Music, poetry and sharks.

It’s not a frequent combination, but on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Martha’s Vineyard poet laureate Lee H. McCormack will read a poem at JawsFest to draw attention to the plight of sharks and to protect aquatic ecosystems. The anticipated audience exceeds 5,000 people, which would rank this event the most attended poetry reading in Island history.

Mr. McCormack will be joined by Wendy Benchley, widow of Jaws author Peter Benchley, who is president of the Board of Shark Savers.

This Sunday, August 12, artist Samuel Close will be putting the finishing touches on one of his works featuring the Edgartown Lighthouse at the Island Art Gallery located at 66 Main street in Vineyard Haven from 4 to 6 p.m. The piece is to be raffled-off, and 100 per cent of the proceeds will go to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

At the open air market in Oak Bluffs last Sunday, Billy O’Callaghan sat in a lawn chair at the back of his tent crafting a small gray whale out of clay. A woman moseyed into his tent and examined the small clay figurines and the charming driftwood furniture. “These are fantastic,” she exclaimed. “Just beautiful.” The artist, an Irishman with graying hair and kind blue eyes, nodded in appreciation. A construction worker by trade, Mr. O’Callaghan has lived on the Island for 26 years.

Rose Abrahamson has a history of saying this is her last art show. Who can blame her? After all, she is 90 years old. But thankfully, thus far, she has not made good on her promise.

In case Olympic Table Tennis has you in the mood to swing paddles at lightning speed, the Chappaquiddick Community Center is hosting the annual All-Island Chappy Ping Pong Tournament on Sunday, August 12.

The tournament is open to all ages and levels of competition. The round robin competition begins at 11 a.m. Registration opens at 10 a.m. and is free.

Winners will take home the Island equivalent of a gold medal — Morning Glory pies.

For more information, call 508-627-7902.

Baa Baa for Red Cross

On August 21 the Black Sheep on North Summer street in Edgartown is hosting a fundraiser for the Red Cross of the Cape and Islands. What the Black Sheep does best is food and wine, (to stroll through the store is like taking an edible tour of France), and their goodies will be in great abundance.

The first pairing of the evening will be three cheeses along with three crisp white wines. The second pairing will be three charcuterie paired with three summer reds.

Director Matthew Heineman and co-director and producer Susan Froemke spent eight months researching the topic of health care before turning on the camera. As filmmakers, their major obstacle was clear — how to distill such a complex topic into something relatable.

A few weeks ago, while sitting on a porch here on the Vineyard, Jessica Ashley leaned back, closed her eyes and began to sing. Or rather, she belted out a few lines, totally absorbed in the music. Afterwards she opened her eyes and asked, “Do you know that one? My sister and I used to sing that one together.”

How does one end up writing a book about a star child? For that matter, what is a star child?

Author Kay Goldstein was wondering the same thing a few years ago when she started writing the first pages of her newly released novel, Star Child, a process which caused her to delve into the depths of human experience.

On an island off the coast of Georgia, moths beat against the screen as George Dawes Green and his childhood friends stay up late telling stories on a cozy summer porch.

Years later, Mr. Green sits in New York city growing tired of the loud, crowded and fast-paced parties of his adopted home.

“They were just so rapid-fire — no one could possibly squeeze in a word,” he remembered. “I just got tired of cocktail parties because I had been nurtured on stories and people telling them.”