Seed Savers

All are welcome to join the Nature Conservancy staff in collecting, cleaning and sorting seeds from their native plant nursery. Seeds are currently ripening on plants in the nursery and are in need of harvesting. This is an opportunity to learn about native plants and help preserve the unique natural character of Martha’s Vineyard.

The Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners of the second annual business awards, the Martha’s. Winners were determined by a vote of the membership and are as follows:

The last act of my day is watching the “Local on the 8’s” on the Weather Channel. Last Wednesday (a week ago now) the temperature was 38 degrees.

Eek, what do I call this winter visitor — black chipping bird, white-bill, slate-colored snowbird, eastern junco, slate-colored junco or dark-eyed junco? Presently the ornithologists are calling the junco that visits the Vineyard most commonly the dark-eyed junco.

Windy Days

From Gazette editions of October, 1985:

Please Adopt Us

The nine little kittens that were born at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard a few weeks ago will be ready to find homes on Oct. 27, so if you would like a kitten, come early on that day and pick your kitten. Some of them, have double paws. The shelter opens at 8:30 a.m.

Rose knows.

Island seaweed artist, centenarian, naturalist and amateur mycologist Rose Treat periodically sends letters to the editor of our hometown newspapers. And she does us a great public service by doing so. Every year or two, she writes a note to remind us to take care around wild mushrooms, and to watch our children, pets and self around these fortuitous fungi, lest we inadvertently ingest the wrong ones and injure ourselves.

JUNE D. MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

alleys@vineyard.net

Last Friday we had high winds, a lot of rain and several ferry cancellations to the Island. But the weekend weather was seasonable and allowed for a lot of outside chores to get done before the first frost. Linda Alley, manager of the Farmers’ Market reports that their fall market will take place at the Agricultural Hall tomorrow from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. It was very successful last year and they are planning to make it even better tomorrow.

JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark is a busy place this season of the year. Town hall is buzzing with activities, many surrounding the emergency work on the docks and many projects that had to wait for the summer to end. If you are new in town or are wondering how to fill the off-season hours, you might like to check out the opportunities for volunteer service to Chilmark. Congratulations to Cathy Thompson, who was appointed to complete the late Rusty Walton’s term on the planning board.