For Polly Hill Arboretum director Tim Boland, the swift demise of his oak forest that spans the arboretum property has been literally startling. “I’d be outside in the collections this winter and I would just hear wha-BAM!” The trees, ravaged by a plague of caterpillar infestation that lasted just over three years from 2005 to 2008, are now hollowed and rotting, teetering toward collapse. “I used to think these trees would stand for the next 10 years or so. They won’t. Within the next three to four years they’ll all be down,” Mr.

If nothing else, this July Fourth was a celebration the founding fathers would have approved of — a celebration of life, liberty, and above all, the pursuit of happiness. Parade-goers wore ribbons in their hair, held flags in their hands and were all smiles with ice cream dripping down their chins as they eagerly awaited the first floats of the annual Edgartown parade.

It’s been 35 years since the movie Jaws forever linked great white shark attacks and Martha’s Vineyard in the popular imagination of the world, yet in all that time no one has ever been attacked.

Then, long after all thought it was safe to go back in the water, along came the U.S. Coast Guard with last week’s holiday boating advice, headed “Shark Advisory” and warning swimmers, kayakers and small boaters of the danger of great white sharks.

By MEGAN DOOLEY

In a blink-and-you-might-miss-it special town meeting Wednesday night, Aquinnah voters flew through seven warrant articles in under 20 minutes.

Voters approved an update to the town zoning bylaw, without which residents would have lost access to federal flood insurance on July 8.

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the old town hall building. When moderator Michael Hebert announced that the meeting had reached its quorum of 40 voters at 7:31 p.m., voters responded with clapping and cheering.

Surely Tuesday night’s Tisbury special town meeting, which finally saw police pay raises approved, set some kind of record for discomfort, noise and brevity.

From the time town moderator Deborah Medders called the meeting to order until the time she declared it over, it took just 17 minutes.

A fast-moving fire at the Morgan Woods housing complex in the Ocean Heights area of Edgartown early Wednesday evening severely damaged two homes and left three families homeless.

Edgartown fire chief Peter Shemeth said the fire likely started when a small propane tank attached to a backyard grill behind 26A English Oak Circle, part of a three-unit complex, began to vent and caught fire. The blaze ignited the rear corner of the home and quickly spread to the adjacent unit.

Martha’s Vineyard Magazine’s Best of the Vineyard winners and runners-up were announced Wednesday at a celebration party at Mediterranean Restaurant in Oak Bluffs.

The Net Result and Sharky’s Cantina walked away with honors in multiple dining categories, with Offshore Ale and Giordano’s not far behind.

Making a strong showing among clothing outfitters were the Green Room and Basics.

RICK HERRICK

508-693-8065

(herricklr@verizon.net)

On June 23 Bob and Wini Blacklow celebrated the 100th anniversary of the building of their house on Munroe avenue. Melville Fuller, a New York investment banker, came with his family to East Chop in 1910. Toward the end of that initial visit, Fuller offered to build a summer cottage if his family would commit to five summers in the house. They came for forty-six summers before selling to Fred and Katherine Farnam in 1956.

Members of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce are invited to submit their nominations for consideration to serve as volunteers on the chamber’s board of directors.

The board’s primary role is to set policies and fiduciary oversight; members also bring their expertise and ideas for a vibrant business community.

The nominee’s residence will be considered, with an aim to keeping the board diversified.

A small group of eager five-year-olds gathered on the beach in Vineyard Haven Wednesday night to celebrate an important milestone: graduation from the Garden Gate Child Development Center.