The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival's four-day event featured 20 movies. In between screenings, filmgoers walked around, mingled with one another and sipped on Chilmark Coffee Company java.

On Sunday afternoon about 40 hikers (and several dogs) gathered for a guided walk through the Frances Woods Preserve in West Tisbury. “Fran Woods emailed this morning to say ‘enjoy the walk,’” said Brendan O’Neill, executive director of the Vineyard Conservation Society.

The idea for The Workshop was born over dinner in September. Artists Dan VanLandingham, Lauren Coggins-Tuttle, Terry Crimmen and Tara Kenny were planning to rent a space together next spring but when a building became available on the Vineyard Haven waterfront, they leaped at it, paintbrushes at the ready.

On a rainy morning in July 2009, Ed Merck was having breakfast on his boat in Lake Tashmoo. He had just completed a 12-and-a-half day sail up the east coast from Florida. Now, moored in a quiet corner of the pond, he was struck by loneliness.

The Vineyard has a long history of being dog-centric. There are dogs on boats, dogs on beaches, dogs at offices. At the top of Circuit avenue there’s a shop dedicated to all things dog. And, of course, there’s the Island’s most well-known canine — the Black Dog.

Pasted in the corner window of the door that leads into Lamplighter Corner is a sign that reads: “You need a lamp, Billy got a lamp.” It was written in blue crayon by the daughter of craftsman Billy Hoff, who has been at the helm of the Island business for the past eight years.