JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

The weekend weather was superb. It really felt like summer, people seemed to be everywhere and the traffic was heavy. On the other hand, last week the sun began setting at least two minutes earlier each day as we slowly head toward fall. It is summer and we are not taking notice of such trivial things. Outdoor activities are at fever pitch and sales of bagged ice and charcoal have skyrocketed but unfortunately the month is half over. It seems like the day before yesterday was the Fourth of July.

Carol Carrick reports that her son Paul, from Boston, has been visiting with her until tomorrow.

Judy Hall, of Oklahoma City and Deep Bottom Cove, arrived at her summer home on Wednesday. She was carrying a goodly supply of Cain’s coffee in her bags; you see it is the coffee most Oklahomans drink. Her husband Malcolm proudly showed her the work he has done in the garden and their okra plants are more than two inches high and he expects a bumper crop.

Also their son Huston and his girlfriend Mandy Moore, of Chicago, have been visiting and enjoying themselves taking full advantage of the good weather. His father reports that Huston has been operating the light board at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven and having a wonderful time.

Charlie Kernick of Edgartown Road reports that his lady friend, Stevie Hughes, came up from North Carolina to be with him to celebrate the Fourth of July week at his house. Charlie’s children, daughter Kellee and her family, and son Tyler and his family, all came on the Fourth of July to attend the annual family picnic at Deb and Harry Athearn’s house in Lambert’s Cove. Tyler and his crew stayed at his house for a few days, and Stevie and Charlie departed on July 5 for Denver, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo., to attend the wedding of Connie and Bob Taylor’s daughter Morgan to Bobby Lucero, whose folks hail from Cheyenne. They were married last Saturday night at the Horse Creek Ranch, 27 miles from Cheyenne. It was a gorgeous setting and perfect weather.

Morgan and Bobby are now living in Edgartown; Morgan’s working at the Gazette and Bobby is setting the groundwork for his own business. In Cheyenne, they saw lots of horses and cattle roaming the wide-open plains, but he admits to preferring his wildlife a bit closer, like right at home. Charlie returned onWednesday. 

Our daughter Nicole and her husband Arsen Hambardozian, of East Taunton, came down to be with her mother Anna and help celebrate her birthday last Saturday.

Our special correspondent, Danica Kombol, her husband David Lewis and their family, from Atlanta, Ga., have arrived at their camp in Deep Bottom to vacation for three weeks. Danica offers this social news bulletin: Miranda Lewis of Deep Bottom has been granted a leave of absence from her job at Sioux Eagle Designs to travel to Rwanda. She will spend the remainder of the summer working at an orphanage in Kigali.

It has been just about a year since Robin and Dan Moriarty of Sweet William Way, announced that their daughter Sarah of Cambridge was engaged to be married to Nicolas Waldman. They were married last Saturday. The Moriartys held a large rehearsal dinner party on their lawn last Friday night.

Find the time tomorrow night to stop and have a bite to eat at the Portuguese Holy Ghost Feast: the food is always terrific. There will be music, dancing and games of chance. The annual event is held on the Portuguese-American Club grounds on Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs. On Sunday at 11 a.m., the annual parade from the Steamship Authority dock down Circuit avenue up to the club will be held and the Feast will continue until 6 p.m.

Patti Linn and John Kelleher report that the annual Ice Cream Festival will be held at the Congregational Church next Saturday from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m. Last year’s event was a huge success. All of the money earned will go to benefit their scholarship fund.

Colleen Morris, over at the library, reports that the book signing event originally scheduled for the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore last Monday has been rescheduled to Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the library. Photographer Betsy Corsiglia and author Phyllis Meras will be on hand to celebrate their new book, Martha’s Vineyard: Quiet Pleasures. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 508-693-3366.

Lee Revere reports that the 51st annual book sale will be held at the school on Old County Road starting next Friday morning and will be open until 3 p.m. each day through Monday. It is estimated that thousands of books have been gathered so far and are being sorted in the school gym. Volunteers are needed during the sale days for the cashier’s position each day of the sale. Monday is free day so no cashiers are needed. Sign-up sheets are at the desk in the library.

On Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the Grange Hall, the Garden Gate Day School will hold a fun-filled cocktail party and silent auction. The money raised from theirannual event is usedto join children with professional artists in the community. Music will be provided.

Old friend Steve Murphy, who lived for years on Music street and had many friends in town, died last weekend. Services will be held at the Congregational Church tomorrow at 2 p.m. Our condolences to all of his family.

Professor Ellen Weiss of Old County Road had a visit last week by Professor Hazel Hutchinson of Aberdeen University in Scotland. She came to interview Ellen about her great-aunt Grace Fallow Norton. Ellen reports that Hazel had a wonderful time and found the Vineyard enchanting.

This week’s item about the past contains a modern-day update. Will Monast has been mighty busy these days restoring the Frank Adams house on Music street. He has had help from Sam Alley and his father. Mr. Adams would be proud of the craftsman ability Will displays and an ability to figure out the nearly impossible. He says it is the most challenging project he has ever accepted. The June cover of Architectural Digest magazine featured restoration work he and Paul Henry Mayhew had recently completed. These are the things we now know about the house:

It has had seven additions over the years; the oldest part contains hand-hewn beams in the floor probably dating back to at least 1800 or earlier. The additions to the house in several instances consisted of other buildings being connected to it. It had a large brick cistern just outside of the main house, and two driven wells, one in each of the kitchen additions to supply water. In 1925, Frank Adams added yet another addition he used as an indoor bathroom and a first-floor bedroom. He wired the house for electricity and installed his generator outside the house to supply the electric power because it would be another five years before electricity would come to town. By 1935, he closed in the front porch, designed and built sliding windows, added a porch in the back of the house, built twin dormers upstairs and paneled one bedroom with old wooden cartons that were commonly used until the mid-1950s to ship appliances or other large items on the railroad and steamboat by cutting and fitting them in place with strips of wood not much thicker than a lathe. The boxes were clearly addressed to Miss Pricilla Hancock at her Quennames Farm home. She was a famous chocolate maker and these crates more than likely contained equipment she needed to operate her business. An old tea plate was used as a shim in the kitchen floor to keep it level. A date of some significance was written on the coal bin wall on Dec. 7, 1941 by Mr. Adams, noting he was building his first coal fire of the season. Noah and Susan Block of New York city now own the property.

Happy birthday to  Arnie Fischer, Sue Leland and Mark Yale today; Susan Austin, Linda Jones and Jessica Branch tomorrow; Kara Rosenthal, Laura Wainwright and Pamela Danz on Sunday; Laura Campbell, Karen Flynn and Jean Caron on Monday; Joan Jenkinson and Katie Hart on Tuesday; Dan Bradley and Stephen Young on Wednesd ay; and Jean Francis and Mike Hull on Thursday. Happy anniversary to Sig VanRaan and Susan Dickler on Monday and belated birthday greetings to Denise Mazzuchelli.

Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s column. If you have any news, please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.