I turned 21 in 1968, the first year I had the chance to vote. With an anti-Roosevelt Republican father and a liberal leaning Democratic mother, I tread a torturous political path. And 1968 was a year when caution was thrown to the wind, early and often. No one imagined the year would turn out to be a most tumultuous political experience.

It began with the Tet offensive at the end of January, 1968, a Viet Cong onslaught on American troops. People in the United States had been led to believe we were on the verge of victory, so the enemy uprising was amazing.

Forty years ago my father, Island artist Stan Murphy, was commissioned to paint a portrait of our country’s first black cabinet member, Dr. Robert Weaver. Weaver, a civil rights leader with a doctorate in economics from Harvard, became Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when he was appointed by President Johnson.

In what has become a fiercely contested primary battle, Vineyarders rushed to register last week in time to vote in the Massachusetts Democratic and Republican primary elections, scheduled for “Super Duper,” “Tsunami,” or even “Destiny” Tuesday, Feb. 5.

That day will feature the biggest one-day collection of state primaries and caucuses ever held in the United States.

Neighborhood Convention

The February meeting of Neighborhood Convention will be held at the Assembly of God, 1048 State Road in Vineyard Haven, at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5. The Rev. Walter Rogero will conduct the worship service and the program will feature Featherstone Center for the Arts. Bring a bag lunch; dessert and beverages will be provided by the host congregation.

More information is available by calling Mary-Jean Miner at 508-696-8589.

Dean’s List

Jennifer Ross Reekie, daughter of Chele and Alan Reekie of West Tisbury, has been named to the dean’s list at Bentley College for the fall semester.

Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School next week will participate in the largest teach-in in history — Focus The Nation, an unprecedented study of global warming solutions.

“Critical decisions need to be made on global warming . . . the youth who will inherit the crisis need serious education on the issue,” said James Speth, dean of Yale school of forestry and environmental studies.

The teach-in kicks off Wednesday night with a Webcast with actor Edward Norton and Stanford climate scientist Steve Schneider among the panelists.

“Book clubs are frustrating affairs,” says Philip Weinstein, a professor of English at Swarthmore College who will be running one of these irritating to-dos starting Thursday in Aquinnah and traveling through five town libraries during the spring. “But they’re provocative, too,” he qualifies, sipping tea in the brightly-lit front room of his Aquinnah home. Mr. Weinstein hopes this will be particularly true of the up-coming discussions, which will take in five novels dealing with race in the American experience.

Surfcasters Groups Meets

For Awards, New Officers

The Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters Association will hold its annual banquet and awards ceremony Saturday, Jan. 26 at noon in the Baylies Room of the Old Edgartown Whaling Church.

President Jeff Sayre said the event is open to members and all those who are thinking of membership.

The association is a recreational fishing club now in its 19th year. The group has 150 members.

An awards ceremony will honor the top club anglers of 2007.

The Safe Haven Project got four aces last Saturday night in Oak Bluffs when more than a hundred friends and supporters showed up for a couple hours of gambling.

The event, a first for the nonprofit organization, was Casino Night at the Oyster Bar Grill on Circuit avenue.

Blackjack dealers wore stiff white shirts and dealt like the professionals from Foxwoods. “Oh, they are all local,” said Deanna Ahearn Laird, a longtime supporter of Safe Haven and volunteer on the camp committee.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

As of Tuesday, Peter Wells has the right to send the Chappaquiddick ferries back and forth between the slips on either side of the Edgartown harbor channel. The two ferries aren’t his yet, but that’s almost a technicality at this point.