Surfwise is only a surfing film in the same way that its central character Dorian (Doc) Paskowitz is, as he puts it, a “Jewish surfer.”

In fact Mr. Paskowitz is a Stanford-educated doctor who refused to send any of his nine children to school; an individualist who led his children each morning in a rendition of Chairman Mao’s March of the Volunteers; and a professed good husband and good father, who pursued his own dream with his family in tow. He also happens to surf.

A group of touring Tibetan Buddhist monks will perform traditional dance and music, as well as construct an ornate circular mandala made entirely of sand in variously colors – the first time such a Tibetan ritual has taken place on the Vineyard — over the coming week.

A contemporary musical that chronicles the five-year life of a marriage, from meeting to break-up — or from break-up to meeting, depending on how you look at it — opens Thursday for a three-weekend season at Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven.

The Last Five Years, by Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs for a New World), is an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view.

A thin line of chocolate snaked across his plate, capturing his crepe while a dollop of ice cream sat innocently to the side. Michael Torres, of Modesto, Calif., hadn’t touched his dessert yet but already was giving Waterside Market rave reviews. It was his first visit to the new eatery on Main street in Vineyard Haven, he said, and he was impressed with everything from the service to the atmosphere. “We were walking down the street and we saw it and we smelled it and said this is where we want to eat,” he explained.

Cape Cod Healthcare Community Benefits recently awarded the Cape and Islands chapter of the American Red Cross a $7,694 grant towards the development of its training initiative for Brazilians in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillators.

This latest grant will help the chapter recruit and train five Brazilian and bilingual instructors and subsequently to train 150 Brazilians who are interested in receiving the training.

Tastes of Tashmoo

Tastes of Tashmoo, a benefit to raise funds to continue restoration of the Tashmoo Spring Building, is set for Thursday, July 19.

The event, sponsored by the Tashmoo Spring Building Preservation Committee, will be held at the Hines Point home of Denys and Marilyn Wortman in Vineyard Haven. For information, call 508-696-4202 or e-mail JJL@gis.net.

Martha’s Vineyard is privileged to have five lighthouses on its shores and a sixth at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum campus in Edgartown. Two more afar can be seen from the Island, sometimes even more at night.

This weekend all the Island’s lighthouses will be celebrated in what is being called the Martha’s Vineyard Lighthouse Challenge. Visitors from around the country who make a habit of visiting lighthouses are making a special trip to the Island to share their affection for these centuries old beacons of the waterfront night.

In this serialized novel set on the Vineyard in real time, a native Islander (“Call me Becca”) returns home to the Vineyard after many years in Manhattan. Her uncle Abe has been dumped by his wife Gwen, and Abe requires assistance to keep their landscaping business, Pequot, afloat. In the first few chapters, Becca reacquainted herself with Island life and through Mott (the general manager), met Quincas (a Brazilian), and the rest of Pequot’s staff.

June 13, 2008

Dear P:

Arts & Society presents the 30th annual Bloomsday celebration of music and drama based on the text of James Joyce, on June 16, at 8 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, Spring street, Vineyard Haven. Tickets are $18 general, $15 senior and student, and may be purchased at the door or at the Bunch of Grapes. For information, call 508-696-0539.

SLOOP: Restoring My Family’s Wooden Sailboat, An Adventure in Old-Fashioned Values. By Daniel Robb. Simon & Schuster, New York, N.Y. 2007. 318 pages with photographs. $25.