Excitement filled the soft summer evening long before the first lantern was lit in the Camp Ground on Wednesday night. Runabout children with glow sticks and the constant flash of cameras created a parade of lights as early as 7:15 p.m. at the Tabernacle, where a large audience had already gathered. The growing crowd seemed almost to be in competition with the stunning summer weather as to who could deliver the best performance.

Nantucket was one of the first places in the state to earn federal designation as a no-discharge area. Dave Fronzuto, marine superintendent of Nantucket’s Marine and Coastal Resources Department, is a big advocate for it.

“It makes it a lot simpler. It prohibits the discharge of treated sewage. It is printed on navigational charts,” he said.

The caveat is that the town and the boat basin pump 125,000 to 130,000 gallons a year. “We pump more than anywhere,” Mr. Fronzuto said.

Lawrence Douglas (Doug) Wilder, grandson of slaves, first made history by being elected to the state Senate in Virginia in 1969. In 1986 he took office as lieutenant governor of the state. And in 1989, he became the first African American to be elected a state governor.

His signal success in politics, particularly in a southern state, prompted people to ask, time and time again, if that didn’t show that black people had finally “arrived” in America.

It’s past time for Americans to have a conversation about race, a panel of cultural and academic luminaries agreed at a crowded Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center on Wednesday. What the rules of that conversation are, who the participants are and where the conversation will take place is less certain.

President Obama arrived on the Vineyard yesterday afternoon to begin a 10-day vacation with his family, marking his third consecutive August visit to the Island during his presidency. Like the last two years, the arrival was low-key and closed to the public. Traveling with the President were White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan and deputy press secretary John Earnest, White House trip director Marvin Nicholson, White House photographer Pete Souza, and the family dog, Bo, freshly groomed for the trip.

In our own language the world of plants is reflected in expressions such as “to put down roots” as one of passive and enduring immobility. In fact, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens plant curator Bill Cullina says their very survival depends on their ability to wander. This secret, itinerant life of plants is largely hidden from our view as it happens over generations, in geologic time — a scale that slips outside the view of a human lifetime. But Mr. Cullina says it is no less evolved or functional than the other great migrations.

Flag Football Registration

Registration for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club Flag Football League opens Tuesday, Sept. 6 for all boys and girls in grades three to six. This will be the eighth season for the popular league, which consists of six teams. Flag football is a fun, noncontact sport for athletes of all abilities.

Nod for Morgan Woods

Morgan Woods in Edgartown, managed by The Community Builders Inc, has been recognized as an outstanding community by the National Affordable Housing Management Association.

The recognition is given to programs of affordable, multifamily rental properties that show excellence in the way they are maintained and managed, the services they provide residents, the experience and training of personnel, and other criteria.

Code Red for Fireworks

The Oak Bluffs police department yesterday used the reverse-911 system to send a nonemergency code-red message advising that the Oak Bluffs Fireworks will be held Friday, August 19 at Ocean Park. The rain date is Saturday, August 20. Parking for this event will be in two lots: Sunset Park off New York avenue and Waban Park off Sea View avenue. There is a $5 fee. Parking for people with handicaps is located on Ocean avenue extension around the Civil War Monument.

Heavy rainfall on Monday was likely the reason several Island beaches were closed to swimming on Tuesday.

Seth’s Pond, Medeiros Cove at Sailing Camp Park in Oak Bluffs, and the pond at Lucy Vincent in Chilmark remained closed to swimming as of presstime last night, due to high bacteria counts.