Away in a hotel, no crib for a bed, a giant six-foot stuffed Teddy Bear named Obie raised his sweet head. The stars in the Vineyard sky looked down where he yawned. The rest of his bear friends, Chappy, Edgar and Tisbeary, lay asleep until dawn.

Joy prevailed at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard this week. Two of our canine residents went to forever homes within days of being delivered to us.

Rabbi Caryn Broitman will lead the annual Hanukkah celebration on Friday, Dec. 18, at 5:30 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.

Proceeds from a spaghetti dinner and silent auction this weekend will benefit Enrico Holley who was seriously injured in October from a fall.

Vineyard House, which provides safe and sober housing for people in early recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, will celebrate the opening of its new residential campus with a ribbon cutting on Friday, Dec. 19, at 11 a.m.