A Thomas Hart Benton Vineyard landscape painting will go on the auction block Thursday at the Swann Galleries in New York city. The painting is from Mr. Benton’s early work, estimated to have been painted in the 1920s when Mr. Benton and his wife, Rita, first began summering on the Vineyard. Titled Landscape, Martha’s Vineyard, the painting is oil on paper, circa 1922-24.

The painting’s more abstract look is indicative of Benton’s early to mid-career work, according to Todd Weyman, a Benton expert at Swann Galleries.

More than 40 boats and as many captains received the annual blessing of the fleet on Sunday to begin the boating season, which for many is well underway.

Menemsha Harbor is made up of commercial fishing boats and a wide variety of different-sized recreational boats; nearly all of them were honored. A crowd gathered for a church service next to Menemsha Texaco, right next to the Squid Row bench. They shared a moment of camaraderie and got a blessing of safe passage for the season ahead from Rev. Arlene Bodge of the Chilmark Community Church.

The past year has been a difficult one for Jared Meader. Caught at the center of some of the most pressing national issues of the day, the two-time Iraq war veteran has had to refinance his Vineyard Haven house to pay off medical bills from a brain tumor, and he now struggles to hold onto a mortgage while battling the psychological scars of combat. All while raising four children. For most people the burden of such a harrowing biography would be too much to bear, but Mr. Meader has the support of a community rallying to his aid.

According to his teammates, Matt Stone, goalie for the Vineyard Youth Soccer under-14 team, has an eye for finding four-leaf clovers.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum expects to sign within days a purchase and sales agreement to buy the former Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven for an undisclosed price.

The purchase of the historic property, perched on a hill above the harbor, would mark a major step in the museum’s long quest to find a new home for its historical collections outside of Edgartown.

Museum executive director David Nathans said yesterday morning he hoped to have a deal completed by week’s end.

Remembering Cee Jay Jones, the unofficial summer ambassador in Oak Bluffs, who died Oct. 9 at the age of 100 in Winston Salem, N.C.

Tears mixed with laughter as the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School’s class of 2011 took the stage at their graduation Sunday afternoon with Can’t Go Back Now by The Weepies playing in the background. With parents, friends and teachers cheering them on and sharing in their tears, Domonique Aaron, Jessica Dupon, Sasha Iammarino, Brian Luce, Mattia Phaneuf, Erica Taylor and Hanna Vanderlaske received their diplomas along with scholarships, praise and gifts from their teachers and schoolmates.

The Tri-Town Ambulance service committee will recommend to the Chilmark selectmen on Tuesday that interim chief Paul (Zeke) Wilkins be permanently appointed chief, committee chairman and Aquinnah police chief Randhi Belain confirmed this week.

Mr. Wilkins has served as interim chief since February when Robert Bellinger resigned. The committee had offered the post to a candidate from Connecticut, who withdrew his application.

Going Places

From Gazette editions of June, 1936:

The season of 1936 has been coming in on a bicycle, and many observers have looked up, startled, to see it coming in on a bicycle built for two. An older generation had forgotten all about the tandem bicycle, and a younger generation has never heard of it. There is a pleasant surprise to see the two-seater skimming along the street, its two riders enjoying sensations which the human race was silly ever to have surrendered.

Two Edgartown establishments that served beer and wine illegally over the holiday weekend will receive a reprimand from the town selectmen.

At their weekly meeting Tuesday selectmen reported that the Eisenhauer Gallery on North Water street served alcohol without a one-day permit at their weekend opening, and Edgartown Meat and Fish Market sold beer and wine on Memorial Day, against state law.

Police chief Tony Bettencourt said when police arrived at the market they immediately stopped sales.