The Tabernacle cupola is undergoing the most significant restoration in more than a century. The $635,000 project will not only preserve the cupola for the years ahead, but restore its key purposes of ventilation and visual distinction.

For Russell E. Dagnall, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, the work, called Topping off the Tabernacle, is but part of a much larger $3 million restoration of the Tabernacle that began almost 10 years ago.

Edgartown shellfish constable Paul Bagnall has been named officer of the year by the Massachusetts Shellfish Officers Association.

While he had known of the news for months, he was presented with the award at a meeting of the Edgartown selectmen on Monday. The award was given for the year 2006.

A group of shellfish constables came over from the Cape to make the presentation.

Island Therapists Attend

Educational Conferences

Larry Greenberg and Deborah Shipkin of Greenberg Physical and Hand Therapy Associates in West Tisbury recently attended The Boston Shoulder Symposium, which presented the most recent surgical and rehabilitation techniques for the treatment of shoulder injuries.

Farm Neck Foundation

Announces Island Gifts

The board of directors of the Farm Neck Foundation has announced $51,800 in annual charitable grants for 2007 to 13 Vineyard organizations and agencies.

The largest gift, $25,000, is a pledge toward the new YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard building.

The moon moves up close to the bright planet Mars this weekend. The two are closest on Sunday night and both are in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. The full moon on Sunday is called the Cold Moon by the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Chief Credit Officer

Edgartown National Bank has appointed Richard Labrecque as chief credit officer at the bank.

Mr. Labrecque brings with him nearly 25 years of experience as a commercial loan and credit officer, most recently at Mayflower Bank in Plymouth.

He holds an master’s of business adminstration in finance. Among his civic activities, he serves on the South Eastern Massachusetts Small Business Loan Review Board.

The holiday spirit was not in the air last weekend at the Eden Garden Center.

Tisbury police responded to a call Sunday morning from the Tea Lane Christmas Shoppe reporting a robbery. The store is located at the garden center at 259 State Road.

The call came at 10:40 a.m from an employee who arrived to work to find the padlock from the front door removed, the entire cash register and its contents gone and a donation box for the Red Stocking Fund missing.

The Dukes County Commission will hold a special meeting at 9:30 this morning in an ongoing attempt to draft a balanced budget for the 2009 fiscal year.

On the table is a proposal to slash funding by 60 per cent to three county programs: the health care access program, the rodent control officer and the county engineer.

HOLLY NADLER

508-693-3880

(sunporch@vineyard.net)

You know where you can’t find a cop in Oak Bluffs after dark? At the police station, that’s where.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

Last winter was so late in arriving it seemed as if we might skip it completely — but you can’t say that about this year. So far, we’ve escaped the early deep snows of the rest of New England, but we certainly have had our share of cold and stormy weather.