!

Allan Gerson and Joan Nathan came from Washington, D.C., for the holiday weekend at their North Road home.

Larry and Janet Bell were happy to have the family gather this past weekend to celebrate the wedding anniversary of their daughter Sarah and her husband Jay Wechsler, who were married in Chilmark on May 25 five years ago at the Beach Plum Inn. Other guests this week were baby Eliza, daughter of the Wechsler’s and Sarah’s sister, Jennifer Bell Leune and husband Joe, and Sarah’s maternal grandmother Molly Goldstein. All will be back to Chilmark as the season progresses.

The Chilmark Community Church will host a meeting of the Neighborhood Convention on June 4 at the Chilmark church. The convention is made up of members of all the churches on Martha’s Vineyard. All are invited to the meeting, which begins with a program at the Yard on Middle Road and continues with a brown bag lunch at the church. Drinks and desserts are provided. The Yard program begins at 10:45 a.m. The church will conclude the weekly pizza nights on June 4. All are welcome to the pizza supper with games and conversation following.

Bill and Zee Gamson are back at their State Road home after a visit with their son Josh and granddaughters Reba and Maddy. They were entertained at a Mother’s Day brunch at Josh and Robert’s home in Oakland. They visited friends in Santa Cruz and headed home for a busy summer in Chilmark. Josh and family will visit in the coming weeks.

I was sorry to learn of the death last week of Richard Smith of Chilmark. He was a nice man and a hard worker for the town of Chilmark. He had many interests and devoted many hours to helping solve community problems. I had the pleasure of working with him for many days on the plans for the Tea Lane farm. I know his family and many friends will miss him. We send condolences to all.