Join Lyme Task Force

The Cape and Islands Lyme Disease Task Force, an advisory body to Lyme disease prevention efforts in Barnstable County and the Islands, is looking for new members.

Who can ask for more than to turn 100 looking better than ever, dancing into the next century with a bluegrass band crowd, plates filled high with cupcakes, and a happy crowd? We should all be so lucky. On Thursday night it was that kind of first-century birthday for the Vineyard Square Hotel and Suites, the Edgartown accommodations formerly known as the Colonial Inn.

Bluefin tuna — the center of a highly lucrative commercial fishery and heated controversy about overfishing — will not be listed as an endangered species, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last week.

“NOAA is formally designating both the western Atlantic and eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stocks of bluefin tuna as species of concern under the Endangered Species Act,” a press release that accompanied the decision said.

The girls’ high school tennis team advanced to the second round of the MIAA tournament after a tough 3-2 win over Cohasset on Monday afternoon. They will play number 2 seed Norwell in an away match on Wednesday.

Annie Burton took on Hannah Rawson at first singles, winning the first set 6-4 and the second set in a 7-6 tiebreaker. Second singles player Dylan Brockmeyer won her match as well, 6-2, 6-4.

Alyssa Adler, playing at third singles, remains undefeated on the season, as she fought back from a second-set deficit to beat her opponent 6-3, 6-4.

The Vineyard Independence Partnership (VIP) invites members, friends and potential friends to two June events: On June 7 at 5 p.m., VIP will be hosting a walk at Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury, followed by a pizza supper. A $5 contribution to Polly Hill and RSVP are requested. The rain date will be June 8.

On Tuesday, June 28, Flatbread Pizza on Airport Road in Edgartown will donate a generous slice of the evening’s pizza sales to support VIP activities.

Fresh Air

This summer, share the beauty of your community and help an inner-city child enjoy new experiences such as swimming in a cool pond and catching fireflies. Join thousands who open their hearts and homes to New York city children from low-income communities through the Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family program, now in its 135th summer.

A Thomas Hart Benton Vineyard landscape painting will go on the auction block Thursday at the Swann Galleries in New York city. The painting is from Mr. Benton’s early work, estimated to have been painted in the 1920s when Mr. Benton and his wife, Rita, first began summering on the Vineyard. Titled Landscape, Martha’s Vineyard, the painting is oil on paper, circa 1922-24.

The painting’s more abstract look is indicative of Benton’s early to mid-career work, according to Todd Weyman, a Benton expert at Swann Galleries.

More than 40 boats and as many captains received the annual blessing of the fleet on Sunday to begin the boating season, which for many is well underway.

Menemsha Harbor is made up of commercial fishing boats and a wide variety of different-sized recreational boats; nearly all of them were honored. A crowd gathered for a church service next to Menemsha Texaco, right next to the Squid Row bench. They shared a moment of camaraderie and got a blessing of safe passage for the season ahead from Rev. Arlene Bodge of the Chilmark Community Church.

The past year has been a difficult one for Jared Meader. Caught at the center of some of the most pressing national issues of the day, the two-time Iraq war veteran has had to refinance his Vineyard Haven house to pay off medical bills from a brain tumor, and he now struggles to hold onto a mortgage while battling the psychological scars of combat. All while raising four children. For most people the burden of such a harrowing biography would be too much to bear, but Mr. Meader has the support of a community rallying to his aid.

According to his teammates, Matt Stone, goalie for the Vineyard Youth Soccer under-14 team, has an eye for finding four-leaf clovers.