On this day in 1887, Punxsutawney, Pa., was made famous by a weather predicting rodent meteorologist named Phil. In 1993, seasonal neighbor Bill Murray reinforced the idea of the repetitive nature of the holiday in the film Groundhog Day. For Emmett Carroll and John Larsen, the repetitive nature of Feb. 2 means birthday cakes topped with candles to blow out.

Although his show will be up at the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Chilmark branch for the month of February, Friday is your opportunity to stop in and see Albert Fischer standing proud amidst his photography. From 5 to 6 p.m., he will host an artist reception. Don’t attend assuming you’ll have an opportunity to ask him a whole bunch of technical questions, but do attend to peruse his photographs, say hello and enjoy the company of community on February evening. His artwork will brighten the gray this week has had to offer.

Next Friday, Feb. 9 at 2:30 p.m., the planning board will hold a public forum at the library to host a presentation by consultant and architect William Brewster. Janet Weidner, Peter Cook and Joan Malkin, subcommittee members, have been meeting tirelessly with other town departments, consultants, business people and residents to determine what modifications can be made to improve Menemsha’s parking, traffic and safety. Please attend to share ideas.

Speaking of town government, it’s budget season here in Chilmark. Members of the finance advisory committee began meeting last week and will continue through next week to review all town department budgets for fiscal year 2019. Thank you to Susan Murphy, Robert Hannemann, Bruce Golden, Eric Glasgow, Vicki Divoll, Adam Debettencourt and Marshall Carroll for providing well reasoned, fiscally sound and responsible recommendations to all of us so that we may vote at the April town meeting as informed citizens.

I bumped into Margaret Emerson the new chairman of the Chilmark Democratic committee, the other day. She would like to extend an invitation to all registered Democrats to come to town caucus on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. at the library.

Not only is it an opportunity to elect delegates to the state Democratic convention which then decides who goes to the primary, but the caucus provides an opportunity to register to vote. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. Check out their Facebook page.

After five months of intensive overhaul Andrew Wheeler’s crab boat, Miss Jena, formerly the Cee-Dee, is back in Menemsha Harbor. It was a bow to stern labor of love whose hull has returned to its original Kelly green.

Genevieve Flanders and her husband Zachary Tong have settled into their new home in Milton, Vt. The couple embraced one of the many things the Green Mountain State has to offer and took to the slopes at Smuggler’s Notch. It was Zach’s first time on skis.

You can look forward to a few Island history lessons brought to you courtesy of research done by Harriette Poole Otteson. Harriette continues to research noteworthy Chilmarkers and this week’s story coincidentally happens to be about a distant relative of both my husband Marshall’s and yours truly. John Lumbert (also known as Lambert, Lombard and a few others) was born in 1799 and called the family farm overlooking Menemsha Pond home. At the age of 25 he set out as a mate from Nantucket on the whale ship, Globe. Hariette thinks that perhaps this may not have been his first trip, as it’s not likely for a first timer to achieve the position of mate. While cruising the mid-Pacific, a mutiny broke out aboard the Globe. Thirteen whalers, six of them Vineyarders, were murdered. John, after being stabbed by a bayonet and tossed overboard was one of these casualties. Although his body was left off the coast of Fanning Island, his family put a headstone in Abel’s Hill Cemetery. John’s cenotaph notes his cause of death was disease but documentation shows this was not the case.

Send Chilmark news to squidrow@vineyard.net.