The legal saga of Alec Naiman, Jeffrey Willoughby and Jessica Willoughby vs. Cessna Aircraft Company ended abruptly this week, after the three 2005 plane crash victims accepted settlement offers.

Coltsfoot is a horse of a different color. This early spring flower resembles a dandelion, but don’t be fooled. Its resemblance is superficial. The round yellow blossom is at first glance a look-alike, but upon inspection you can see some obvious differences.

Flip Harrington and I always plan an escape from March madness and find a good birding area to visit. This year we were glad not to be on-Island after reading the Gazette issues we missed, madness hit the Vineyard with a vengeance this March.

I managed to kill quite a few broccoli transplants. It was super hot in the greenhouse two weeks back when we had that lovely, unseasonably warm spell. I hauled out all the perennials, cole crops, and snapdragons. Then we had two extremely cold and windy days. Oddly enough, the snapdragons were the only ones showing no effect. The foxgloves look completely burned, while it will take a miracle to revive the broccoli. Oh well! Live and rarely learn.

New Polly Hill Members

The Polly Hill Arboretum is pleased to welcome two new members to the Arboretum team. Ian Jochems joins as a new full-time horticulturist, and Jaime Morin begins her nine-month collections management internship.

On Sunday, April 1, Ann Smith put the finishing touches on Featherstone’s exhibit — The Art of Intaglio which featured the work of Washington Ledesma, Beldan K. Radcliffe and Nick Thayer. Sharry and Dave Grunden walked to the exhibit through the Southern Woodlands from their home in Oak Bluffs.

Last Wednesday night was a holiday special for fans of the novel Moby-Dick, or any other maritime tale. Nathaniel Philbrick, the Nantucket author of a number of best-selling maritime history books, including In the Heart of the Sea, talked to an audience at the Black Dog Tavern about his most recent work, a 132-page book called Why Read Moby-Dick?, published by Penguin Group.

The night couldn’t have been more appropriate for anyone who has either experienced the epic novel as a reader or watched it on the movie screen.

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Elise LeBovit of the Duck Inn has been hosting a Rites of Spring Egg Hunt on Easter for so long she can’t remember when it began.

“I know I have done it at least for the last 20 years,” she said.

Last Sunday afternoon she had a dozen youngsters and a couple of parents over at her house coloring and painting eggs to prepare for the big event.

One of the parents helping out was Shannon Rynd-Ray of Oak Bluffs, now a mother of three.

“I started like so many aspiring writers,” author Susan Wilson said recently in a phone interview with the Gazette. “I pounded out a book that seemed exciting to me. In this case, what else, a pirate story.”

Since then Mrs. Wilson has published six well-received novels, and her newest release, The Dog Who Danced, arrived in stores last month.