The weekend weather was seasonable. Some ferries were cancelled on Friday due to strong winds that brought down thousands of leaves. The days are mighty short with a 4:30 p.m. sunset. Old Jack Frost has made a brief visit, but he says he will be back soon.

In honor of Veterans Day, the Gazette has excerpted oral history interviews conducted by Linsey Lee as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s exhibit Those Who Serve: Martha’s Vineyard and WWII. Here, interviews with Jane Slater, Nelson Bryant, Curtis Jones and James McLaurin.

Coat or no coat? That has been the question of the week. First it is so cold that you have to wear a coat with a scarf and then the next day you are back down to shirts with maybe a sweater. Who knows what next week will bring?

Robyn and Simon Athearn of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Ignatius Orrson Athearn, born on Nov. 4 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Ignatius weighed 8 pounds, 1.1 ounces at birth. He joins big sister Rose Hope at home.

She’s baaack!! Sorry to have missed you, gentle readers, but I have been caught up in a whirlwind of events. Thanks to the sharp eyes of my Island doctor, Ellen McMahon, I was sent immediately to our stellar partner hospital, Massachusetts General, to have some worrisome tests further checked out.

Pedestrian Safety
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, three employees from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will visit the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School to teach parents and teachers about pedestrian safety. In turn, these volunteers will then teach a small group of first and second graders what they have learned about being street-safe. Training will be from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. and then the volunteer teaching of the students will occur from 8:45 to 9:15 a.m. 
Local police departments are also invited to come to the Charter School to take the Pedestrian Saving class.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum welcomes its new education director, Ann DuCharme. She will join the staff on Nov. 4.

Ms. DuCharme comes to the Vineyard from Cincinnati after summering here for years. She most recently worked for the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati facilitating Visual Thinking Strategy sessions for area schools and working with teacher resource guides. She is a graduate of Smith College and the University of Cincinnati.

Alison Shaw Photography will be offering a six-month mentorship program, Sharpen Your Focus: Taking your Work to the Next Level starting in mid-November. Ms. Shaw has been teaching week-long photo workshops on the Island for more than 20 years.

A new offering, the mentorship is designed to provide a long-term, more intensive experience for students wanting to take the next step with their photography.

Oak Bluffs’ Wesley House Hotel is the sole remaining majestic Cottage City hotel. Operating continuously as a hotel since 1879, the landmark 95-room hotel is one of the few commercial reminders of our Victorian architectural past.

Dr. David Finkelstein of Vineyard Haven recently attended a two-day annual ophthalmology update seminar in Boston. The seminar included classes in the latest techniques in cataract surgery, age-related macular degeneration, oculoplastics surgery, management of malignancies of the eyelid, diabetic retinal disease and the latest technologies to enhance diagnoses of ocular diseases.