NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

Island Grown Initiative has scheduled its first Summer Institute for Teachers, a three-day workshop for educators on the Vineyard interested in incorporating curriculum tied to farms and gardens into their classes.

The institute will run from August 11 to 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at a number of Island locations. Admission is free for Vineyard teachers, for whom professional development points will be available.

The Tisbury School is celebrating April as School Library Media Month. This year’s theme, shared with the public library, is Join the Circle of Knowledge at Your Library.

School reading specialist Natalie Krauthamer and librarian Patricia Ryan report that students from kindergarten through grade four have joined the circle of knowledge by participating (at home and in school) in a reading incentive inspired by author Toni Buzzeo’s Fire Up with Reading: A Mrs. Skorupski Story.

Hello, Esmé

Esmé Catherine Colon was born March 24 at Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge to Tricia Sirakovsky and Tim Colon. She weighed 10 pounds. She joins her brother Felix. Her grandparents are Katherine and Frazier Colon of Vineyard Haven and Patricia Sirakovsky of New City, N.Y., and Henry Sirakovsky of Nanuet , N.Y.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

April 11 62 42 .00

April 12 54 43 .24

April 13 59 45 .61

April 14 59 36 .03

April 15 52 35 .00

April 16 55 29 .00

April 17 61 31 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 55º F.

Reed to Know

Greg Whitmore, the Islands’ regional ecologist for The Trustees of Reservations, will give a talk entitled All About Phragmites from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 20, at the Mary P. Wakeman Center, Shirley avenue, off Lambert’s Cove Road in Vineyard Haven.

Mr. Whitmore will discuss the natural history of the common reed, how it got to the Vineyard, why it is harmful, and what people can do to help control it. Admission is free. People can register by calling 508-693-7662.

On May 31, the Polly Hill Arboretum and the Vineyard Conservation Society will welcome Paul Tukey, founder of SafeLawns.org, an international coalition promoting environmentally friendly lawn care, for a lively discussion on lawns.

Philip Dietterich announced at the Tartan Day meeting held April 4 at the Old Whaling Church that President George Bush had on that day issued a proclamation regarding the observance of April 6 as National Tartan Day.

Although a Senate resolution had established April 6 as Tartan Day several years earlier, a Presidential proclamation is necessary in obtaining coverage of the observance in calendars around the country, such as that given each year in the Peter Simon calendar. It was also noted that the mother of James (Scotty) Reston was born in Scotland.

Choreographers Note

Built on Stilts, the Island’s own annual dance festival, will celebrate its summer season August 15 to 19 and 23 to 24. To register a piece, visit online builtonstilts.org. Registration deadline is July 1.

Martha’s Vineyard Glassworks this week ignited its furnace for another season, to “charge” (melt) the first pot of glass for 2008.

The Glassworks was closed to the public over winter to undertake renovations of the upstairs gallery and energy efficiency improvements on the production floor.

Visitors are welcome to watch, learn and appreciate the age-old art of hot glass in a contemporary environment. The glassworks will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.