The statistics are sobering: Projections of how many buildings could built under current zoning on the Vineyard reveal that about 6,000 new homes could be added to the present number of 16,000 over the next 50 years. And if the Island were to maintain the current ratio of 56 per cent seasonal homes versus 44 per cent year-round homes, this would translate to a year-round population growth from the current 15,000 to about 21,000.

And those are conservative estimates.

Amid the excitement among his supporters about the rise of Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee for president for the Democratic Party — particularly in Massachusetts where voters recently elected Deval Patrick the state’s first African-American governor — race still matters here, members of an Island panel convened on Thursday argued.

Sam Hayes of Edgartown affectionately pinned back the ears of his giant American pit bull terrier, Wallace, as owner and canine took a breather from Sunday’s dog show.

It was the last day of the 147th Annual Livestock Show and Fair of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society. A total of 29,706 entrance tickets were sold, happily surprising organizers who were braced for recession-era frugality and low returns on a late summer start date.

They met on the equivalent of a blind date some 23 years ago, set up by a mutual friend. The subsequent marriage of Jim Reynolds and Ron Rappaport’s legal practices has worked because of complementary roles. One wears his suits off the rack; the other prefers custom tailoring. One works in a third floor office, out of view; the other can be found downstairs, unfailingly in the middle of the fray. One mostly hunts; the other mostly gathers. And the hair — well, what’s left to say?

Interviews by Mike Seccombe