Chilmark holds many emotions as the biggest holiday of the season comes upon us. I don’t have to list them; we each can face our own as we get all the parts in order for a smooth and happy Fourth of July with our family and visitors. Cheers to us all as we spend another Fourth with each other in our favorite holiday spot, Chilmark!

Chilmark is settling into some serious summer weather. It has been really steamy a couple of mornings this week with the usual early fog followed by hot sun. It seems as if August has come early! Will we ever be happy with our weather — absolutely! It is the beginning of a typical and most welcome summer.

Chilmark’s summer season is underway. There are many hints to assure us this is true. The traffic on the weekend of cars of every vintage, bikes, motorcycles and pedestrians was the obvious clue and the general good mood of the visitors spoke of some happy reunions and celebrations to come. There were a number of tents around town at the usual wedding locations and that increased our visitor count also.

Chilmark has lost some of the wonderful folks who make up the tight-knit fabric of our lives on Martha’s Vineyard. This week we send condolences to several families who are missing some of these people.

Condolences to the families and friends of Shirley Tilton, who lived in Vineyard Haven but was connected to much more of the Island by family and by her active career. She will be missed by her family and friends and has left us many memories.

Chilmark is now on the downhill side of the first long weekend of the season and our hope is that the sun will return and stay with us so that our visitors will want to return! The weather was grim until the actual holiday itself when the sun was bright on the parades and picnics. Some of the weddings scheduled for Saturday and Sunday had to make do with some real New England-style weather. One such wedding was seen taking place on the Lucy Vincent Beach — that union has met the test!

Chilmark enjoyed a steamy hot spring day today as I write midweek, but we are reminded that it is still spring and we are still on an island when the fog rolls in and out all day. On Tuesday a group of four U.S. senators hosted a premiere screening of the new National Geographic documentary, American Heroes Fishing Challenge.

Chilmark enjoyed a busy but rainy Mother’s Day weekend. It is usually the first weekend of visits from seasonal residents and the first holiday weekend that feels like spring. Most businesses will open this coming weekend, although some were ready for the early visitors. The restaurants are mostly open now. The Beach Plum Inn restaurant will be open Thursday through Sundays this month with a Sunday Supper Series. The Galley and The Bite will both open May 16, and the Beetlebung Café will open on May 2.

Chilmark is deep into openings and new beginnings. Most of the town businesses are either opening this weekend or next. The Chilmark Store will open May 10; The Bite and the Galley, both Menemsha eateries, will open May 16, with Beetlebung Café following on May 20. The Beach Plum Inn restaurant is open from Thursday through Sunday for the next couple of weeks, and the Home Port Restaurant will open on Memorial Day weekend.

Chilmark welcomed May with a cheery sunny day. Lots of fruit trees are blooming and the last of the daffodils and tulips are still nodding but in a lot less wind than last week. In a more innocent time in Chilmark, the 1st of May was marked by the hanging of May baskets on the doors of popular young people. The tradition was an old one and carried into the 20th century. Baskets containing candy and flowers were placed on doorsteps or hung on doorknobs. Groups of friends would prepare and deliver the basket after dark.

Chilmark’s annual town meeting at the Chilmark Community Center on Monday last was over before 11 p.m. and more than that, the voters voted in favor of a bylaw that is the beginning of some landmark rulings in the future size of new houses in town. The discussion was detailed and the comments were all thoughtful and sincere.