JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark is a busy place. Farmers, fishermen and gardeners are doing lots of outdoor chores in this unseasonable warm and sunny weather. I suspect by the noisy bird noises I hear every morning that they are feeling the pressure of the warm weather and are needing nests! Thick fog greeted us up-Islanders on Wednesday morning and returned in the evening. The sound of a nearby foghorn waked me this a.m. and it is still only March!

The spring lambs are starting to arrive. Allen Healy and his wife, Caitlin Jones, have welcomed 12 lambs in the last 2 weeks at their Mermaid Farm on Middle Road.

Frank and Judy LoRusso had two sets of twin lambs born last Saturday.

The Farm Committee at town hall has received 13 applications for the Tea Lane Farm. The decision will be made soon as to who will be the buyer of the old farm.

The selectmen, at their Tuesday night meeting this week, appointed Jack Collins as a special police officer on the recommendation of Chief Brian Cioffi. Jack is providing training to law enforcement officers and has been helpful to the Chilmark Police Department in the past.

Karin Flynn, of the Basin Road eatery The Bite, is back from a 10 day trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She traveled with the Haitian Outreach group from Leominster. They distributed 350 stocked backpacks to children in six different locations around Haiti. She thanks her Vineyard sponsors for their help. Karin has been working for the folks of Haiti for many years now and deserves our congratulations and support.

The Chilmark Democrats will meet on March 24 at 11 a.m. at the town hall for a one hour meeting to work on their plans for this election year.

The Friends of the Chilmark library will show the movie Road to Perdition as their Free Friday Night Movie on March 30 at 7 p.m. Popcorn and drinks are free, as is the movie. All are welcome.

Todd Christy has resigned from his job at the town hall, where he has been an administrative assistant to several of the town boards for a number of years. We all enjoy working with Todd and will miss him and his lively ideas. He is leaving to give his full attention to his growing retail coffee business. We all wish him luck.

Is your cell phone working in Chilmark yet? The trucks seemed to have moved on and there are additions to poles all over town.