It’s possible to put two and two together and come out with a number not exactly four. Ann Coleman Allen of West Tisbury bears the last name of one of our original settler families, and she teaches courses on Vineyard history. One could reckon, therefore, that her interest in the subject stems from the irresistible pull of family genealogy.

Question: Were times truly simpler — in America and, specifically, on the Vineyard — in the first years of the 20th century, or did certain artists and poets convey a simplicity that was more art than reality? Cynthia Riggs of West Tisbury, mystery writer and daughter of Vineyard poet Dionis Coffin Riggs (1898-1997) and Vineyard block print artist, Sidney Noyes Riggs (1892-1975), maintains that her parents’ nostalgia for quieter, gentler times on the Island was part artifice, albeit a very appealing artifice.

There is no more gratifying sight than a well-run community outreach program. In operation for only a few years, Family to Family, the branch of Serving Hands (nee The Surplus Food Program) on the Vineyard, which dispenses turkey dinners to families in need before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, outdid itself on Friday, Dec. 12.

Some physicians, at a mid-point in their lives, might find an altruistic impulse, or if they’ve had the impulse all along, the need to express it more fully. So it is with Oak Bluffs obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Jason Lew, with his wife, Injy, and their three daughters, Olivia, 23, a Middlebury College graduate (who just completed Michigan field work in the Obama campaign), Isabelle, 21, a student at Wesleyan University, and Sophie, 17, a senior at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

Here’s how to prepare for It’s A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play (by Phil Grecian), based on the 1946 movie by Frank Capra, now showcasing at the Vineyard Playhouse: Bring tissues because you’re bound to cry at the end (happy tears), even if you don’t normally well up at theatre events. The second piece of advice is to view the production twice. That’s right, you’ll want to sit through two performances.