Recognized by his brown, leather hat, worn smooth by decades of fishing in salt air on Island shores, Mike Cassidy is an anchor of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

How was commerce on Martha’s Vineyard this summer? If most business owners gave it only a passing grade, those catering to the wealthy had a different take.

The storm, a category 3 hurricane as of Wednesday afternoon, is poised to lose some of its strength as it moves over colder Atlantic waters, but Islanders are readying themselves for strong winds this weekend.

Sarah Kadison and five-year-old Tucker Schaefer both earned triple crowns (catching a bonito, false albacore and bluefish) on opening day. Tucker's advice to other fishermen: "reel hard."

Despite a foggy morning, which promised a slow start to the 78th Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, Kevin Seger was waiting patiently in line at 8 a.m. Sunday with a 3.46-pound bonito cementing its status as first fish of this year’s derby.

On Sunday at 12:01 a.m., anglers will head to moonlit beaches and offshore Island waters — as they have every September since 1946 — when the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby gets underway.

Featherstone Center for the Arts holds its annual Potters Bowl on Sunday, Sept. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m.

On Friday, the Lagoon Pond Floating Gallery became a venue for conversation between two groundbreaking women scientists — one African American and the other Wampanoag — about the importance of empowering students of color in the sciences and arts.

On Tuesday morning around the Island, bells were ringing again as Vineyard students headed back to the classroom for the first day of school.

The Ms. Foundation returned to the Vineyard this week for its 10th annual Ms. on Martha’s cocktail gathering and conversation.