Beetlebung Festival

On Sunday, Nov 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. the Chilmark Community Center is hosting the Beetlebung Festival of the Arts and Edibles. What is that, you may ask. Well, it’s music set to a backbeat of local food made by Chris Fischer.

The music portion of the evening includes locally grown act Jason Nichols and Boston based indie-folk band, You Won’t.

For six years now, writers — both aspiring and professional — have met in the spring and fall for a full immersion in both their craft and in all things Vineyard, in particular all things Edgartown. The writers’ retreat takes place at the charming Point Way Inn on Pease Point Way.

Shakespeare Washes Ashore

Frost on the ground, gray and windy days, the clocks about to fall back, yes, the off-season is definitely upon us. And if those harbingers aren’t enough, here comes Shakespeare for the Masses’ first outing.

Guided Featherstone Walk

Join the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank staff on a guided natural history walk of Featherstone Farm in Oak Bluffs on Sunday, Nov. 6, beginning at 1 p.m. The walk lasts approximately one and a half hours.

Meet at the Featherstone Farm trailhead off Barnes Road.

The walk takes place rain or shine; dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes or boots. People are asked to carpool, if possible, as parking is limited.

For information, call 508-627-7141.

The occurrence of a late hummingbird on the Vineyard is always exciting. Molly Cournoyer e-mailed that she spotted a hummingbird feeding on the pineapple sage around her Indian Hill home on Oct. 22. Molly said: “It did not look like a ruby-throated hummingbird. There was no red. It had a lot of brown on its sides and black splotches on its breast.” Island birders are always alert when late hummingbirds arrive. The “normal” hummingbird for the Vineyard is the ruby-throated, but it is possible to have stray black-chinned, rufous and other western hummingbirds.

Holiday Drive for Needy

Island Alpaca Farm is collecting donations of food and gifts for the Red Stocking Fund. The farm will collect unwrapped presents and nonperishable foodstuffs valued at $10 or more through Dec. 24. Each person who donates an item will be entered to win one of two $50 gift certificates to the Island Alpaca Gift Shop. A drawing for the winners will be held on Dec. 24. Gifts for donation may also be purchased for the gift shop.

Flu Clinics on Veterans Day

The annual all-Island flu clinic will take place at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on Friday, Nov. 11 from 8 a.m. to noon. Registration and staging areas will be located at Waban Park in Oak Bluffs and the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. Participants must fill out a registration form and visit one of the staging areas prior to going to the high school. Participants may choose to enter the Performing Arts Center or to stay in their cars while shots are administered.

This coming Monday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m., the Vineyard Playhouse will present a staged reading of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. And they will not be alone. At the same time there will be simultaneous readings of the play worldwide.

Scallops:> A New England Coastal Cookbook, by Elaine Tammi and Karin A. Tammi, Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, Louisiana, 350 pages, color photographs and illustrations, $39.95.

With fresh bay scallops being landed at Vineyard docks it is time to think about favorite recipes. Earlier this year Pelican Publishing came out with a cookbook and compendium of stories about both the coastal bay scallop and the deep sea scallop. The Vineyard is in the book, though not named often enough.

Nothing says small and sweet like bay scallop season.

Jewels for both the palate and year-round economies, bay scallops have become almost unique to Vineyard waters — Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are two of the last places with a thriving commercial season. For many an Island fishermen bay scalloping has become the backbone of the off-season economy, giving them the ability to make a solid day’s pay in the dead of winter.

They also keep Island chefs happy. Most agree the bay scallop’s flavor stands on its own.