Kelley DeBettencourt and Ezra Agnew of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a son, Milo Everett DeBettencourt Agnew, born on Oct. 1 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Milo weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces at birth.

If you were looking to take the pulse of the Island arts community this week, the Harbor View Hotel was the place to be.

A large group of Island arts leaders and planners convened there Tuesday to listen to a presentation by Lyz Crane, director of partnerships and special projects at ArtPlace America.

Andrea Dello Russo just replaced her first-ever head gasket. Now she drains the fluids and prepares to install the thermostat.

“You see how the color is like cappuccino milk? It’s because when the head gasket leaks, all kinds of stuff gets mixed in,” she says. “This should just be oil draining out of here, but because the coolant gets in the passageways and the valves it all mixes in with the oil. Which is why it is majorly important to clean it, because this is not what your engine wants to be running with!”

It’s not unusual to see a group of people traveling the streets of Oak Bluffs together, to see them stop in the middle of a Circuit avenue sidewalk and gaze up at a historic building, or stand next to the Tabernacle and take in the quiet calm of the Camp Ground.

But the group touring the resort community Monday morning were not tourists.

In 2008 Pamela White began writing a book about her mother, Marian Steele who had died in 2001 of Alzheimers Disease. The project was both a tribute to the beloved matriarch of the family and to a celebrated artist. However, early in the project Pamela began having memory difficulties of her own and at the age of 61 was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers.

Always put the good news first. The best way to begin this week’s column is to announce some happy adoptions. Mickey the Mouse, Boston, the Egyptian Mau cat, and Roo the little kitten, all went to new homes this week. Mickey, in his cage of many colors, went to a Magic Kingdom of his own. Beautiful Boston was adopted by a lovely lady still mourning her beloved greyhound. He has been renamed Spencer after her grandfather who was ever the gentleman.

The weekend weather was delightful. A smattering of pumpkins, mums and Halloween displays are beginning to appear around town. We now have an early sunset and cooler temperatures and memories of a September that slipped by before you knew it.

After nearly 20 years in business, Aboveground Records, the landmark indie Island record store that has had a following among people of all ages, plans to close its doors.

On Wednesday morning this week Aboveground founder and owner Michael Barnes announced a closing date for the beloved store at the Triangle in Edgartown by posting a simple message reading on the store’s Facebook page: “1995-2014.”

“We’re in the final three months,” Mr. Barnes told the Gazette on Wednesday. He said he will likely close in the first week of January 2014.

In 1641 when the Great Harbor Township founding Martha’s Vineyard was granted by King Charles, Edgartown’s East Chop neighborhood was included and remained part of that town until 1880 when consternation over taxation led to our secession and incorporation as Cottage City.

Sorry to have missed you last week. I was under the weather, which sounds ridiculous because this weather has been too incredibly beautiful to be under. Some of you seasonals and vacationers who have come or stayed later than usual now know our secret: this is the very best time of year on storybook Island.