Hello, Rose

Sarah and Phillip Levesque of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Rose Ellana Levesque, on June 10 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Rose weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces at birth.

Island town conservation commission members were pleased Monday with what they said were clear and useful instructions for handling state building code changes in state wetland areas.

New construction and major renovations and additions to buildings in designated wetlands must be built on open pilings rather than on conventional solid foundations, according to changes to the state building code that took effect Jan. 1.

Oak Bluffs Plans Harbor

Fest, Summer Solstice

On Saturday, June 21, Oak Bluffs will kick off summer with Harbor Fest and Summer Solstice merged into one day of outdoor entertainment. The day will conclude with fireworks.

State Rep. Eric T. Turkington, who represents the Cape and Islands, has proposed three amendments to a transportation bond bill which would allocate more than $1.5 million in state transportation funding for three Vineyard projects.

They are accidental partners in crime — two theatre teachers, both formally educated in the dramatic arts, who wound up on the Vineyard. Each has long ties to the Island. Kate Murray, who is the daughter of Capt. Everett and the late Virginia Poole, was born here. Donna Swift was a summer kid-turned year-round kid who has a familiar Vineyard story: just one more summer on the Island before a real job in the real world.

By MIKE SECCOMBE

It sometimes seems, when trying to get on or off the Vineyard, that the Steamship Authority ferries are always booked.

But that apparently is not right. There is persistent excess capacity, and boat line senior managers have colored graphs and spreadsheets to prove it.

Today, when the SSA governors convene on Nantucket for their June meeting, they will have those graphs and spreadsheets in front of them as they begin talking about next year’s operating schedule, and possibly even the fall operating schedule.

Trap Championship

On April 27, Bob De Lisle of Edgartown picked up his second club trap championship since 2005 at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Club. Participants took aim at two rounds of 25 targets. Tim O’Bryan of Edgartown placed second.

Confronting the Pump

On Thursday, the Vineyard Transit Authority will mark nationwide Dump the Pump Day — an annual occasion that calls on people to use public transportation to save money, conserve gasoline and reduce greenhouse gases — by cutting its already bargain fares in half and holding a party at the youth hostel in West Tisbury.

Swim First, Unpack Later

For some reason, I always remember the last swim of the season. Whether it was on a late fall afternoon in elementary school or as early as an August morning when I would sneak in a quick swim before catching the ferry for the trip back to college, the memory of that last swim would stay with me well into the winter.

In that way the last swim of the season is different from the first. The first, I never seem to remember.

Sometimes referred to as the enigmatic man of American letters, the late William Styron was a longtime fixture on outer Main street in Vineyard Haven where he spent nearly 50 summers. Mr. Styron died in November 2006 and is buried in Vineyard Haven. A collection of 14 personal essays written by him was released in April of this year. Titled Havanas in Camelot, the essays range from a reminiscence of his brief friendship with John F. Kennedy to a meditation on Mark Twain. What follows is the essay Walking With Aquinnah, an account of his daily walks with his dog.