You can tell a meal is almost ready when you begin to catch the full scent wafting from the oven, instructor Carol McManus told 10 chefs-in-the-making as they sat to enjoy a bread and cheese plate in a home economics classroom at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Tuesday night.

This is about the time when people in other areas of the building start to wander in, joked Lynn Ditchfield, beckoned by the smell of peppers, sweet onions and herbs that made up the casserole baking in the oven.

Dudley Brooks sits cross-legged on the floor of room 405 at the regional high school, staring intently at two students in the center of the room. His eyes flicker back and forth between the performers, analyzing their movements with an expert, subtle gaze.

Island Cineastes Start New Season

Richard Paradise was named 2009’s best regional film festival director at last month’s International Film Festival Summit in Las Vegas. In an Oscar-speech moment with the Gazette, he shared his glory with Island filmgoers: “The success of the festival, the regional coverage, the volunteership, and the exploration of other cultures ... the Vineyard audience contributes.”

Two years ago, as Brooke Hardman made the move to what she then saw as “a remote Island,” the actress whose career had taken her to Boston, New York and Chicago resigned herself to the fact that “I wouldn’t be acting anymore.”