Free farm tours
The Grey Barn and Farm, a sustainable small-scale dairy farm in Chilmark, is welcoming visitors for farm tours every Thursday morning from 10 to 11 am. Described by its founders as an “organic farm in transition,” the farm aims to balance environmental and business concerns. The tour will showcase the farm’s sustainable construction using solar panels and domestic locust wood, and will also show some of the farmers’ daily activities. Admission is free. For more information, contact farmer@thegreybarnandfarm.com.
“Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous”
Joan Nathan will join worshippers and food-lovers on Friday, July 29 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. She will sell and sign copies of her new book, “Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France,” and then speak at that evening’s Shabbat service. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own kugel dish and stories of its history for a potluck following the service’s conclusion.
The event begins at 4:30 pm with the Shabbat service set for 6 pm. For more information, call 508-693-0745.
CCC party
The Mike Benjamin Band is playing at the Chilmark Community Center (CCC) this Saturday, July 23 from 7 to 10 pm, for a fundraiser to benefit the Center. Silent auction items include a guitar signed by James Taylor, a round of golf with Bill Buckner, a trip to Cuttyhunk, and a cooking class with Joan Nathan, among other items. Tickets are $50 and available at the center or at ticketsmv.com.
Get your tickets
In honor of Slow Food’s Carlo Petrini’s visit to the Island, Native Earth Teaching Farm is holding a pig roast benefit on Wednesday, August 24 from 4 to 7 pm. A small sustainable working farm on North Road in Chilmark, Native Earth aims to follow Petrini’s principle of high-quality farming without harm to the environment or consumer.
The 100 available tickets can be purchased for $75 (general admission), $65 (Slow Food members), and $10 (children under 10). Advance tickets are available at ticketsmv.com or at select locations throughout the Island. For more information, visit nativeearthteachingfarm.org.
Comedy brings together neighbors
In support of newly launched website networkofneighbors.com, celebrated comedian Tim Conway and special guest Louise DuArt will take the stage at the Martha’s Vineyard High School Performing Arts Center on Saturday evening, July 30, at 7:30 pm. The website aims to celebrate and promote the Island spirit of benevolence. Two free tickets are available with the registration of one valid email on networkofneighbors.com.
Summer Speaker series continues
When Cong. Barney Frank, the Summer Institute’s planned speaker for this Thursday, July 21, was detained in Washington by the debate over the federal debt ceiling, organizers of the series were sent scrambling. But fortunately the connections of the Summer Institute committee run deep, and another formidable speaker, Kenneth R. Feinberg, quickly agreed to fill the bill.
Mr. Feinberg, an attorney, is the world’s preeminent practitioner of an unusual specialty: overseeing settlement payouts in the wake of such massive disasters as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. His talk at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, “Mass Tragedies and the Law: 9/11, BP Oil Spill & Agent Orange,” will explore the challenges our legal system faces in responding to events like these.
A former chief of staff for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Mr. Feinberg is founder and managing partner of Feinberg Rozen LLP, the nation’s foremost law firm for mediation, arbitration, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. He served as Special Master of the U.S. government’s Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, and currently is Special Master of the TARP executive compensation program, earning him the title of “pay czar.” He is also the government-appointed administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund.
All Summer Institute programs are presented at 7:30 pm. Admission to Mr. Feinberg’s talk is a suggested donation of $15. For more information, visit mvsummerinstitute.com.
