JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

slaterjn@comcast.net

Chilmark enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend. The only thing in short supply was a place to park. Let’s hope everyone was finally accommodated. The weather was perfect, the mood was upbeat and there were many visitors. And did I mention that the fish were biting?

Dave and Catha Carlson were at their Peaked Hill home with their daughter, Jessica, for a holiday vacation.

Bob and Kathy Barrett headed back to Rochester after a June visit to their home on the Menemsha Crossroad. Cathy Swanberry, also of Rochester, accompanied them. While the Barretts were here they enjoyed a visit from their daughter, Wendy, and her husband, Jack Salerno, and their sons, Jake and Luke, all of Wellesley.

Bob and Carol Haskell and 16 members of their family are vacationing this week at the Mayhew house in Quitsa.

The Aquinnah library will host an author talk by Geraldine Brooks on July 12 at 5 p.m. at the old Aquinnah town hall. Ms. Brooks will discuss her new book, Caleb’s Crossing.

Kathy Hayes of New York is in Quitsa for the month of July and hopes to see her many Chilmark friends while here. We wish her a speedy recovery as she is mending a damaged arm.

Bill and Susan Shanok of Middle Road are in residence for the season and will be enjoying many family visits in the coming weeks.

The sisters Solomon of New York city are at the Roberts house for their annual Chilmark vacation. They are always happy to reunite with their many friends here.

John Wightman of Aquinnah will have his annual show of his photography at the Bank of Martha’s Vineyard in Chilmark, opening July 9 and running through July 15. The artist’s reception will be on July 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the bank. John’s work takes photography a step beyond; his works are on paper, canvas and tile, with many objects included to intensify the experience. They need to be seen and are always interesting.

This weekend the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club is hosting a show at the Old Mill in West Tisbury. It is called Bloomin’ Art and is a combining of flower arrangements with works of art. Two Chilmark artists, Marianne Neill and Jay Lagemann, are included in the show. The reception is July 8 (tonight) from 6 to 8 p.m. and the show hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.

Robert Shalhope of Menemsha and Norman, Okla., will discuss the ideological origins of the Second Amendment at the Chilmark library on Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Bob is a history professor at the University of Oklahoma and a distinguished author of many books on history. The public is welcome free of charge and the program is sponsored by the Friends of the Chilmark library.

The Chilmark library will host the Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund speaker, Warren Doty, on Thursday night at 5 p.m. He will speak about Wind Farms and Fishing: Can They Coexist? The discussion is open to the public at no charge.

Cathy Thompson is entertaining Lucy Barthholmy of Boston, Sarah Pugh of Los Angeles and Karen Steinmetz of Nyack, N.Y. They are friends from childhood, growing up in Winnetka, Ill., and now gathered to share mutual summer birthdays and a Chilmark moment.

We send many good wishes from all of Chilmark to Ozzie Fischer, who is recuperating at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

The Chilmark Community Center opened this week and already has many programs in the works. Their booklet of programs has been mailed. If you didn’t get one or would like one, you can pick one up at the community center. The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival will be at the community center every Wednesday all summer with circus fun for children at 5 p.m. (children’s films at 6) followed by dinner and adult films at 8 p.m.

The Chilmark Church continues their traditional twice-a-week flea market on North Road. They offer us vendors of many objects and items every Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The church also continues to please with their legendary lobster rolls sold on Tuesdays at the church from 4 to 7 p.m.

There will be a dedication of the newly rebuilt dock in Menemsha on July 12 at 5 p.m.