Lighthouse Challenge

Here’s a challenge that in reality is more of a delight. It’s the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce fourth annual lighthouse challenge taking place Saturday, June 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The task is elementary but breathtaking. Visit all five lighthouses on the Island in one day. The list includes the lighthouse in Edgartown, East Chop, West Chop Lighthouses, Gay Head (Aquinnah) and Cape Pogue on Chappaquiddick, reachable only by an over-sand, four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Compost Tea Time

Polly Hill and pizza, it just rolls off the tongue. But where does compost fit into that pairing? In a series of upcoming events, of course.

On Saturday, June 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the arboretum is hosting a compost tea workshop with Christopher Roddick, the head arborist at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and a certified master composter. Mr. Roddick will plant the seeds of how to make a perfect batch of compost tea. He will also discuss the relationship between plants and soil and how to improve plant and soil health.

Shucking Tournament

On your mark, get ready, shuck!

That’s right, all you armchair shuckers, time to get out of the seedbed and put your oyster knife where your mouth is. Nancy’s restaurant is holding its 2011 shucking contest this Saturday, June 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. Enter for glory or just come by to watch the shells fly. Best thing about a shucking contest is that you get to eat the winnings too. Sweetneck Oyster Farm is donating the oysters.

Pony Up

Meet the ponies at Netherfield Farm on Sunday, June 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There will be dressage and jumping demonstrations, free pony rides, hot dogs on the grill and farm tours.

Netherfield Farm is located in Chilmark, 137 Old Kings Highway, off Meeting House Road.

For more details, call 508-645-2724 or visit netherfieldfarms.com.

Detective Victoria Turnbull is at it once again, sleuthing out the latest Vineyard mystery in The Bee Balm Murders. The fictional character created by writer, activist and innkeeper Cynthia Riggs may be 92 years old, but she isn’t slowing down in the least.

Neither is her creator.

Aquinnah Cultural Center

The Aquinnah Cultural Center opens its doors for the season on Saturday, June 11 at 1 p.m. This year, its sixth, the museum is extending its hours and will now close at 4 p.m. The museum exhibits center around traditional and 19th century Wampanoag culture and history.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12.

As 42 people departed on foot from Sepiessa Point Reservation in West Tisbury at 9 a.m. sharp on Saturday morning, the air was a cool 50 degrees and the sky was clear blue. We were heading ultimately to Wilfred’s Pond Preserve in Vineyard Haven. The 15-mile walk would cross Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank properties, ancient ways and public roads that are hidden in the back woods of the Island.

From a Summer, 1992 Gazette:

“Edgartown, sometimes called Old Town, August 7, 1849. Half past five in the morning, and not another soul up in the house. A little rain last night, but a pretty fair and cool morning.” So wrote Daniel Webster at the Gibbs House in Edgartown on his second visit to the Vineyard. He had made one stay in Edgartown July 4, 1848, but no mention of the trip found its way into the Gazette.

GOOD FENCE VIEWERS

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

With the rolling fields of the Keith Farm next door and Lucy Vincent Beach in the distance, Chris Fischer tried to hand off a piglet over the fence at Beetlebung Farm