West Tisbury selectmen at their meeting this week unanimously agreed to authorize executive secretary Jennifer Rand to enter into a contract with a Falmouth-based general contractor to begin work on the long-awaited town hall renovation project.

J.K. Scanlon of East Falmouth was awarded the bid after coming in approximately $600,000 lower than expected.

It was the abundance of sports drinks left over from the road race the day before. It was tunes emanating from the small stereo on the picnic table, popscicles, the relentless sun radiating off the asphalt and that relaxed camaraderie forged when shirts take on skins in a friendly game of pick-up basketball.

The Alex Cohen Basketball Marathon celebrated its 20th year Sunday at the Chilmark Community Center complete with summer stereotypes soon to be immortalized in nostalgic recollections as the summer season come to an end.

In a one-day-only literary event Sunday, Elizabeth Dembrowsky will read from her forthcoming novel, My Monk in Garamond, soon to be published by Heliotrope Books, and Fran Sommers will read from her new play, Space, at 2 and again at 6 p.m. at Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

This inaugural reading August 17 will mark the beginning of Ms. Dembrowsky’s book tour and allow the audience the opportunity to hear from the debut novel of an innovative new writer. After each reading, Ms. Dembrowsky will take questions and discussion with the audience.

John Arrives

Heather and John Hoff of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, John Francis Hoff, on July 24, at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. John weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces at birth.

Heritage Trail Dedication

On Saturday, August 16, the African American Heritage Trail, in collaboration with the W.E. Du Bois Institute at Harvard, will dedicate the former home of Dorothy West, Harlem Renaissance writer, as a site on the trail. All are invited.

The dedication is scheduled for 2 p.m., and at 5 p.m. a celebration of life and the creative achievements of the Highlands community will be celebrated at the Shearer Cottage on Rose Avenue in Oak Bluffs. The keynote speaker will be Professor Charles J. Ogletree of Harvard.

For the second time in three weeks, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday hosted a special meeting for summer residents. And like last month, this week’s meeting was a largely tranquil affair attended by a sparse crowd of about a dozen people.

While in previous years summer meetings have seen large turnouts — one last year drew nearly 50 people — there appear to be no hot button issues this year.

Hello, Hannah

Joshua and Suzanne Provost Flanders announce the birth of their daughter, Hannah Evealoe Flanders, on July 14 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Hannah weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces. She joins big brothers Joshua, David and Christian. Her grandparents are Glenn and Marcella Provost of Vineyard Haven and Patricia Flanders of Edgartown.

Melinda Loberg was sworn in as a Dukes County commissioner Thursday after a 4 to 3 vote by the county commission on Wednesday night. She will fill the seat left vacant by Paul Strauss, who retired earlier this summer.

“This is not what I saw myself being at this time in my life,” Ms. Loberg said on the phone yesterday. “But I was encouraged by folks in the community who I respect.”

Ms. Loberg, a resident of Vineyard Haven, has come to the Island for summers her whole life; she moved here full time in 1999.

Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., a renowned African American literary and history scholar, will be the featured speaker for the eighth annual summer signature event sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Branch of The Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

The event will be August 17, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts Center.

African American Lives will be the focus of Dr. Gates’s illustrated presentation.

Two years ago this month, Larry R. Couture took a walk on the beach in Aquinnah and spotted something shining in the sand. He found a piece of clear crystal quartz the size of a tennis ball. Though he didn’t know it at the time, it was a rare find.

This summer, Mr. Couture returned to the Island carrying a 60-carat quartz crystal. The gem was cut from the stone.