They are sometimes called porchers, the people who flock to the porch of the Chilmark Store at noontime each day throughout the summer. The focus of the congregation is usually on the right-hand side as you walk up the front steps. While food — pizza, wraps, coffee and chips — is their common bond, this is also the time when people catch up on the day’s gossip and news.

Nancy Gardella

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

Pamela Brock and her friend Docia Reed, both neighbors in Waltham, spent a glorious week over the Fourth visiting Pam’s mom, Leigh Smith. The weather was perfect, yet hot, as you well know. The ladies got plenty of things done and caught up with Pam’s friends. They were delighted to be hosted by Leigh. Look for Pam’s return in August.

JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark will hold a special town meeting on August 6 at 8 p.m. at the community center. The subject to be discussed and voted on is the replacement of docks in the Menemsha harbor. We hope all interested voters will turn out and hear what is proposed and vote their choices.

We have been enjoying very lovely summer weather for the past weeks and we are learning not to comment on the heat quite so many times a day.

People and cars are everywhere. The weekend weather was superb, hot and dry. Mary Blake’s pie stand has been very busy, and Mary is struggling to keep up with the demand. She has kept her husband, Gary Ellis, busy selling pies in the gazebo every day.

OgkeshKuppe (the wet or damp woods) was the name the original people gave Oak Bluffs, whose original settlement was in the Farm Neck/Eastville area. The first white man living in Oak Bluffs was Joseph Daggett, whose father came to the Island with the revered Mayhews. Joseph married the sachem (chief) of Sanchakantackett’s (Sengekontacket) beautiful daughter Ahoma, often called the Pocahontas of Martha’s Vineyard.

Ruth Metell of Oak Bluffs was recognized by Rep. Tim Madden at the 28th Annual Heritage Day of Portugal celebration at the State House on June 5. Heritage Day recognizes members of the Portuguese American Community who are role models and outstanding contributors to their local communities. Ms. Metell is a Martha’s Vineyard native who worked at the Martha’s Vineyard National Bank and the Edgartown National Bank, and was named 2011 Senior Volunteer of the Year by the Oak Bluffs Senior Center. She has five children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Sixty-five years ago Eddie and Irene Pacheco left Rhode Island in pursuit of a dream. They wanted to own a grocery store. They chose to locate the store in Oak Bluffs because they believed it to be a special place. East Choppers have greatly benefited from the fulfillment of that dream.

The climate change activist Bill Moomaw believes Henry David Thoreau had it right — living deliberately and simply makes a difference. And like Thoreau, “we have to confront the essential facts of life,” Mr. Moomaw told an overflow crowd at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury on Monday night.

And it starts with awareness about the changing environment.

When James Balog first photographed glaciers for National Geographic in June 2007, they filled his camera frames. Incomprehensibly large and imposing blocks of frozen history, most were decorated in a brilliant sheen resulting from a constant stream of melting ice on the glaciers’ surfaces. The glossy finish made for great photography, but it also hinted at a problem for the planet — the melting of the polar ice caps.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

July 6 83 64 .00

July 7 88 70 .00

July 8 88 66 .00

July 9 88 69 .00

July 10 82 62 .00

July 11 84 64 .00

July 12 85 56 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 77º F.