A 105-acre greenbelt area around the town of Tisbury will see a small expansion thanks to a purchase by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. The land bank announced this week that it has bought a three-acre lot in Tisbury abutting its Wapatequa Woods Reservation.

The planets Venus and Mercury are close buddies this week but they part company later in the month.
    
Venus is easiest to spot, low in the southwestern sky after sunset. Venus is brilliant and above the horizon, amid the light of twilight.

The Art Buchwald Possible Dreams Auction, the summer event that benefits Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, will celebrate its 35th birthday this summer with a new name, a new site, on a new day and date, and with a new auctioneer. For many years, the late humorist and Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald emceed and anchored the annual event

What a wonderful celebration of life my sister in law, Nancy Gardella, gave for her mom Marie Maloney McPartlin. Marie died in January in Florida. Her birthday was June 1, so Nancy traveled to New York with her sister, also named Marie, and son Jonathan.

John Roberts

Valedictorian, is the son of John and Elizabeth Roberts of Oak Bluffs. He will attend Williams College in Williamstown in the fall.

Julia Cooper

Salutatorian, is the daughter of Douglas and Carla Cooper of Edgartown. She will attend Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. in the fall.

Chilmark has lost some of the wonderful folks who make up the tight-knit fabric of our lives on Martha’s Vineyard. This week we send condolences to several families who are missing some of these people.

Condolences to the families and friends of Shirley Tilton, who lived in Vineyard Haven but was connected to much more of the Island by family and by her active career. She will be missed by her family and friends and has left us many memories.

Congratulations to Christopher Paul Manning who graduated on May 31 from basic enlisted submarine school in Groton, Conn. Chris graduated second in his class of 82 sailors – Class 13260 USS Spinax. He was the only one in his class to be meritoriously advanced from E1 to E2.

The weekend was hot and humid and lawn mowers could be heard buzzing most everywhere in town. The weather was perfect for outside chores. After church many people had an opportunity to go to the beach for the first time and Lambert’s Cove was pleasantly crowded.

In March of 1881 an energetic number of residents formed the Rural Improvement Society of Cottage City, a group whose mission statement of 99 words neglected to even casually mention its single biggest accomplishment. It elected officers with bold-face Cottage City names, and membership dues of $3 were payable at once or in installments.