As residents of Chilmark, we were inconvenienced by the closure of South Road last week during President Obama’s vacation. I would be very interested to see an article appear in the Gazette about the actual economic impact on the up-Island businesses due to the road closure. This is important information that should be gathered, interpreted and published for everyone to see. I suspect the President’s visit this year severely affected some of our local businesses.

You hit a home run with the special report on coastal erosion. The articles were informative, timely, and right on target. Congratulations.

As a long-term south main street resident (20 years) I have watched the traffic in this two-block radius grow to absolutely insane unhealthy proportions. Watching this the other day, a very good solution came to mind. In fact it’s already pretty much in place.

I read with interest the recent article on Harry Belafonte. Clearly, Mr. Belafonte contributed greatly to the Civil Rights movement in this country and should be praised for his accomplishments. I would like to raise a few points however.

Having seen a picture online for a recent project at the Polly Hill Arboretum, my six-year-old twin grand children were eager to go. The project by potter Bill O’Callahan and puppeteer Robin Tuck is really magical and I encourage anyone who has a little spare time to go and see it.

Thank you to the Island newspapers as well as all the participating Island vendors for their support of The Farm Institute and Edible Vineyard’s latest book talk with author Michael Pollan. To clarify, this was a community event, not a fundraiser.

Tonight’s gibbous moon appears in the zodiacal constellation Pisces. The moon spends the weekend moving through this large constellation, a constellation that depicts two fish swimming.

Pisces is a constellation we associate with late summer and fall. Early in the evening Pisces rises in the east. While it is one of the largest constellations in the zodiac, the stars that reside within it are not as bright or as distinguishable as other more popular constellations.

Chilmark has survived the busy week that was! The dreaded closing of South Road was manageable after all and the heat and excitement of the annual Agricultural Fair was, as always, lots of fun for all! The Chilmark Road Race created its annual excitement and this year we cheered for a winner from Dublin, Ireland. Our small town is truly international in August.

Aquinnah Public Library celebrates the end of the summer reading program with a pizza party tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the library. Rose Styron will speak on Thursday, August 29 at 5 p.m. about curating her husband’s legacy with her new book, Selected Letters of William Styron. Refreshments will be served.

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of August, 1980: How it will work out is impossible for anyone to know. The Coastal Zone Management program has approved a $98,000 proposal to build a solar-powered shellfish hatchery ­— the first federally funded in the country — in Vineyard Haven. The plan, if it works, is expected to produce enough shellfish seed stock — an estimated two million a year — to meet the needs of five Island towns, Oak Bluffs, Gay Head, Chilmark, Tisbury and West Tisbury.