Hundreds of athletes tested their strength and endurance early Monday morning during the first-ever Vineyard Warrior triathlon, which kicked off at State Beach at 7 a.m. The race took participants all over the Island, from Oak Bluffs to West Tisbury and Edgartown, and back, on a one-mile swim, 24.7-mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run. 

Irene arrived on Martha's Vineyard on Sunday, not as a hurricane but a tropical storm, bringing with her minmal structural damage, but flooded streets and downed power lines and trees. Many homes lost power for at least a portion of the day; multiple streets were also closed for periods of time as emergency workes acted quickly to restore power and clear the roads of debris. Above is a compilation of photos from the storm. Do you have photos or videos to share? Add them to our contributors' gallery!

Crowds packed into and around the Martha's Vineyard Camp meeting Association Tabernacle on Wednesday night to celebrate Grand Illumination Night, a yearly spectacle in which the gingerbread cottages on the old Methodist campground are festooned with lanterns. Prior to the lighting of the lanterns, the Vineyard Haven Band played a roster of patriotic tunes and Bob Cleasby led atendees in a community sing-along. The tradition of Illumination Night dates back to 1835.

The annual Monster Shark Tournament, now in its 25th year, returned to Oak Bluffs this weekend, bringing with it huge crowds and more than a dozen large sharks. Though the tournament has in past years drawn protestors, who claim the tournament is gruesome spectacle, none were visible this year nearby where the sharks were being weighed and measured. The winning Tuna Tangler Team of Montauk, NY reeled in two big catches: a 538-pound thresher shark and a 278-pound mako shark, and earned a Contender fishing boat valued at $50,000 for their efforts. A list of the catches appears below.   Boat …

Members of the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, the Steamship Authority and the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce came together for a "Business After Hours" networking event Wednesday aboard the M/V Island Home ferry.  Guests enjoyed live Calypso entertainment, complimentary beverages and hors d'oeuvres while networking.  The featured nonprofit member was Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod, which specializes in end-of-life care.

Class of 2011 Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Class Officers Hudson Klebs, president Lauren Lucas, vice-president Molly Fischer, secretary Rykerr Maynard, treasurer Kayla Johnson, historian Rachel Pires, student council president Nicole Alexander Amoy Indera Anderson William Meredith Anderson Derek Robert Andrade Tanner James Andrade Greggory Justino Buzetti Aquino Michael Ryan Araujo James David Bagnall Matthew Dana Bagnall Rebecca Cardoso Barbosa Alexander William Ben David Samantha White Billings Cole Joseph Bilodeau Alexander Thomas Bilzerian Emma Lynn Boyd Ian Gray Brew Shawna-…

Nearly 400 people turned out to the American Cancer Society's annual Relay for Lif of Martha's Vineyard, held Friday and Saturday at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School track. Together, they celebrated 94 cancer survivors. Relay teams walked the track from 6 p.m. Friday through Saturday morning, raising more than $88,019 in the process, said Lauren Brodeur-Arlia, community executive of income development at the American Cancer Society. Brodeur-Arlia said she expects that total to jump to $95,000 by the August 31, 2011 fundraising deadline.  For more information, or to donate to Relay …

Rain threatened to posptpone the annual Memorial Day picnic, held Monday at in Tisbury. But in the end it held off, and all who attended were treated to a day of picnic fare, pony rides, row boating and live music as they celebrated the holiday and the start of the summer season. The event was held on the grounds of the Tashmoo Spring Pumping Station, built in 1887 and included in the National Registry of Historic Places. Members of the Tashmoo Springs Building Restoration Committee showed off the extensive progress on building's ongoing restoration.

Martha's Vineyard commemorated Memorial Day on Monday with a parade from American Legion Post 257 to the Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven. The parade was followed by an honor ceremony featurng Lieut. Col. James Craig.

The crowds lined up at the Bunch of Bookstore on Saturday to catch a glimpse and procure an autograph from the Vineyard's own Carly Simon. The world-famous singer-songwriter was there to sign copies of a new children's book, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." A three-song CD by Simon is packaged with the book.

Edgartown School commemorated Memorial Day on Friday with the annual March to the Sea, a parade from the school to Memorial Wharf. There, Lt. Col. Fred Morgan, who served in the 505th parachute infantry regiment during World War II, addressed the crowd. Students recited the Pledge of Allegiance, the Gettysburg Address and Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" before tossing flowers into the water to commemorate the nation's fallen servicemen and women. Journalist and singer Mark Alan Lovewell led the students in song. 

If Martha’s Vineyard is a summer society for the elite, then Memorial Day is her debutante ball. For many months the trees have been bare, the parking plentiful and the summer homes empty. No more. The residential streets of downtown Edgartown are now abuzz with the sound of lawn mowers, leaf blowers, spray washers and power tools. Flowers are being planted, white rail fences repainted, all in anticipation of the start of the high season and the return of summer guests. This yearly ritual goes by many names, but perhaps none more clever than that outlined in the Martha’s Vineyard Urban …

Former Red Sox player Bill Buckner paid a visit to Sharky's in Edgartown Saturday in support of the Island's new summer baseball league, the Martha's Vineyard Sharks. Proceeds from the $45 fundraiser will be put toward further development of the Sharks' home field, the Vineyard Baseball Park, which it shares with Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. The team has put forth $75,000 for improvements to the field. Buckner, who played first base for the Red Sox from 1984 to 1987, is the current manager of the Brockton Rox. Both team and the Sharks are owned and operated by the Carminucci Sports…

Just weeks after returning from a trip to Prague, the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Minnesingers took to the stage to perform for a cheering home crowd. This year's spring concert, The Music of America: Give Our Regards to Broadway, saw the elite group dance and sing their way through a long list of staples from the Great White Way. Among the musicals featured: "Grease," "Chicago," "Les Miserables," "Funny Girl," and "Annie Get Your Gun." The two weekend performances, held Saturday and Sunday at the high school's Performing Arts Center, concluded with a salute to the Minnesingers' …

Martha's Vineyard Little League kicked off its 2011 season in raucous fashion Saturday, with a parade down Circuit Ave. and a full day celebration of games at Viera Park in Oak Buffs. 

Six hundred and fifty people crisscrossed Martha's Vineyard by bike on Saturday for the 22nd annual Ride the Vineyard fundraiser. The event, hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Greater New England Chapter and the Boys and Girls Club of Martha's Vineyard, raised more than $340,000 for the fight against multiple sclerosis (MS). Participants each raised a minimum of $250 and had their choice of 15-, 30- or 60-mile routes that took them from the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, to the cliff of Aquinnah, to the plains of Katama and back again. Those who wish to donate to the …

On Saturday, April 23 Island Alpaca hosted its 4th annual Shearing Day festival. Alpacas are lain down to avoid stress and given a once-a-year haircut, the fleece from which is then made into hats, scarves and various products sold at the Island Alpaca farm store. Although the day was rainy, spirits were vivacious and bright in the lantern-lit barn. The sounds of clippers and happy alpacas filled the air. Patch was there in the thick of it, meeting alpacas and new friends, too. 

Easter egg hunts abounded on the Island this weekend, but perhaps none were more picturesque and quintessentially Vineyard than the annual Easter egg hunt and potluck at the Duck Inn in Aquinnah.