As community preservation committees across the Island prepare their recommendations for the coming fiscal year, they report growing interest by Vineyarders in the possibilities offered by Community Preservation Act funding.

More than $3 million in requests are under consideration by preservation committees on the Island.

Town officials who oversee CPA funds have seen a surge in activity and applications.

The moon moves up close to the bright planet Mars this weekend. The two are closest on Sunday night and both are in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. The full moon on Sunday is called the Cold Moon by the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

By LYNNE IRONS

Due to the subject matter, reader discretion is advised. This column is written solely for non-vegetarians.

I have not eaten a store-bought chicken in over thirty years. In 1975, my friend Sharlee had a one-eyed, rather deformed rooster. We were just beginning to grow our own food in earnest — that is, for more than just the summer. We had begun canning tomatoes, making pickles, and searching the neighborhood for old fruit trees.

Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but Americans overwhelmingly (69 per cent) prefer red.

Pink comes in a distant second with 14 per cent, and white last with only 7 per cent. Don’t call up your hairdresser to make an appointment: these color choices have little to do with locks and everything to do with holiday custom.

In a 1952 aerial photograph of Sengekontacket Pond that hangs behind the door to Augustus Ben David’s World of Reptiles And Birds in Edgartown, you can count two properties — the one you’re standing in and the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. Today Mr. Ben David estimates that the homes clustered along the shoreline number in the thousands.