The tagline of the Martha’s Vineyard Summer Institute, “from the front lines of politics, science and the arts,” proved too true last week when the program’s scheduled July 21 speaker, Cong. Barney Frank, was called back to the front. Mr. Frank and his colleagues in Congress won’t be taking their customary recess as the political battle continues over the federal debt ceiling.

But another formidable speaker, Kenneth Feinberg, will fill the July 21 bill.

The sixth annual Vineyard Cup regatta was the best yet. Wind, weather, participation and competitive spirit reached new levels in what has become the Island’s premiere three-day sailing competition. A record 101 sailboats of varying size and construction competed in Vineyard waters, from Menemsha Pond to Cow Bay.

It was not your usual Narnia — which came as no surprise to anyone who has revelled in the fantasy and fun of the annual Camp Jabberwocky play.

In this year’s production, inspired by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Narnia was not so much the lamppost-lit enchanted domain of the elusive White Witch. It was a Vineyard-inspired porthole between the wardrobe of the camp’s costume room and the wardrobe of a different take on a ruling female power – Lady Gaga, played to perfection by camper Mary Beth Rush.

Machschefes Graduates

Jacob C Machschefes, the grandson of Chief Warrant Officer 4 Joseph F. Burgess Jr. and Jessie C. Burgess U.S. Coast Guard (retired) and the son of Jane and Karl Machschefes, graduated from Natomas Charter School, in Sacramento, Calif., on June 10, 2011. He will continue his education at the Art Institute of Sacramento. He has successfully made Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts.

His sister, JuliAnn, has completed her first year at the University of San Diego.

Hello, Leo

Maura Martin and Russell Carson of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a son, Leo Yochanan Carson, born on July 10, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Leo weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounces at birth.

Correction

In a story in the Tuesday, July 12, Gazette, the dunk booth at the Tisbury Street Fair was misidentified. The booth was sponsored by the Vineyard Hockey Boosters club that supports the high school boys’ hockey team.

The Gazette regrets the error.

Three baby osprey chicks are being hand raised by Gus Ben David in Edgartown following an accident aloft over Chappaquiddick last Thursday. The birds, which are about two weeks old, fell from their nest when the electrical pole that held them and their nest caught fire. Suddenly homeless, the three little birds were rescued by NStar crews and turned over to Mr. Ben David, a noted naturalist and owner of the World of Reptiles and Bird Park off the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.

Could it be that western system of market capitalism has broken down so badly that its failings present a threat to democracy itself?

That was the question left ominously hanging at the end of a presentation by three eminent economists — two from the Harvard Business School and one private forecaster — at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Thursday night.

By TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG

After intensive testing throughout the weekend, Lambert’s Cove Beach and Long Point Wildlife Refuge Beach in West Tisbury remained closed to swimming on Monday afternoon due elevated levels of enterococcus. All beaches in Oak Bluffs had opened by Saturday afternoon, except for Madeiros Cove, which remains closed.

Although it occurs in the summer, the Feast of the Holy Ghost, which took place last weekend at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs, transcends the seasons.