Prudy Burt sent me this little poem. She said it came on a mug that Heidi Schmidt brought her from England.

Let the wealthy and great

Roll in splendour and state

I envy them not. I declare it

I eat my own lamb

My own chicken and ham

I shear my own fleece and I wear it

I have lawns I have bowers

I have fruits I have flowers

The lark is my morning alarmer

So jolly boys now

Sail Martha’s Vineyard, the Island’s community sailing program, will offer beginner through advanced sailing lessons to Island children again this summer at the Sailing Camp Park on Barnes Road in Oak Bluffs.

Looking out on a grey Aquinnah woodland, the sprawling front room of singer Lexie Roth’s family house, with its vintage guitar and miniature car collections, has been converted into a live studio for a loose collective of musicians wintering on the Island.

This Monday afternoon it is dotted with microphone stands, a drum kit which sits obtrusively in the sitting area, and a group of twenty-something musicians — Willy Mason, Colin Ruel, Sofi Thanhauser and Miss Roth — who are preparing to record.

After the polling irregularities in Florida in the 2000 Presidential election, which saw George W. Bush come to office, David Earnhart did nothing. But when it was repeated in 2004, he could not let it pass again.

“A lot of people were angry in 2004,” Mr. Earnhart said this week from his office in Nashville. “But where most everybody else moved on, I didn’t.”

Tie on Your Green Sneakers

For St. Patrick’s Day Race

The 10th running of the Ocean View St. Patrick’s Day 5K Road Race to benefit the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club will be held tomorrow, Saturday, March 15 at 9:30 a.m.

Runners and walkers may register at the Ocean View Restaurant & Tavern today, Friday, March 15, from 7 to 9 p.m., or Saturday from 8:30 to 9 a.m. The entry fee is $20.

A movie featuring the Coastal Picket Patrol and its generally unknown yet strategic role in protecting the U.S. Coast during World War II will be shown on Wednesday, March 19, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.

During the initial involvement of the United States in World War II, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Reserve were short-staffed and short on vessels to protect the shipping channels along the Eastern seaboard. German U-boats and submarines were threatening American Merchant Marine vessels in the Atlantic Ocean just off U.S. soil.

Feeling despair about the future of the republic in the hands of Xboxers and the “whatever” generation?

Feel better. Get to the West Tisbury library and listen to some new literary voices. These mostly twenty-something award-winning poets and novelists think and write with clarity and understanding about our relationships with the world and with each other.

Diversity Council Seeks

Help from New Members

The Island Diversity Council, a grassroots organization with the mission of keeping issues of diversity in the forefront of the Island community’s attention, is seeking new members.

The group seeks to promote programs in the school and create venues for adult education and discussions. The goal is to foster acceptance and understanding between all the different constituencies on the Vineyard.

The Vineyard Playhouse and the Martha’s Vineyard Library Association continue a five-year tradition of presenting an exciting live theater experience for Island children.

The Playhouse’s troupe, The Fabulists, will perform The Call of the Cuckoo, an entertaining stage adaptation of a folk tale from Afghanistan, written by Elizabeth Wojtusik. There is one performance on Saturday morning, March 22, at 11 a.m. at the Vineyard Playhouse, 24 Church street in downtown Vineyard Haven.

It’s spring at the FARM Institute already, with activities revolving around new life in the fields, barns and gardens at Katama Farm – caring for new lambs, calves and chicks; planting, cultivating and nurturing little seedlings.

The teaching farm will offer spring programs for kids five days a week beginning Tuesday, April 1. Once again the FARM can offer transportation Tuesday through Thursday via Stagecoach Taxi from designated schools, thanks to a generous grant from Mass Ag in the Classroom.