Tonight, March 15, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival begins. Now in its 13th year, the festival has become an annual cultural rite of spring. The snows have melted, Daylight Saving Time begun, and now into the mix add a bit of enlightenment in the form of films and conversations at the Chilmark Community Center. The festival runs through Sunday, March 17.

This year there are 14 movies, 12 of which are documentaries, covering a variety of subjects but are held together by the common purpose of the festival screening committee

During the fundraising efforts to keep WMVY alive on the internet, musicians wondered how they could help out.

“Lots of musicians came to us and asked what can we do,” said station manager Barbara Dacey. “But at that time we were just taking pledges.”

The West Tisbury selectmen are taking a second look at an agreement with the Cape and Vineyard Energy Cooperative for a town solar project amid questions about a draft contract for the project.

At their meeting last Wednesday, the selectmen directed town administrator Jennifer Rand to consult with town counsel about certain details in the contract.

Selectman and board chairman Cynthia Mitchell said the board has “a couple of things to check out, like the opt-out language, with our counsel.”

Eating for the ice, that’s what’s happening on Wednesday, March 20 at Eleven North in Edgartown. As part of the kickoff “Raise the Roof” campaign for the Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena, the restaurant is donating 20 per cent of the proceeds of a prix-fixe, three-course meal to the arena. The cost for the dinner is $35.

The Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living will hold its third in a series of cultural luncheons focusing on the arts and cultural community of Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, March 23, at the Grill on Main in Edgartown. The luncheon will be from noon to 2 p.m. and will honor The Martha’s Vineyard Museum. The featured speaker is museum chief curator Bonnie Stacy.

The Martha’s Vineyard youth football team will be hosting an obstacle course benefit for Relay for Life, the annual American Cancer Society walkathon, this Saturday, March 16. In addition to an adventurous obstacle course, there will be a bouncy house, face painting, food, raffles and a DJ.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum is hosting a reception tonight, March 15, for its latest spotlight gallery. These are short-term galleries devoted to rarely seen collections, new acquisitions and curators’ favorites. The latest spotlight was curated by the museum’s Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Over the past few weeks, these friends have voted on their favorite objects in the museum collection. The winners are now on exhibit.

Ever wonder what all those birders were up to out there in the woods and on the shorelines? Well, master birder Rob Culbert will be teaching a bird identification class beginning March 28. The course will help interested birders identify the Vineyard’s shorebirds, terns, gulls and warblers and other songbirds. The class meets on Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the regional high school. The cost is $81.

To register visit acemv.org.

What to do when you are an organization dedicated to helping the community and wondering how to create a new logo? If you are the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS), you ask the community.

Welcome to the 2013 Community Logo Contest. Everyone is invited to enter the contest and the winning entry will appear on all internal and external materials of MVCS. Logo entries may be sketched by hand or designed electronically. The deadline for entries is April 5.

Charlie Brown and his human ilk don’t have a monopoly on grieving. While humans have developed elaborate rituals when a loved one dies, we may just be following our instincts.

Emotions lead the way when dealing with death, and some research and observation has shown that we are not alone in our methods of mourning. Animals, too, show signs of sadness.