Move over Martha, there’s a new gal in town: Bad Martha, a new craft beer company. The company is premiering two beers this month in Island package stores and restaurants, a summer ale and an extra special pale ale. Beer will be available for tasting at the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust annual Taste of the Vineyard Stroll on Thursday night.

The Oak Bluffs Association has begun accepting applications for booth and table spaces at this year’s 22nd annual Oak Bluffs Harbor Festival. Artists, craftsmen, food concessions, vendors and other organizations are encouraged to apply. This year’s festival will include live musical entertainment at Nancy’s Snack Bar by Island favorites such as the Beetlebung Steel Band.

Phoenix Russell tends alpacas in the morning and gives horses and humans massages in the afternoon. Anthony Esposito composes songs while waiting in his cab at the ferry terminal. Vineyarders holding multiple jobs say that summer is the time to hustle, but Sundays are a day of rest.

For Island businesses and contractors, this is a pivotal time of year — crunch time, you could call it. Ferry traffic picks up; the seasonal Steamship Authority port in Oak Bluffs is now open for the summer and privately-operated passenger ferries will begin running their late spring schedule this weekend.

Four words are carved in a wooden block sign hung above the door frame in Peter Martell’s Oak Bluffs office. Ever Ready. Ever Willing. Mr. Martell is one of the co-owners of the Wesley Hotel, the oldest hotel on Martha’s Vineyard. Along with George Fisher and Richard Kelley, he bought the hotel in 1985 from Paul Chase. The three men renovated it for nine months and reopened for business in the spring of 1986.