JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

Well, the weekend weather was reasonable, allowing time to dispose of the rusted old Christmas tree in the backyard and assess winter damage outdoors. We did have a six-inch snow event on Thursday with high winds, a brief power outage and traveling was next to impossible after noontime that day. We have had a modest influx of visitors this week with a touch of snow on Tuesday. However, today is the beginning of a large exodus of folks from town as it is the beginning of school vacation week for our school systems. This place will become a virtual ghost town.

About 200 people attended the celebration of life for Danny Prowten last Saturday at the Agricultural Hall. Danny died in a fire in his home Jan. 30. The Rev. Cathlin Baker conducted the service. There was a generous amount of music by local musicians, and stories and tributes, sometimes emotional, by a number of people. The firemen formed a semicircle around everyone who attended. It concluded with a potluck dinner that Danny would have enjoyed.

Trina Gay of Old County Road has been staying at her place this winter. She thought of going back to Baltimore, Md., where she lived and was brought up but the weather down there has been far worse than ours. So she spends her evenings in front of the fireplace developing landscape plans and watching Netflix movies. Recently she heard unusual noises from under in her house and quickly determined she had mice or rat problems. She called the county rodent control agent, T.J. Hagerty, to help her. He assessed the problem and set out skunk traps; well, the first night they were laid out her dog began barking because a rather large skunk was in the trap. However ,it just got worse for her, as the more the dog barked, it caused the skunk to freak out and spray its perfume all over the side of her house. The smell quickly penetrated the inside of her house, an altogether unpleasant experience, she reports. She slept with her windows open during the blizzard to air the place out, and wonders how Islanders deal with this mess.

The political season is beginning to take shape; you must file nomination papers with the town clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday in order to appear on the ballot. Jonathan Revere has declared his intention to seek a term on the finance committee, and Richard Cohen has signaled his intention to seek a seat on the board of assessors. Word has it that Cynthia Mitchell is not seeking reelection to that post but is running for selectman because the present incumbent, Diane Powers, will not seeking reelection. All other incumbents are seeking reelection.

Patti Lynn of State Road reports that she went up to Mohegan Sun last Saturday to be with friends and help one of them celebrate a 60th birthday. They also attended a Tony Bennett concert that was fabulous. She met her son, Simon, who was coming home for the long weekend just as she was getting on the boat. Simon works for the Puck Agency in Briarcliff, N.Y. When she got home Simon was leaving to go back to New York.

Ron and Deb Kokernack of Webster came down for the holiday weekend. They visited friends and reported that her mother Jane and her husband Ed Konicki are making significant progress on their diets; they returned home on Monday.

Joanne Scott, formerly of Edgartown Road, moved into the Betty Knox house on Music street over the weekend.

Paul Karasik over at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School invites interested members of the Island community to a screening of the documentary film Coal Country, which reveals the truth about how energy is produced. The screening will be tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at the charter school. Admission is free. Guinevere Higgins, regional high school class of 1999, will make a presentation and take questions after the film.

Marsha Winsryg recently returned from a trip to Africa where she visited many of the projects she has supported over the past few years. She met with Kavica women at the Kabwata Cultural Center to buy crafts and begin a quilting project in partnership with quilters here on the Island. She visited the home of the Mama Bakhita Center for Disabled Children, her original funding recipient in 2002. She visited and spoke with many people who have had positive changes to their lifestyle as a result of her work.

On Feb. 10, 1948, the annual town meeting voted to accept a gift from Donald R. Campbell of Old County Road of the Mill Pond by a standing vote of 56 to 16. It had been owned and maintained by his family for more than 100 years. Ancient records show that because of its central location and water power it not only attracted the farmers to grind their grists of grain, it later became the site of the only textile mill on the Island producing the celebrated satinet cloth. It has also been a favorite spot for skaters for many generations, who cut figure eights beneath the light of bonfires kindled on danger spots where the big brook empties into the pond. The pond consists of two acres of water and the acceptance contained one condition; the town must clean the pond, repair the dam and raise the water level. After considerable debate by the voters, a letter from Rev. Wm. Thompson, Master of the Grange, was read urging its acceptance and pledging the Grange’s full cooperation and assistance in the clean-up work.

Happy birthday to: Matthew Annese, Florence Paul, Bob Knight, Paul D’Olympia and Michelle Aluia today; Charlene Kelly tomorrow; Lila Fischer, Richard Johnson, Gaston Vadasz and May Baldwin on Sunday; Samantha Church, David Bowman and Roy Cavanaugh on Monday; Ellen Wolfe, Celine Segel, Stuart Gardner and Lukas Higgins on Tuesday; Brenda McMorrow, Ernie Mendenhall, Kevin Carr, Tom Ronan and Diane Wall on Wednesday; Steve Gallagher, Alison Welles, Kelly Arruda and Susie Bowman on Thursday. Belated anniversary wishes to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Mavro and belated birthday greetings to Jean Morton Fischer O’Reilly and Bob Luskin.

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