Welcome Fionna

Kayla Mastromonaco and Elisha Boyd of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Fionna Kathleen Boyd, Jan. 18, 2012, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Fionna weighed 6 pounds, 10.5 ounces at birth.

Hello Hazel

Amy Upton and Edmund McCracken of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Hazel Morgan McCracken, born on Jan. 15, 2012, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Hazel weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces at birth.

JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

Well, we received our first snowfall of the season, more than half a foot in some places, last Saturday. It made for some nice Currier & Ives photographs the next morning. The weather warmed to about 50 degrees on Tuesday. So far it has been a roller-coaster winter. The Patriots made it easier to endure with their stunning win on Sunday afternoon and are headed to the Super Bowl. We are just over a month away from the start of daylight saving time. This year it will begin on Sunday, March 11.

On Sunday night the first quarter moon appears next to the bright planet Jupiter, high in the southern sky. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Pisces. The show continues for another night, on Monday night, when the two appear close together, though the moon will appear to have passed by and to the east of the planet.

Don't expect the sounds of silence this winter.

Nature is noisy. For those that are willing to brave the cold weather, a sound safari awaits! The drumming of woodpeckers, creaking of trees, rushing of winds and cracking of ice provide a lot of acoustic action this season.

Winter is a slower time for most of us. There is less light, less outdoor time and definitely fewer people. There might even be less noise, though the sounds we hear seem to be so much louder.

On Jan. 21, during the snowstorm with about one and one-half inches of snow already on the ground, Lanny McDowell spotted an ovenbird as he was looking out a window from his house near Lake Tashmoo. It was about five feet below him, hopping on the snow. He went outside and briefly saw it again, flying weakly into an evergreen hedgerow.

Farm Neck Grants

The Farm Neck Foundation, a charitable corporation created by the Farm Neck Golf Club, has awarded $36,000 in grant money to 16 Island organizations, programs and nonprofits. The grants are intended to provide charitable assistance exclusively for Martha’s Vineyard.

Recipients of the 2011 annual grants are listed below.

Charter School Visiting Days

The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School is hosting visiting days for prospective students and their families on Wednesdays in February at 9:30 a.m.

The charter school is located on State Road in West Tisbury, near up-Island Cronig’s.

For more information about the school and visiting days call 508-693-9900.

Arboretum Awarded

The Polly Hill Arboretum has been awarded a level IV accreditation, placing it among arboreta that have met the highest standards in the field.

The award, announced this week by Polly Hill officials, was made through the Morton Arboretum’s Register of Arboreta and Accreditation Program, ArbNet. The purpose of the register is to identify all of the organizations that collect and display trees, shrubs, and other woody plants for the benefit of the public, science and conservation.