Richard Paradise stood in the corner of the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Saturday afternoon, silent but smiling.

It was a rare moment. Mr. Paradise, co-director of the annual Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, is a natural talker and schmoozer. From the time this year’s festival kicked off Thursday afternoon to the time it closed Sunday at sunset, Mr. Paradise gabbed nonstop. He introduced films, talked shop with reporters and greeted audiences and filmmakers alike.

With bacteria levels in Sengekontacket Pond lower than anticipated this summer, Edgartown shellfish constable Paul Bagnall is advocating that parts of the pond reopen to shellfishing as soon as next summer.

“I am pushing for the reopening of certain areas of the pond,” Mr. Bagnall told the Friends of Sengekontacket at their annual meeting this week. “And I don’t anticipate opposition.”

The blue Vineyard sky on Sept. 11, 2001 was cloudless and bright. And everyone still remembers that searing blue sky.

It was the day tropical storm Hanna was supposed to hit and, as luck would have it, Michael Domitrovich was stuck inside with a chest cold. Despite the weather and the nagging cough, Mr. Domitrovich declared himself a lucky man.

Tomorrow, students at the Edgartown School will have a choice at lunchtime: chicken salad sandwich or peanut butter and jelly. And on Thursday, they will have another choice: tossed green salad or a salad of mozzarella cheese and tomato.

Chicken or peanut butter, tossed or tomato salad, may not seem like a weighty decision, but for Edgartown students the choice will also be an opportunity to choose locally-grown, fresh food over a meal made from imported ingredients.

Getting a passport is no easy task. It takes two photo graphs, proof of United States citizenship, a valid form of photo identification, a $100 processing fee and then said passport will not arrive for up to four weeks.