Call it an Instant Regatta. A record 25 boats competed in last Thursday's evening race, eclipsing the record of 22 set last year.

Audrey Egger has had five first-place finishes in Vineyard duplicate play this summer: twice when partnered with Miles Jaffe and once apiece with Barbara Besse, Barbara McLagan and me.

Hundreds of adults and kids flocked to the Chilmark Community Center Wednesday for the town’s annual volunteer firefighter association’s Backyard Bash.

Young dancers of Stiltshop will be performing at Union Chapel Thursday, the opening night of Built on Stilts dance festival.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the town of Aquinnah and a group of town residents have a stake in a lawsuit over whether the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has the right to open a casino on the Vineyard.

August seems to be the season for giving among the children here on the Island.

Another story of Oak Bluffs, the town where dreams come true, is one about Dr. John Wilson Jr., new president of Morehouse College, when he brought college buddy Spike Lee to the Island to visit his grandmother’s house.

Welcome to the first family as they arrive this week for another Vineyard vacation. May they enjoy the peace of their surroundings and the ambience of it all.

The National Weather Service has issued an advisory Wednesday for high surf and a high risk of dangerous rip currents along ocean beaches on the south coast of the Vineyard.

I don’t know what to say about the weather this week. It rains and it’s cold; the sun shines and it is warm. The nights are cool; the fog is here in the early morning.