When Vineyard Haven throws itself a birthday party, everybody’s invited.

And when the birthday party comes in the form of the annual Tisbury Street Fair, nothing stands in the way of a good time — not even inclement weather.

Look at Britain around the turn of the 20th century, or Napoleonic France in the early 1800s, or Spain in the late 1500s. Or so many other great powers of their times, before they went into decline.

Now look at the United States of America, in the early part of the 21st century. When R. Nicholas Burns does, he sees a worrying pattern.

“They were brought down, most of them, by the fact that they couldn’t afford it any more,” the veteran diplomat told a capacity crowd at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Thursday.

A 10-knot north-northeast breeze made for a dramatic morning start of the Edgartown Yacht Club’s annual ’Round the Island Race on Saturday. A total of 47 sailboats of varying sizes converged for five starts in the 67-mile race, the best in years.

Sailboats came from all around the region, but it was one sailboat, Ceilidh, a 39-foot sloop, from Chester, Nova Scotia that became the race’s favorite. A rear commodore from Chester Yacht Club, Captain Randy Stevens, and his crew won first place in the Class 3 PHRF, a nonspinnaker division.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has filed a lawsuit to try to block the development of the Cape Wind project on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.

In a statement issued Friday, the tribe announced the tribal government had authorized the long-threatened lawsuit against the Department of the Interior‘s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, which has approved the 130-turbine wind farm.

For musician Ben Taylor, the Hot Tin Roof legacy is an unfinished song. The lyrics tell a story — since 1979 so many rock and roll, blues, funk, hip-hop, bluegrass, and folk greats have walked through the doors of the Vineyard nightclub at the airport.

Now Mr. Taylor and the current owners of the nightclub, which is now named Nectar’s, say there is one more verse to write.

At the first of Edgartown’s gallery strolls this year, which will see the wine, cheese and music — oh, and don’t forget the art — spread out at four simultaneous gallery receptions on Thursday, Elizabeth Eisenhauer will be looking “to see what that little element’s going to be that’s different and unexpected.”

Each year, there’s a little bit of a difference in Edgartown’s Evening of Fine Art, according to Ms. Eisenhauer, who owns the Eisenhauer Gallery.

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evenings at the Chilmark Community Center. The films begin at 6 p.m. but at 5 p.m. the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets underway.

Oak Bluffs town administrator Michael Dutton resigned on Friday morning, capping weeks of tension and speculation over whether he would remain on the job. And as the dust settled over the weekend, the mood in town was decidedly bleak amid mounting financial problems and a workforce strained by low morale and uncertainty about the future.

The five Oak Bluffs selectmen met behind closed doors for an hour on Friday and then announced in public that they had accepted Mr. Dutton’s resignation, which is effective July 31.

Talk to Animals

Ever spoken with a snake, swapped tales of life in the slow lane with a turtle or beefed with a frog about the lack of variety in a fly-heavy diet? You haven’t? Well, now is the time to start.

Meals in the Meadow

The Farm Institute, known for providing kids and adults with an on-the-field education in farming, is holding the popular annual fundraiser, Meals in the Meadow, on Saturday, July 16 from 5 to 10 p.m.

There will be silent and live auctions, cocktails, catered buffet by Buckley’s, dancing with Johnny Hoy laying down the groove, and interactive farm-o-ramas.

Tickets are $225. For more details, call 508-27-7007 or visit farminstitute.org.