Today is Philanthropy Day on Martha’s Vineyard. Proclaimed by Dukes County, it’s a day to honor everyone, seasonal and year-round, for the tremendous amount of time and money you donate to keep the Vineyard and its nonprofits running. We salute and thank all of you for giving back. You play a major role in keeping this a special place.

Eat fish, we are told, they’re good for the body and brain. Eat local fish to support the Island economy and limit the use of fossil fuels used to transport food. But eating traditionally local seafood will become a challenge as marine species struggle to adapt to changes in ocean waters due to human-induced global warming. Some species may not be local for long.

NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

The street fair returns tonight! Therefore, for this one day only, Grace Church lobster rolls will be on sale from 1 to 5 p.m. at the church, so as not to interfere with the fair.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

July 1 80 58 .00

July 2 79 58 .00

July 3 78 62 .00

July 4 77 65 Trace

July 5 81 65 .00

July 6 86 66 .00

July 7 78 68 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 77º F.

RICK HERRICK

508-693-8065

herricklr@verizon.net

East Choppers owe Liz Durkee a big thanks! Liz led the effort to fix Lake Huss, the annoying water problem along Mill Square road that developed following major rain storms. She found the money to solve the problem in a Coastal Pollution Remediation Grant. She worked with the Oak Bluffs highway department to oversee the construction of the gravel and vegetation wetland that filters the rain water safely into the harbor.

BRAD WOODGER

508-627-4216

(ibwsgolf@aol.com)

We used to wait. There was a joy in slowing down. We’d come to Chappy, away from ringing of home phones to the four-digit dialing quiet Island phones. If the phone rang at Grammy’s, someone wanted a ride home or a drink on the porch. Now the ringing (in all its mutations) follows us here. Distance is no longer enough to discourage attachment. The sea does little to abate the connection to that which we leave behind (flee?)

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

We had excellent hot weather over the long holiday weekend, just the way it should be for the Fourth. Ted Morgan down in Edgartown organized and marched in his 42nd Independence Day parade, and it was well attended, as was Woollcott and Leah Smith’s party the night before, when about 75 people took part in the evening’s festivities. I made an error in last week’s column on the date of the party and I apologize to the Smiths and anyone else for any inconvenience I may have caused.

JUNE D. MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

Soft Sell

From Gazette editions of July, 1986:

This week for the second time in less than a decade, Alley’s Store, a veteran West Tisbury institution, is changing hands. Howard and Susan Ulfelder of Hingham are buying the store from Charlie and Teena Parton, who bought it from the Alley family six years ago.

JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

slaterjn@comcast.net

Chilmark enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend. The only thing in short supply was a place to park. Let’s hope everyone was finally accommodated. The weather was perfect, the mood was upbeat and there were many visitors. And did I mention that the fish were biting?

Dave and Catha Carlson were at their Peaked Hill home with their daughter, Jessica, for a holiday vacation.