Last month Scott McDowell worked late into the night to meet his Christmas orders. For those wandering the waterfront, along the Menemsha Basin Road, there was the familiar ringing of the Menemsha Bight buoy in the distance but much closer came the continuous sound of a tapping hammer. Mr. McDowell runs a workshop and store called The Copperworks of Martha’s Vineyard. This is his fifth year at his current location.

The Rap on Kid Critics Tristan and Charlotte Scott

Name: Tristan and Charlotte Scott

Ages: 7 1/2 and almost 5

School: Second grade and kindergarten at the Chilmark School

Pets: Two cockatiels named Nelly and Mary, a hamster named Chalissa, plus chickens, ducks, guinea hens, cows, sheep and pigs. And bees too.

Something new you are learning: Tristan - Rock and water cycles, and our life cycle too. Charlotte - numbers and letters. I’m also trying not to cry about small things.

Films and Feast

This Saturday, Jan 7, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival throws open the doors of the Chilmark Community Center for another night of films and food. At 5 p.m. there is a program of short films for kids and at 6:30 p.m. Chris Fischer takes the stage with a farm fresh meal. Todd Christy provides his Chilmark Coffee and Amy Miller brings on the sweet treats.

The folks at Cinema Circus are hosting another winter screening to be held on Saturday, Jan. 7, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center. The event includes food, activities and, of course, a series of short films. Earlier this week a screening of the films was arranged with two young Island cineastes to give the kids’-point-of-view on what’s good, great and not so much.

The review for this weekend’s kids’ movie comes from brother and sister team, Tristan and Charlotte Scott.

The Lost Thing

At dawn on the last Friday of the year there were just a few ripples in the waters off Owen Park in Vineyard Haven. The temperature hovered in the low 40s as the morning sun first peeked out from behind the treetops on the banks of the Lagoon.

Just then six women rowing a thirty-two-foot Cornish pilot gig appeared from behind the harbor jetty. They had just finished their morning workout, rowing the gig Grace between East and West Chops, and were headed for shore.

Winter Walk Goes in Search of Otters

The Vineyard Conservation Society is hosting a winter walk on Sunday, Jan. 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. and they are looking for otters. The walk will be led by wildlife biologists Luanne Johnson and Liz Baldwin along the protected lands around the Wakeman Conservation Center, starting at the Cranberry Acres bogs and continuing to the Hoft Farm. The plan is to explore the trails, fields, and bogs of this area while searching for otter tracks and learning about how they perceive the landscape.

When thinking about tattoos the old cliché of the tattoo dive in a port-of-call and the drunken sailor who staggers inside is never far away. The sailor wants an anchor emblazoned over his bicep on top of a heart with the inscription “Ruthie,” and he wants it now.

Tonight the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society is screening The Way at the Capawock Theatre in Vineyerd Haven.

Al Hurwitz Reception

Al Hurwitz is a world-renowned art educator. He has won numerous awards including a National Art Educator award, a Sir Herbert Read award from the International Society for Education through Art and, most recently, the Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award. He also holds the Chair Emeritus of the Center for Art Education at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and has written the classic art book, Children and Their Art: Methods for the Elementary School with Michael Daly.

January, a time of darkness and deep winter. Time to hibernate? Think again. It’s time to reenergize. At least that’s the feeling of the folks at the Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Network. But they also realize that energy is best harnessed in a group and led by a creative wonder.