Several parties were held around town on New Year’s Eve. The trend in recent years seems to be more toward family or neighborhood gatherings to welcome in the new year.

Charter School

Monday, Jan. 7: Baked ham, rotini primavera, pears and milk.

Tuesday, Jan. 8: Corn chowder, grilled cheese sandwich, fruit smoothie.

Wednesday, Jan. 9: Hot turkey sandwich or roasted veggie sub, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pineapple.

Thursday, Jan. 10: Pizza (plain cheese, pepperoni or pesto and artichoke), tossed salad, fresh fruit and milk.

Friday, Jan. 11: Quesadillas: chicken and cheese, black bean and corn (vegan) or tomato and cheese, refried beans, salsa, sour cream, peaches.

New Library Locale

Edgartown Public Library remains open at its temporary location in the selectmen’s meeting room of town hall, located on Main street. Public computers with Internet access are available but all activities, including story hours, are temporarily suspended until further notice.

The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and Saturday noon to 5 p.m. For any more information, call 508-627-6189.

Island musicians were the dominant revelers at the Vineyard Haven observance at the close of 2007.

The event could have begun at any time for members in the audience at the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Monday afternoon.

For some it began with a belly dancer revue. For many it was Johnny Hoy of the Bluefish singing a song dedicated to time slipping away.

When three golden girls from East Chop went swimming Tuesday morning, they had little trouble finding their spot at the beach.

No beach towels were in the way, nor were there children on the shoreline to dodge, as they sped down into the water in front of the East Chop Beach Club.

Except for a stiff, bitterly cold arctic blast from the southeast, all was quiet at the beach club. The temperature was in the 30s.

And there was no shortage of space amid the rolling waves in the 39-degree seawater for the swimmers at the popular summer beach.

A thin crescent moon appears low in the southeastern sky tomorrow morning, just before sunrise. The moon appears underneath the brilliant planet Venus. Both are in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius. Venus and the moon are 10 degrees apart, and are the two brightest celestial objects in the sky, easy to find, and a pleasant and memorable sight.

NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

As the new year rolls in across the Chappaquiddick marshes, bringing with it what it will, I wonder about this season’s weather, especially as I started noticing cabin fever — even before the official start of winter.

A storm can come along and disrupt island life at any time of year, but somehow winter weather, with the likelihood of making us miserably cold outside or stuck inside for days, seems a more important unknown than in other seasons.

HOLLY NADLER

508-693-3880

(sunporch@vineyard.net)

We all have our personal New Year’s resolutions (lose weight, call Mom more often, stop storing sealed bills in the trunk of the car . . . ) but here are a couple of self-improvement policies we might adopt communally:

By KATE J. CONDE

The temperatures may be dropping outside but a fiery blaze made it feel like a sultry August afternoon in November as the boys, plus Kara and Morgan, practiced their skills during a smoking hot drill.

The controlled burn took place over a two-day period with all engine companies participating, including one from Oak Bluffs. The ability to burn a building in this manner allows for practical skills to be learned by our fervent firefighters.