As Vineyarders are bogged down in renewable energy regulations and the Cape Wind project languishes, some Island kids are well aware of what adults are just beginning to understand; “solar ovens/ and solar cars/ will make you all/ into stars/ . . . to prevent global warming/ you can turn off lights/ when it’s storming/ you don’t fly your kites.”

These rhyming, truthful lines are part of the Energy Rap, a song composed by the campers at Sense of Wonder Creations, a day camp in Vineyard Haven run by Pamela Benjamin.

The Vineyard can claim some ownership to a book that came out earlier this year: The Shark Handbook, the essential guide for understanding the sharks of the world, by Greg Skomal. Fortunately, the connection has more to do with the author than the subject, though at times the Vineyard does have its sharks.

An authority on sharks around the world, Mr. Skomal lives in Oak Bluffs. He works as a fisheries biologist for the state Division of Marine Fisheries.

In the opening scene of The One Percent, an 80-minute expose of the wealthiest Americans, three croquet players clad all in white are filmed through the bushes of an undisclosed course. Director Jamie Johnson shot the trio on the condition that their whereabouts would not be revealed, lest the plebes discover where the leisure class put their mallets. The faces are blurred, but the sounds on the course are all audible. The brightly colored balls clink as they meet on the manicured lawn and a lady tsk-tsks as she learns the young man behind the camera has never played before.

Vineyard Rotary Club

Offers Russian Study Trip

The Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard is seeking applications for team members for a group study exchange to western Russia. The program provides a unique educational and cultural opportunity for young professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 to travel in the host country in a 4-week program. The experience will introduce the visiting team to the history, business, industry, government, education and culture of the country. 

JO-ANN TILGHMAN

508-627-7669

(Tilghmanjb@aol.com)

This morning’s cool temperatures are a reminder that summer will be coming to an end all too soon. During last weekend’s dedication of a Japanese-style lantern at Mytoi I noticed the first hint of color on the Japanese maples, goldenrod is in bloom, and the occasional red leaf can be seen.

Chappy Pong Champs

Sam Funk won the summer Chappy Pong table tennis tournament at the Chappaquiddick Community Center August 16, downing Alina Wen in three straight games, 11-6, 11-7, and 12-10 in the championship match.

The modern game of table tennis, including international play at the Olympics, defines a game as 11 points; and a match is the best of five games.

The Carol Craven Gallery presents an exhibition of recent watercolors by Vineyard artist Gretchen Feldman. This is Mrs. Feldman’s fifth show with the gallery, and her vibrant watercolors continue to grow in their complexity. There also will be a poster of one of her paintings for sale with all proceeds going to benefit Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York city.

The opening reception is this Sunday, August 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the gallery on Breakdown Lane in Vineyard Haven. The public is welcome.

RICK HERRICK

508-693-8065

(herricklr@verizon.net)

Dr. Calhoun L. H. Howard, a longtime resident of East Chop, died on August 12 following a brief hospital stay in Rutland, Vt.

The Rt. Rev. Roy F. (Bud) Cederholm, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, will be the preacher and celebrant at the 9 a.m. service of worship at Trinity Episcopal Church this Sunday, August 24. The concelebrant will be the Very Rev. John P. Streit, Jr., Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.

Bishop Cederholm was consecrated a bishop in 2001. A gifted teacher and preacher, he is an active voice and witness for environmental stewardship.

Featherstone Center for the Arts announces the opening of a retrospective of the work of Dorothy Burnham, an artist who flourished both in New York and on the Vineyard.

Ms. Burnham began her artistic career in oil and acrylic with some watercolor. In the 1980s she became intrigued with collage and continues to work in that medium today. This retrospective of her work is primarily examples of her collage efforts and includes work inspired by her travels to Mali, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Kenya and Nigeria.