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ISLAND GREETS LEAP YEAR BABY Proud parents Maryia Nikulina and Yuri Nikulin admire their daughter and first child, Alexandra Nikulin, who was born on Feb. 29 at Nantucket Cottage Hospital weighing 9 pounds and 1 ounce.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Maryia Nikulina and Yuri Nikulin sit with their leap year baby, Alexandra.

Alexandra, who will be called Sasha in the Russian tradition of nicknames, has the honor of being the only 2008 leap year baby born on the island. She was due on Feb. 28, but apparently decided to make her entry into the world a bit special.

"We thank the professional team of the hospital who helped us deliver the baby," Yuri said. "They were all very helpful. We are glad we chose Nantucket Cottage Hospital as the place of birth for our first child."

The couple have lived year-round on Nantucket for seven years. Yuri is a building contractor, and Maryia is now on maternity leave from Pacific Bank.

Alexandra's grandparents are Vladimir Nikulin and Alexander Chaiko of the country of Belarus. Her great-grandparents are Vera Nikulina and Sophia Demchenko, also of Belarus.

QUIDNET UNDERWATER ROCK GARDEN The Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund got the Conservation Commission's permission, by a vote of 4-1, to drop six acres' worth of rocks onto the ocean floor off Quidnet Village.

SBPF's pilot mitigation project will monitor the potential for replication of cobble rock habitat that island commercial and charter fishermen depend on. SBPF is hoping the study will prove that its plan to replicate some of the estimated 105 acres of natural cobble habitat will work well enough to keep fishermen in business.

Once the rocks are in place in six plots, SBPF's coastal engineers, Epsilon Associates of Maynard, Mass., will monitor each plot at three-month intervals for one year, with the option for the commission to require a second year of monitoring based on the substance of the first year's observations.

By approving the order of conditions, the ConCom awarded SBPF its first permit toward its ultimate beach nourishment goal. SBPF's notice of intent for this larger project, separate from the pilot mitigation project, is still being reviewed by the ConCom, which resumed its public hearing process on Monday.

For future meeting details, call the Conservation Commission at 228-7230.

DAR HOLDS MONTHLY MEETING The regular monthly meeting of the Abiah Folger Franklin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will be held at noon on March 13 at the Faregrounds Restaurant at 27 Fairgrounds Road. The speaker will be LCDR William M. Ranney, USN who spent six months in Iraq in 2004-2005 and who has spent the last two years aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CV63). Members are encouraged to bring guests. For reservations, call Dot Vollans at 257-9858.

CORRECTION Acaption on page 3 of last week's edition of The Nantucket Independent misspelled the last name of the operator of the truck and incorrectly cited his age. William P. Thompson, 37, of 8 Thirty Acres Lane was the driver of the vehicle.