Since its inception 13 years ago, the Summer Institute of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center has brought exceptional leaders and notables from the frontiers of politics, science and the arts to the Vineyard as part of its speaker series. This year’s roster follows that tradition.

Last Thursday evening, well known legal analyst and author Jeffrey Toobin addressed the Summer Institute audience and spoke about the recent decisions of the Supreme Court. The timely subject, the advance publicity and the extended holiday weekend resulted in a larger-than-anticipated crowd seeking admission to the lecture by Mr. Toobin.

I am writing with regard to the Jeffrey Toobin event at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center Thursday night, July 5.

I arrived at the center around 6:15 and commented to my husband that the parking lot was already full and how surprised I was that so many people were already in line (approximately 70).

I joined the queue while my husband parked the car at the Tisbury School. In the short time he was gone the line doubled and, even after he returned, it continued to grow down the block. The weather was perfect. We ran into friends and chatted with those around us, and we looked forward to hearing Mr. Toobin and to the center’s wonderful desserts.

Ray Ellis has been painting for over 70 years, much of it on the
Vineyard. This year one of his paintings was auctioned off for $120,000
at the Taste of the Vineyard fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard
Preservation Trust. Two years ago at the same event, a painting by Mr.
Ellis went for $250,000. Last year, his tie was bought for $150,000. To hear him talk will only cost $75.

Every kid that grew up here has his or her own memories of the Agricultural Fair. From the oxen pull and skillet-throwing contest, to the rides and games, and, of course, the food, for four days in August the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair is the place to be.

From the Vineyard Gazette edition of January, 1970:

In the decade just past, Gay Head has become a National Landmark, Cedar Tree Neck has been preserved as a nature sanctuary, Felix Neck a guarded precinct for wildlife, Wasque Point has been saved, Dodger Hole Swamp was a gift to the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and the Alexander S. Reed Bird Refuge was established.

The Polly Hill Arboretum’s herbarium collection began in 2001, with a gift of algae specimens from Island resident and seaweed expert, the late Rose Treat. A herbarium is a scientific resource consisting primarily of a collection of dried, pressed plant specimens. Herbarium specimens record the past and provide users with the historic and current locations of plants over time.

The Screenwriter’s Daughter, the current Vineyard Playhouse production written and directed by Larry Mollin, is more than a performance — it’s a resurrection of history.

Judith Hannan spent the first couple of decades of her working life floating from one job to another — a clerk, an office temp, a secretary, a fundraiser.

“I’m like a jellyfish. I just drift. I have drifted into everything I’ve ever done,” she said. “But once I became a mother, for the first time I felt so unbelievably engaged.”

Traeger di Pietro first started painting for love. He was 15; she was artsy and he was a jock, a baseball player. He knew her ex-boyfriend had painted her things and he wanted to impress her too. His first paintings were small still lifes of flowers and roses.

“I never stopped, I just kept going and going,” he said. Now he’s a full-fledged member of the Island arts scene, and has received acclaim from art collectors and artists alike.

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evenings at the Chilmark Community Center. The films begin at 6 p.m. but at 5 p.m. the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets under way.

An advanced screening of the films was arranged with two young Island cineastes. In a world with few certainties, the kid critic is the critic to trust. This week’s reviewers are twins Olive Mae and Violet Jeanne MacPhail.