Point B Realty would like to express its appreciation to all of those who supported the inaugural Teddy Bear Suite to benefit the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club. A new addition to the holiday schedule, we were delighted with the attendance, the positive feedback and the generosity of those who visited.

How to reduce heating bills and carbon footprint:

My home has no furnace, and I only rarely use my wood stove. But because my home has a quite effective solar roof and storage system, the temperature never falls below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, even when it is below zero and a fierce blizzard outside. Fifty degrees is of course a rather cold indoor temperature — but I stay toasty warm all winter! How? With a combination of plush fleece and a tiny amount of electricity.

I want to thank everyone who put together the Christmas in Edgartown event. It was outstanding. My family drove up from New Jersey to participate. The parade was wonderful as well as other events my family attended at the Harbor View Hotel, Edgartown National Bank, Point Way Inn and the Hob Knob. The chowder contest was fun too. Blocking off the street for a few hours after the parade was a great idea. I can’t wait for next year’s Christmas in Edgartown.

Jerry Price
Ridgewood, N.J.

It was exciting to see more than 300 people come out on Sunday, Dec. 11, to tour the Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s new property in Vineyard Haven. For more than a decade, museum leadership has sought to upgrade facilities to meet our stewardship responsibility to care for the collections while also fulfilling the increasing demand from members, residents, students, and visitors to participate in exhibitions, programs and research.

Kudos once again to the Gazette and Peter Brannen for writing and printing the informative article about the Rural Scholars study concerning mental health issues in the elderly on the Island. It was an accurate and informative piece of reporting. I would like, however, to add that the Rural Scholars (both second year medical students and graduate nursing students pursuing their NP degrees) are here from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and work in conjunction with our Dukes County Health Council.

NYC Exhibit for Islander

Anyone headed to New York city, or living there already, be sure to check out an exhibit of drawings by Ariel Aberg-Riger at the TODA Gallerette located at 20 Jay street in Brooklyn, suite 935.

The exhibit takes place on Friday, Jan. 6, and best of all the event will include five minute portrait sittings done by Ariel. If this doesn’t sound like your cup of hot cocoa, sitting for a portrait (ho hum), it is time to change your tune.

Much has been written over the years about our Island community and the generosity of those living in it. In hard times and good times the community pitches in and contributes to make the lives of all full in so many ways.

For Vineyarders and their visitors, it was a dream year for weather.

They enjoyed plenty of sunshine, with most of the Island’s rain falling at night. They also dodged some of the region’s most dramatic weather, including the remnants of a large hurricane and heavy snowstorms that landed elsewhere in New England.

Farmers saw their gardens flourish, only occasionally needing to irrigate. Charter fishing captains seldom had to cancel trips because of high winds or high seas, except for a few days during the fall striped bass and bluefish derby.

From foreign films to home-grown musical acts, the best movies, books and albums of 2011, as selected by Vineyard experts, are sure to keep Islanders entertained through the winter.

From foreign films to home-grown musical acts, the best movies, books and albums of 2011, as selected by Vineyard experts, are sure to keep Islanders entertained through the winter.

“It was a great year to be a reader,” West Tisbury librarian Beth Kramer wrote in an e-mail to the Gazette. Her choices for the year may be from different genres, but all are, said Ms. Kramer, “beautifully rendered tales that took you around the world and deep into the hearts of their characters.” Her list follows.

New Year’s Greetings from the Past.

From the Gazette of Jan. 1, 1847:

“A Happy New Year.” These words fall like music upon the ear, and send a thrill of delight through our hearts. The most desponding and the most careworn of our race, as well as the rich and happy, shout forth in merry peals, “A Happy New Year.”