The holiday spirit was briefly shattered two weeks ago when three men reportedly stole a Salvation Army can full of donated money from the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop that was meant to go toward helping needy Island families.

But thanks to deft police work by Tisbury police, especially Det. Mark Santon, the three suspects have been charged and all the money returned to the Salvation Army.

Once a month, planner and grantsman for the Wampanoag tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Durwood (Woody) Vanderhoop drives a sport utility vehicle down to the meteorological test tower on Old South Road, at the site of a salvage yard and an abandoned Long Range Radio Navigation (LORAN) tower. Taking care to ground himself by tapping on a piece of plastic at the base of a pylon, he removes a data card containing information which will help determine the tribe’s future energy policy.

The Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard is actively searching for qualified candidates to attend this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference, which will be held from May 8 to May 10, 2009 at the Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster.

The conference will offer outstanding high school juniors an opportunity to live, work and interact together in an atmosphere of cooperation and friendly competition. The program is designed to challenge participants to use and improve their skills and accept the responsibilities of leadership.

Steven Carlson of Vineyard Haven won the 2008 Top Gun Award at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod & Gun Club on Sunday, Nov. 30. Mr. Carlson bested other club members in the categories of standing deer and slug turkey. Tom Hanlon of Edgartown captured second place while Steven’s father, Richard Carlson of Vineyard Haven, picked up third prize. Diehard shotgunners braved terrible rainy conditions to sight-in their shotguns for the upcoming deer season and vie for hams donated by Cronig’s Market.

Deer hunting shotgun season ends tomorrow at a half-hour after sunset. The two-week season began strongly and then slowed down this past week with the onset of bitter cold followed by rainy, windy weather. The total count for the three Island check-in stations so far is 352 deer.

Check-in stations are at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest headquarters, Wampanoag Tribe headquarters in Aquinnah and Larry’s Tackle Shop in Edgartown.