Louisa Gould Show

The Louisa Gould Gallery welcomes all to its renovated space, for an artists’ reception for a group show on Saturday, May 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. Live music and refreshments will welcome returning artists to the gallery’s seventh season: John Holladay, Alan Eddy, Howard Park, Maya Farber, Ovid Ward, Laura Roberts, Ellen Liman, Leslie S. Smith, Jules Worthington, Caryn King, Louisa Gould and Kate Huntington.

The gallery is located on Main street in Vineyard Haven.

A new show at the award-winning Dragonfly Gallery in Oak Bluffs, entitled Beginnings, offers a sampling of the broad range of work from the 25 regional and national artists that the gallery is representing throughout the summer and into the fall. An opening reception with refreshments and beverages will be held on Saturday, May 23 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Gallery owner Don McKillop comments that he is very pleased to be offering fresh work from Dragonfly’s familiar artists, as well as work from artists who are new to the gallery this season.

The Carol Craven Gallery, located off Holmes Hole Road in Vineyard Haven, will be opening for its 14th season today, Friday, May 22.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday and Monday.

This first show features new work by John Digby, Claire Chalfoun, Kitty Cloud, Palmer Davis, Nancy Furino, Anne Grandin, Nene Humphrey, Cindy Kane, Barbara Kassel, Danielle Mailer, John Neville, Kathy Peck, Gretchen Dow Simpson, Maxine Smith, Rita Stern, Mark Andrew Stimson, Nancy Taplin and Jules Worthington.

People’s tones shift to reverential when the Vineyard Playhouse is introduced into the conversation, as was demonstrated at last week’s fundraiser at Friederike and Jeremy Biggs’s Manhattan penthouse (they also reside in Lambert’s Cove).

What better way to kick off a new summer chapter than by plunging into a new book?

On the Vineyard summer reading is more than just a pastime, it’s an experience. Well-read bookstore employees help guests make their perfect literary match. Book-signing events sprinkled throughout the season invite guests to engage their favorite authors. Perhaps best of all, this summer will welcome back a beloved book store on Main street Vineyard Haven after a year-long absence.

The Holmes Hole Sailing Association announced its schedule of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven Harbor for the 2009 summer season. The association will be sponsoring a series of 26 races, in a variety of formats, commencing with a tune-up race in Vineyard or Nantucket Sound on June 14 and concluding with the annual George Moffett Memorial Race on Sept. 12, 2009.

From the July 26, 1940 Gazette:

Racing in Menemsha Pond was unknown until seven or eight years ago. The early settlers of the Vineyard had a more utilitarian use for their boats, which were built for stamina not speed. One hardy family had always sailed on the pond, however, and it is to them that racing in this secluded section can first be traced.

Quarterboard Lecture

Sail MV’s final spring maritime presentation of Quarterboards with J.P. Uranker is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m. The presentation will take place at Mr. Uranker’s studio at 179 County Road in Oak Bluffs where he will demonstrate and discuss the different designs of quarterboards and the techniques for carving them. For details or to make a reservation call 508-696-7644 or visit sailmv.com.

By LYNNE IRONS

Europe has given us many great food and drink specialties — prosecco and spumoni from Italy, triple cream brie and wine from France, sangria from Spain and Guinness (need I say more?) from Ireland.

There is at least one culinary gift from Europe that we can do without. Botanists, butterfly lovers, and plant people of all types abhor this overseas present, the invasive plant, garlic mustard. And some folks have come up with very creative ways to eradicate it.