Thurs, Sept 20, 2007
At Aquinnah Public Library, Bob Woodruff, coastal ecologist, former head of the Vineyard Conservation Society, and current executive director of the Great Pond Foundation, speaks from 5 to 6 p.m. about changes in the island within the context of global warming.

Thurs, Sept 20, 2007
At 6:30 pm at Sumner Silverman's home on Peacegate Way in Vineyard Haven ( first house on the left). As always, please bring food and/or drink to share, your own place setting and slippers (to protect Sumner's floors).

Fri, Sept 21, 2007
11 am-5 pm, Island Alpaca Company, 1 Head of the Pond Rd., Oak Bluffs. Visit and learn about alpaca. Also Sat. 508-693-5554.

Fri, Sept 21, 2007
At Tisbury Waterways Inc's 2007 annual meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Tisbury Senior Center 5:30 pm. Free admission and all welcome. For details, call 508-696-1893.

Sat, Sept 22, 2007
From 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, meets at the Regional High School’s faculty parking lot. Explore the Vineyard’s woodlands, meadows and beaches to learn about bird identification, ecology and behavior. For details, call 508-693-4908. Cost is $25 per person.

Sat, Sept 22, 2007
On State Road in West Tisbury are free at 2 p.m. daily. For details, call 508-693-9426.

Sun, Sept 23, 2007
1-2:30 pm, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Rd., Edgartown. $8; $4 for members. 508-627-4850, ext. 101.

For more details &/or to register call 508 627-7007 ext 106 or email melinda@farminstitute.org!

Tuesday After School 
Grades: K-4
When: Tuesdays, 9/25 - 11/13
Time: 3:15 to 5:15 p.m.
Fee: $120 (8 sessions)

Thursday After School
Grades: 5 - 8
When: Thursdays, 9/27 - 11/15
Time: 3:15 to 5:15 p.m.
Fee: $120 (8 sessions)

Friday Farmers-in-Training (F.I.T.)
Ages: 10 & up ***w/qualifying experience on The FARM
When: Fridays, 9/14 - 12/7
Time: 3:15 to 5:15
Fee: $180 (12 sessions) ***F.I.T. students are invited to participate based on their previous experience & their commitment. Opportunities are also available for FIT kids to mentor students, assist teachers and farm hands on The FARM as well as work on their own independent projects.

WEE FARMER Mornings w/ Mary Baker
Ages: 3 & 4 year olds with a parent
When: Saturdays, 9/22, 10/13, 10/27 & 11/10
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Fee: $12 (per session)

Saturday Afternoon Work
Ages: 5 years old & up
When: Saturdays, 10/6 - 11/17
Time: 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Fee: $155 (7 sessions)

Family & Community Chore Mornings
Ages: All Ages
When: First Saturday of every month
Time: 8:30 a.m.
Fee: $5 per person/$10 per family

Visit www.farminstute.org  for more of what's new down on The FARM!
Space is limited - don't be disappointed Register Today!
For more details &/or to register call 508 627-7007 ext 106 or email melinda@farminstitute.org!

Tues, Sept 25, "Landscaper Accounting: Collecting for 2007." Work is done, but money is due? Pete Costas from Vineyard Gardens is offering a class/forum from 4:30- 6:30 PM. He will present a couple of collection strategies of his own, and brainstorm with the class on better ways to bill clients, or even get pre-paid in 2008. In the Far Barn at the Polly Hill Arboretum. The cost of the class is $10.00 with all proceeds to benefit the Arboretum. Call Karin at Polly Hill at 508-693-9426 to sign up.

OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
The Vineyard Conservation Society has immediate need for a professional to manage its office and operations. Thirty to forty hours per week, with benefits. Detailed position specifications and application information at http://almanac.vcsmv.org.

COMMUNICATIONS, DEVELOPMENT AND MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR
The Vineyard Conservation Society wishes to fill a new position to oversee communications, development and membership. Thirty to forty hours per week, with benefits. Excellent communications skills and development experience required. Detailed position specifications and application information at http://almanac.vcsmv.org.

On August 2, EOEEA Secretary Ian Bowles launched the Aquatic Habitat Restoration Task Force, charging the group with evaluating restoration efforts during the last decade, evaluating the status of aquatic habitat restoration today, and recommending a blueprint for the next four years. This was the first of six meetings that will culminate with the submission of a report and recommendations to EOEEA. The Task Force is chaired by CZM's Acting Director, Bruce Carlisle, and includes representatives from: CZM's Wetlands Restoration Program (WRP), the Department of Fish and Game's Riverways Program and Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), Mass Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, American Rivers, the Ipswich River Watershed Association, the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, and Coastal America. http://www.mass.gov/czm/

For buyers, carbon labels tap into worry on warming

Customers buying Timberland shoes now have something to think about other than style, comfort, and price - global warming. The New Hampshire-based company's fall collection includes a gray fabric sneaker, priced at $49.99, and a wool-lined leather clog for $105. A close look at the labels reveals, however, that the clog is a bargain when it comes to greenhouse gases that cause global warming: 66 pounds of carbon dioxide and other gases were emitted in producing the clog, compared with 88 pounds for the sneaker.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/
2007/09/11/for_buyers_carbon_labels_tap_into_worry_on_warming/

Last week, scientists reported having found a possible — emphasis on possible — cause of the collapse of honeybee populations reported in the past year. What is interesting isn’t just the virus, called Israeli acute paralysis virus, but the use of new methods of genetic screening to determine what pathogens the bees in collapsed colonies had been exposed to. Researchers were able to quickly screen the DNA from all the organisms present in the bees and compare them with the DNA in genomic libraries, a catalog of known organisms. Bees from collapsed hives had the virus. Healthy bees did not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/
opinion/11tue4.html?th&emc=th

America is engaged in yet another debate about aquaculture, this time prompted by the Administration’s National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007. The debate ranges over the usual topics from jobs and seafood imports to the environment and competition with commercial fishing. Missing from this debate, however, is discussion of an idea that reaches far beyond these usual battle lines and which merits more attention. It is an idea that was captured eloquently by the famous French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau when he said in 1973 “With earth's burgeoning human populations to feed we must turn to the sea with new understanding and new technology. We must farm it as we farm the land.” Later, in 1979, Nobel laureate Odysseus Elytis expressed the same idea in a more abstract way when he said “The sea for us is something very familiar and not at all wild. It seems just another land demanding cultivation. http://www.aquacopia.com/

Many Tisbury homeowners say they have been caught off-guard by the recent implementation of a septic system inspection program, approved by town voters several years ago. A letter from Tisbury's board of health (BOH), mailed to about 90 homeowners to date, explained that each septic system must be inspected by a state certified septic inspector within 60 days of the letter's date. A report must be received at the BOH office within 30 days of the inspection.

http://www.mvtimes.com/news/
2007/09/13/tisbury_septic_systems.php