Tradition Celebrated at 145th Grand Illumination Night

At dusk last night a single lantern lit by Gordon Long and his son Roy made its way down the center aisle of the Tabernacle in the Oak Bluffs Camp Ground. There was a collective gasp from the large crowd gathered inside the Tabernacle and around blankets and picnic baskets on the lawn.

Film on Food Insecurity

A Place at the Table, narrated by Jeff Bridges and scored by T-Bone Burnett, is a documentary that places the spotlight on hunger here at home. It tells the stories of people struggling with food insecurity in the U.S., where 50 million people are unsure of where their next meal will come from. The Vineyard Committee on Hunger and Martha’s Vineyard Film Society will sponsor a showing of the film on Wednesday, August 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the film center at the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven.

Kid Critic Gives the Reel Deal

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evening at the Chilmark Community center.

Comedy Festival

If the summer traffic is starting to fray your nerves, think Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Festival held at the Lampost on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs. The event is billed as the only profanity-free comedy fest in the nation and features primarily African American comedians who offer “originality and sophistication while on stage.”

Literary Festival

The first annual Keren Or Literary Festival welcomes authors Julia Newman, Sarah Caravallo, Estelle Ana Baca and Paul West to the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven this Sunday, August 18, at 6 p.m. Keren Or is the only center in Israel dedicated exclusively to the education and care of children and young adults who are blind or visually impaired and have additional multiple disabilities. Support for the festival will go to the Keren Or speech therapy program.

Benton and Pollock

Two trailblazing artists and their relationship is the theme of historian Henry Adams’s book Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock. Abstract impressionist Mr. Pollock let the paint fall where it may, while Mr. Benton’s style was the polar opposite. Mr. Pollock was a student of Benton’s.

Moon and the Tide

The moon appears low in the south in our evening skies this weekend. The gibbous moon spends the weekend going through the zodiacal constellation Sagittarius, the southern-most constellation in the zodiac. For those walking along the Island’s south shore, the moon will be an especially impressive sight, so close to the water and to the horizon.

The moon will appear higher in the coming week as it moves farther along the zodiac, passing into the constellation Capricornus. The moon will be full Tuesday through Wednesday. The August full moon is referred to as the Sailor’s Moon.

Word to Fairgoers: All Roads Do Lead There

Nothing, not even a partial road closure and some imposing detour signs, will keep people from the fair. That’s the hope of Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society as the 152nd annual Livestock Show and Fair begins today at the West Tisbury fair grounds on Panhandle Road.

Sharks at Home Tonight in First Try for Championship

The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks rode the postseason wave on Wednesday night, soundly defeating the Nashua Silver Knights 11-2 in New Hampshire in the first of a three-game series to decide the winner of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

If they win tonight at home, the Sharks will be crowned league champions for the first time.

Game time is 7 p.m. at the Vineyard Baseball Park. Pitcher Matt Timoney, who plays for Harvard, is scheduled to start.

If necessary, a third game will be played Friday at home.

Crisis in Egypt Casts Shadow Across Presidential Vacation

World news intruded on President Obama’s Vineyard vacation Wednesday, with briefings for the press and the president on unfolding violence in Egypt.

“The United States strongly condemns the use of violence against protesters in Egypt,” principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said.

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