Oak Bluffs have you no pride? This is a town that depends on tourism and yet our beaches are a mess. Even on a good year they are covered with unsightly seaweed.

The following letter was sent to the state Department of Transportation highway director.

This letter is a plea for help and cooperation from the state of Massachusetts concerning a serious and potentially fatal situation we have here on Martha’s Vineyard regarding our sidewalks and bicycles.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of experiencing the new complimentary bus service to Boston. It is a perk that comes with the purchase of a round-trip ticket on the Seastreak fast ferry to New Bedford. The bus meets the Seastreak ferry in New Bedford and proceeds nonstop to South Station in Boston.

It’s the busy season. We all know and feel it. What do we love about this Island? We love that even in June, on a Saturday, we as a community find time to honor accomplishments and celebrate!

A giant thank you to Islandwide emergency personnel for greeting the state champion Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys’ tennis team in such a special way on Saturday evening.

Thank you to the Tisbury police department and officer in the school, Scott Ogden, for an amazing Bike Rodeo at the Tisbury School on Saturday, June 15. Dozens of students came with their families and passed the safety course. Many received new helmets donated by the police department along with free backpacks, hotdogs and hamburgers cooked by their principal John Custer.

To get into shape for my upcoming wedding in May, I joined the YMCA. On one of my first visits, I stepped off the treadmill, stumbled over my brand new gym shoes and fell with a loud thwack! against a nearby piece of equipment. I assured the gathering crowd that I was okay.

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of June 1932: Dropping the Hedge Fence lightship and the substitution of a buoy, and the removal of the keeper at Cape Pogue Light, making this an automatic light station without a tender, are two of the measures being considered by the United States Bureau of Lighthouses. The changes would be made in the interest of the economy, under pressure from the government’s retrenchment program.

Polly Hill’s vision of growing an arboretum began in 1957 and the 70-acre garden that is her legacy first opened to the public 15 years ago. The mission of the Polly Hill Arboretum is simple; to share plant knowledge with students of all ages. Polly’s voice is still sometimes heard on the local NPR station saying, “Educate yourself. Learn. That’s the fun. The learning is the fun.”

Chilmark’s summer season is underway. There are many hints to assure us this is true. The traffic on the weekend of cars of every vintage, bikes, motorcycles and pedestrians was the obvious clue and the general good mood of the visitors spoke of some happy reunions and celebrations to come. There were a number of tents around town at the usual wedding locations and that increased our visitor count also.

Aquinnah Public Library will host Green Living with Gary Harcourt and Larry Schubert on Tuesday, June 25 at 5 p.m. at the Aquinnah town hall. Our Up-Island Council on Aging director Joyce Bowker reminds us that our UPIS LAND elders will host their annual art show today from noon to 4 p.m. at Howes House and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Enjoy the fruits of their labor from the Friday artists group. While in the middle of West Tisbury on Saturday, stop by the 25th annual West Tisbury Congregational Church Strawberry Festival from noon to 4 p.m. Try the strawberry shortcake, or have yours with vanilla ice cream, or in a smoothie, or just berries to go.