Ray Ellis began every painting as though it would be the best painting he ever did.

It was with this spirit and enthusiasm that Mr. Ellis approached his life and his more than 80-year career as a painter on the Vineyard and beyond. Mr. Ellis died on Friday at the age of 92 from complications due to a recent stroke. He was painting two weeks before his death.

If you want to play pickup soccer all you need is a ball and a field. If you want to play pickup cricket you need a bit more. A tennis ball (or four, in case one bounces away) will do in place of the hard leather ball typically used in games. Wooden spikes will do for wickets, and sticks with blue surveyors’ tape on them work for denoting the outfield boundaries.

Ray Ellis of Edgartown died at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital on Oct. 4 of complications from a stroke. He was 92. A nationally recognized artist whose paintings are in the permanent collection at The White House and museums around the country, Mr. Ellis sought out beauty in everything. He was an unwavering optimist and a romantic who imagined the best possible reality and then stepped inside and lived it. Born in Philadelphia on April 24, 1921, Raymond George Ellis grew up on Lismore Avenue in Glenside, Pa.

From cooking to bookkeeping, the course selection at ACE MV attracts increasing interest every year. But facing a mounting financial crisis, the organization is looking to secure public funding by next fall, or close down operations permanently.

A trio of cross-country runners took the top spots in the first annual Gay Head 10K held Sunday morning in Aquinnah. Conor Welch, 25, of Allston, won the race with a time of 36:06.