It’s six days before opening night of the Vineyard’s first production of Rent — that’s about 8,000 minutes, for fans of the Broadway musical’s company song Seasons of Love, which poses the question, how do you measure a year, and answers it with the surprisingly catchy refrain, “five-hundred, twenty-five-thousand, six-hundred minutes..”

With a sold-out venue and nearly 1,600 people set to descend on the Portuguese American Club in Oak Bluffs tomorrow, the Big Chili Contest 2010 is bigger than ever. And the event sponsored by Vineyard radio station WMVY is sure to produce more smiles than ever for all parties concerned, from the chili chompers to the chilly children who receive clothes that the Red Stocking Fund buys with the proceeds.

The theme this year was youth, including youthful viewpoints and honors for people who work with youth, at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. day brunch, hosted by the Vineyard chapter of the NAACP. The event took place at Deon’s Restaurant in Oak Bluffs on Monday and was attended by over 100 people. It was a celebration both of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that the NAACP and those affiliated with the organization have done and continue to do.

The Chilmark Community Center provided the perfect backdrop for a thorough community experience this past Saturday, an event called Family Film Feast put on by the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival.