Ayn Chase turns 85 on Dec. 11 and to celebrate she is thanking Island customers with a 15 per cent discount. On what you may ask? Mrs. Chase is a weaver working over the years on every type of textile good but is perhaps best known for her placemats and lampshades.

She estimates that she has woven over 27,500 placemats and made over 3,600 shades (not counting the tiny ones made for dollhouses) during her career.

Lighthouse Santa

Sara Hoadland Hunter and Julia Miner, the writer and illustrator team behind The Lighthouse Santa will give a reading at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven on Thursday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m.

Visiting Poets

On Thursday, Dec. 15, at 5:30 p.m. the West Tisbury Library will host poets G.E. Patterson and Samantha Barrow.

G. E. Patterson is a poet, critic and translator whose collections of poetry include To and From and Tug, which won the Minnesota Book Award. Mr. Patterson has received fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Cave Canem, the Djerassi Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Art in the Stacks

Bill Buckley is the featured artist for the month of December at the Vineyard Haven Library’s Art in the Stacks program.

In his own words, Mr. Buckley describes his influences as “Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, Botticelli, Magritte, Hopper and Dali to name a few.”

It’s been said that we might need a bigger Island, and in August few can argue with that. Now you can add Jawsfest: The Tribute to your August planning calendar, a special four-day series of events that will explore just about every aspect of the making of the movie Jaws. And as they did in 2005 for the first Jawsfest on the Vineyard, Jaws afficionados from around the world are expected to travel to this festival.

Sense of Wonder Crafts

Sense of Wonder Creations is holding a special holiday crafts event for children ages five and older on the next two Monday, Dec. 5 and 12, to benefit Heifer International.