My wife and I have had the pleasure of being able to spend almost the entire summer on-Island, rather than just a week or two here or there. The big advantage in spending a longer, concentrated period is that you can get to know some of the people who live here, who make the Island much more than a collection of beautiful beaches.

We see too many boating accidents happening nationwide involving drowning, and the results could have been different if life jackets were worn. The U.S. Coast Guard boating statistics in the United States for 2011 counted 4,588 accidents resulting in 758 deaths. Alcohol was the leading contributor to the fatalities.

Recently there have been alarming reports of outbreaks of West Nile fever in Dallas and Chicago. The cases now number in the hundreds, with several deaths, and more cases expected. We should not forget that this disease, as well as an even more deadly disease, eastern equine encephalitis, exists just five miles from our shores, in southeastern Massachusetts.

I had a dream last night that our democracy today looked like our forefathers intended — a government run for the people, by the people. In my dream, it was a time where our elected officials were selfless, hardworking individuals who (due to the new voting rules) were able to work together as one cohesive body because their only role in congress was to educate themselves on the bills and resolutions coming up and then to advise their constituents accordingly.

Carol Fligor (Gazette letter, August 28) defines a public problem accurately. Widespread cigarette butts deface the unique Vineyard landscape and make us look just like the unattractive mainland. Unfortunately she is up against the last of the sacred “smokers’ rights” championed by the cigarette companies, the right to litter.

Friends, family and local dignitaries staged a luncheon and party at the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging Wednesday in honor of Alice Rose's 102nd birthday. With this birthday, Ms. Rose is now the oldest person in the town of Oak Bluffs, a designation that earned her the Boston Post cane.

An Atlantic common dolphin washed up on Lucy Vincent Beach Monday. Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium, said the recently-deceased mammal showed no signs of external injuries. He estimated the dolphin measured 7 feet, 4 inches and weighed 250 pounds. The local marine mammal stranding team and New England Aquarium were notified of the incident. Following the advice of an expert, the animal was buried on the beach. The dolphin was not among a group recently stranded off the outer Cape and later released, Mr. LaCasse said.

In the night skies over the Vineyard, one can see the moon and planets move through the Milky Way. On one night, a man turns his telescope and scans beyond the Milky Way to a sister galaxy. He is Andrew A. Heyward, an avid amateur astronomer, but he is also a well-respected children’s cartoon writer, editor and top executive for an animation company in Hollywood.

With the start of the new school year a little more than a week away, the Up-Island Regional School District committee on Monday heard a report on the nearly-completed West Tisbury School kitchen and discussed an array of fiscal issues.

West Tisbury School principal Michael Halt said the kitchen project represents the end of a long road.

The bus stop across the road from Alley’s General Store will be slightly relocated for safety reasons, the West Tisbury selectmen agreed this week.

At their meeting Wednesday, the selectmen voted to move the stop about one bus length south on State Road from its present location near the front of Howes House. The move still needs approval from the state highway department.

Selectmen, police chief Dan Rossi, Vineyard Transit Authority representative John Alley and Field Gallery owner Chris Morse met Wednesday afternoon to inspect the new location.