Ordinarily a rare sight on the Island, wood lilies are blooming in profusion this year in many places, including in the fields at Waskosim’s Rock Reservation, a Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank property.

The showy red-orange wood lily occurs in dry woods throughout southern New England; its entire range runs from southern Ontario to North Carolina and Kentucky. The bulbs were once gathered by native Americans for food.

The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard began as part of a promise to a little boy, and in 1998 the Shearer Cottage was dedicated as the first site on the Trail. The ambition was to reach a total of eight sites. That there were many stories was obvious, but the depth and range of the experiences that make up the tapestry of the African American experience on Martha’s Vineyard was amazing. From fugitive preachers to nationally known politicians, all the struggles and triumphs of people of color were part of the story of this Island.

Here comes another dog story but who doesn’t love dogs? I want to tell you about Lucca who died in early June. She was a Siberian Husky that we adopted on a cold, snowy Super Bowl Sunday back in 2010. We were never sure of her actual birthday so we celebrated before the football game.

The old pipe organ at Trinity Episcopal Church was restored over the winter and will be the centerpiece of a concert this Sunday at the historic Oak Bluffs chapel.

The concert begins at 4 p.m.

“Music has always been important at Trinity,” said organist Wesley Brown, who has been playing at the church for 20 years.

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is the local land trust for the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. Our mission is to conserve the natural, beautiful, rural landscape and character of Martha’s Vineyard for present and future generations. We are governed by a board of directors which represents the year-round and seasonal communities of the Island. We own 2,000 acres of conservation land across the Island, including land in each of the six Island towns. We protect another 850 acres of land with conservation restrictions.

At the Oak Bluffs board of selectmen meeting last Tuesday, July 9, our selectmen cheerfully voted to sacrifice safety in favor of cramming in 15 extra diagonal parking spots on Sea View avenue, from the Lookout Tavern down to the bottom of the hill, and changing four-hour parking to two-hour parking, thus doubling the amount of backing up done, potentially into children on bikes, scooters, skates and in buggies.

As a lifelong resident, of West Tisbury, I would like to send my heartfelt thanks the Woods family, The Nature Conservancy and the Vineyard Conservation Society for all their hard work over the last 25 years to preserve over 500 acres of open space for our town.

Now that beach weather is here, it is time to address dogs on the beaches and the people who insist on bringing them to the beach. It is our observation that most people don’t keep their dogs on a leash and/or under control.

Last week I mailed a note card with pictures and a small story of how Cottage City Barbershop came to be. I did not mean for it to be in the letters to editor or I would have addressed it that way. I was merely telling the paper the story and thought you might like the original pictures.

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of July, 1980: Spring Farm Fond Rose is not your average milk cow. In dairy circles there is as much difference between her and the basic black and white Holstein milker as there is between the Chappaquiddick Ferry and the Cunard Line. She is simply a superior animal. She should be. The five-year-old, pregnant Holstein was auctioned last week at the Syracuse, New York, state fairgrounds for $250,000, a world record for her breed.