JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Greetings from Chilmark where the January thaw is much appreciated. The mild weather has stimulated lots of activity in the bird world. I hope the birders had a successful count last week. The resident flock of crows in Menemsha recently spent the day cleaning out our house gutters . . . we think they spotted something green growing there.

JUNE MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

Go, Hillary! Keep up the momentum. I will be opening the Aquinnah Clinton campaign headquarters.

Happy New Year to one and all. So many of us are starting the year with this exasperating virus that has been going around, but spring is just around the corner. May this be a year of good health, happiness and prosperity.

The American Red Cross, Cape Cod and Islands Chapter, will organize an extensive number of adult, infant and child review and first aid classes. They will be held at the Martha’s Vineyard YMCA at Cottager’s Corner in Oak Bluffs.

The four-hour adult CPR/AED class costs $45. The certificate is valid for one year. The class is offered on any of three Saturdays: Jan 12, Feb. 9 or March 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or on Monday, March 24, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Mature Workers

Want to get back to work? The Mature Workers Program of Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands Inc. has openings in its Bridge Back to Work Program for income-eligible people 55 and older. The program offers paid work experience and skills training. More information is available by calling 888-394-4630 or 508-394-4630, extensions 134 or 138.

When jazz crooner Jerri Wells is finally coaxed up to the front of Oak Bluffs’ Offshore Ale by Eddie (Pepé Caron) Larkosh for a rendition of Do You Know What It Is to Miss New Orleans? she does not stick to the script for long. She delivers a few bars of the prescribed number then, like some sort of thief sidling past a security guard, hums her own improvised segue and ducks into the second verse of A ll Of Me, the Billie Holiday version, leaving the band to scramble after her.

Vineyard Haven artist Marston Clough is exhibiting original prints at Island Art Gallery-Kennedy Studios in Vineyard Haven. The works include etchings, linocuts, woodcuts and lithographs. Each print is an original, done by hand, and the artist prints very limited editions, numbering fewer than 10, all with strong Vineyard themes — lobstermen and fishermen at work and boats at rest.

The artist studied drawing at the Massachusetts College of Art and etching and printmaking at the Worcester Art Museum.

Little String Stars Twinkle

The All Island Winter String Concert for students in grades one through 12 is set for Tuesday, Jan. 15th from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Admission is free.

One of the high points of this concert will be the combined elementary, junior high and high school orchestras performing Kings of Stone, a piece for mixed level ensemble inspired by Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings. The high school and junior high groups also will perform independently.

The Vineyard Conservation Society Winter Walks Program will feature a guided walk at Thimble Farm in Tisbury on Sunday, Jan. 13 at 1:30 pm. Andrew Woodruff, an Island farmer with 25 years’ experience, will lead the walk.

Martin Luther King Walk

A walk to commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will start Monday, Jan. 21 at 9:30 a.m. Participants will meet in front of the Court House in Edgartown. The walk will start on Main street and end at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on North Summer street. There will be a brief talk, followed by a video of Dr. King. Refreshments will be served.

More information is available by calling Lori Sue Herman at 508- 627-9088 or Maureen McManus Hill at 508-627-9241.

Sail Martha’s Vineyard will present a fireside dinner and slide presentation at the Black Dog Tavern on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Capt. Peter Arenstam of Plimoth Plantation will speak on the unique history of the Mayflower II.

The ship, built in England in 1957, crossed the Atlantic in 55 days with a crew of sailors, schoolteachers and its mascot, a small kitten named Felix. There was a great deal of speculation whether this oddly shaped ship, such as had not been seen on the ocean since the 17th century, would make it safely to America.