The Dukes County advisory board last week signed off on funding for a new emergency notification system aimed at summer visitors with smart phones. County emergency management director Chuck Cotnoir requested the use of county funds to put in place the Ping4 notification system as a way to help Island visitors receive emergency information. Ping4 is a smart phone application that allows a user to receive localized notifications. It is used by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service, and can be programmed to send out county-specific information.

Adult and Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard (ACE MV) was named an Outstanding Community Arts Education Collaborative on May 22 by Arts Learning. The award was presented in a ceremony at Lesley University in Cambridge.

ACE MV offers numerous classes in many different mediums. It also hosts community forums, performances, readings and cultural events focusing on the arts.

The mission of Arts Learning is to transform education through the power of the arts.

Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands honored Barbara Murphy of Chilmark with the Volunteer of the Year award at its annual meeting.

Mrs. Murphy has been a Meals on Wheels volunteer since 2005. She came to the Meals on Wheels program as a volunteer driver after teaching Spanish at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School for more than 30 years. Mrs. Murphy grew up in Oak Bluffs and her father was also a volunteer with Meals on Wheels. She and her husband Chris have two daughters, Hope and Mary.

Chilmark is now on the downhill side of the first long weekend of the season and our hope is that the sun will return and stay with us so that our visitors will want to return! The weather was grim until the actual holiday itself when the sun was bright on the parades and picnics. Some of the weddings scheduled for Saturday and Sunday had to make do with some real New England-style weather. One such wedding was seen taking place on the Lucy Vincent Beach — that union has met the test!

One would have never known it was spring when the temperature dipped to the 40s over the weekend, but we will recognize the season more when it reaches the 80s this weekend. The irises are standing tall as if at attention and the catbirds have arrived awaiting handfuls of raisins. I’m still awaiting the arrival of the orioles. Many families have arrived to open their summer residences for the season.

If you are an artist — and what Islander isn’t — you will want to contact Amy Ryan at our library as soon as possible. Beginning Tuesday, June 4, is the annual Island artists show sponsored by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library. The opening reception is Tuesday evening from 5 to 8 p.m.

In 1866 when the Oak Bluffs Land and Wharf Company built America’s Great Watering Place, they employed the services of the brilliant Robert Morris Copeland, the Boston landscape gardener, to design the layout of Cottage City. It was Erastus P. Carpenter’s genius in identifying Copeland — experienced with rural cemetery design — as an acceptable designer for the influential Camp Meeting Association

The holiday weekend weather was rainy and downright cold for this time of year. Sunday morning’s temperature was a mere 42 degrees. The rhododendrons at the old Foote tennis court (the only clay court remaining in town) were absolutely beautiful this past weekend. Bunny Fales would have been so proud of them.

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The rain sure did find its way to the Island this weekend, but it did not dampen a lot of spirits. There were plenty of people here and I’m sure everyone made the best of it. This weekend is going to be hot. We will see.

Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Nathaniel Garcia and Micah Simmons, who both celebrated their day May 26, and to Kamel Al-Hamid and Mason Cron, who celebrated May 30.