Hurricane Irene is expected to pass west of Martha’s Vineyard this weekend, but Islanders still should be prepared for a very strong storm with sustained winds of 80 to 90 miles an hour with higher gusts, heavy rain, a storm surge of as much as eight feet, and seas off the south shore of 25 to 35 feet by Sunday, weather forecasters warned.

The warning was contained in a conference call briefing to a gathering of Vineyard emergency planners yesterday by Bob Thompson of the National Weather Service.

Fresh fish is landed daily at Menemsha and much of it is being shipped to the mainland by Alec Gale. With his operation set up in what was once a lobster shack, the 34-year-old is shipping more this summer than he has shipped before.

A key ingredient to his success is ice. He manufactures and sells ice by the bucket and fish box. Boats are loading up with his ice before they head out of the harbor, and they are coming back with boxes full of iced fish.

Special date: After 64 years of marriage, John Mayhew called his bride and asked her to be his date for the 150th Annual Agricultural Fair.

Mr. Mayhew, a resident of Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, was on one of the nine outings from Windemere to the fair at which his bride, Shirley, was able to meet him, hold hands in the shade, and share a few laughs.

By SAM LOW

Dick Everett is a polymath. He’s a sailor, an inventor, a restorer of antique houses and steam engines. He can build a boat, blacksmith almost anything, and he fashions parts for model airplanes to tolerances that would split a human hair many times. He’s a longtime member of the Society of Antique Modelers and has built model airplanes for national and international competition most of his life.