The Edgartown North Wharf fueling dock remained closed today — much to the chagrin of early summer boaters and Edgartown harbor master Charles Blair among others — as the latest in a series of deadlines to ready the station were missed by fueling company R.M. Packer Inc.

“They changed some rules on us,” said Mr. Packer yesterday, referring to increased state fire safety requirements, “and there will be more changes in the fall.”

Shirley Donaroma Honored

Edgartown National Bank recently honored Shirley Donaroma for achieving 25 years as an employee of the bank. Ms. Donaroma began working for Edgartown National as a teller in 1982. She went on to work for many years as a customer service representative. At present, she is an operations specialist. She is a lifelong resident of Edgartown, where she raised her two children and now is a grandmother.

Visitors to the American Youth Hostel in West Tisbury now can bathe in solar-heated water. A 3-by-8-foot collector has been attached to the roof of the hostel’s bike shed, and heats water for the nearby outdoor shower.

Inside the collector are six cylindrical tanks. They’re filled with water, and when exposed to four hours of strong sunlight, enough water is heated for five hot showers.

As the story goes, the history of farming at Katama began in the first World War when Edgartown families planted army and navy beans deep in the rich soil there. Yet maps of the Island which date from 1862 show fences bordering the land, indicating that agricultural use of the land can be traced to an even earlier date.

The following Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School students were recognized for achievement in the annual honors night ceremonies, held Thursday night at the high school performing arts center.

Art: Excellence in drawing and painting, Janelle Fortes; excellence in photography and graphics, Raymond Ewing; excellence in 3D design and architecture, Phuong-Lan Ho and Frank Williams; excellence in crafts and sculpture, Chad Curtis.

A funny thing happened on the way to the state tournament this past week for the regional high school boys’ tennis team.

In the most bizarre of circumstances, the boys were forced to play the girls’ team from East Bridgewater in the preliminary round of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament because of a little-known provision in the rules regarding mixed-gender teams.

The board of trustees at Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank has promoted Paul Ryan of Vineyard Haven to the position of vice president and Sarah Mayhew Shipway of Chilmark to the position of senior trust officer.

Mr. Ryan relocated to the Island in 1988 when he became senior trust officer at Martha’s Vineyard National Bank, and joined Dukes County Savings Bank (now incorporated into the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank along with Martha’s Vineyard Co-operative Bank) in 1991 when that institution initiated its trust operations.

Letter to a Senator

June Third, Two Thousand and Eight

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy

Hyannisport

Dear Senator Kennedy:

By now you have no doubt received so many expressions of love and hope and speedy recovery that this letter is certainly just one more scrap of newsprint for a heap of correspondence that must be approaching the size of a mountain.

Only hours away, not much sleep, kids away in Washington, D.C., on a school trip and soon I will be closing on my own brand new home. I just can’t believe it. Finally our very own home here on the Vineyard. Wow. I have worked so hard my entire life and raising the twins alone for the last nine and a half years has been very hard but rewarding.

FORGIVE BUT DON’T FORGET

Editors, Vineyard Gazette: