JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

Well, signs of fall are beginning to appear each day. Canada geese are headed south each morning with an occasional last-days-of summer dip in the Mill Pond. The berries are early this year and folks have been out in force picking beach plums, quince, cherries and other fruit to make into jelly. You felt a dramatic reduction in traffic on Monday and the rain was most welcome. The wind did gust to 45 knots and there were several power outages, and a few limbs fell, along with thousands of leaves. We are about to begin to settle into our fall routine shortly as the sun is now setting just about 7:45 p.m. A lot of year-round people will be taking a well-deserved September vacation shortly, after a hectic August in what has been the busiest summer season ever. Automobile traffic is beginning to thin out a lot each day and SSA boats are packed going to the mainland. On Monday and Tuesday the traffic was just horrible in Vineyard Haven; rainy days plus boat line backlog. Catalogs soon will be in your mailbox featuring Halloween, and, yes a few, Christmas books have arrived. Starting tomorrow the farmers’ market and artisans’ festival will be held once a week.

It certainly has been busy around town with the President and first family staying just up the street. On Tuesday night they dined at State Road restaurant in North Tisbury.

Signs welcoming the first family, with a very few exceptions, have been friendly and respectful. As Chris Matthews would say, “a few wingnuts mostly uninformed” have attempted to mar their vacation.

Visiting Nancy and Dudley Eppel at their summer home, Innisfree, recently were daughters, Cheryl Segar and her husband, John, from Watertown, Lynne, from Boulder, Colo. and Meredith and her husband, Chris Jylkka, from Weston. Dudley reports that everyone had a good time; they attended the fair and went to the beach. He reports that he barely raised enough vegetables to feed everyone this summer.

Jim and Abby Johnson and daughter, Amalya, from New York city are back in Makonikey for two weeks of sun, surf and sky. Jim reports that they have traded the car for bike paths and the television for monopoly and star gazing. It is working out real, well.

Ted and Stephanie O’Reilly, of Cincinnati, Ohio are visiting with Sarah, Marques and Kayla at the farmhouse on Flat Point Farm. They are enjoying the beach, spent two days on our sister island of Nantucket, and of course helped out at the fair.

Susie and Andy Booas, of Middle Road hosted their daughter Heidi Marquedant and her husband, Joey, of Hopkinton for the fair.

Emily Gadd, of South Road, reports that her garden has taken full advantage of the unusually warm weather we have been having by producing copious amounts of vegetables. She has been busy delivering to her friends a basket of her bounty. It is an honor to be on her list.

Suzi Wassermann, of Music street, reports that the Friends of the Public Library will hold their annual meeting on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the library. They will give a report about the year’s activities, including the most successful book sale in their history. All are welcome.

Ed and Jane Konicki, of Webster and their grandchildren, Cameron and Katie Bernier, of Dudley visited with us over the fair weekend. Ed brought a large bounty of fresh vegetables and corn from his garden and it was delicious. They enjoyed the fair, Ed was a guest at the wedding ceremony on South Beach of Michael Kilchenstein and Edi Lodi, Jane made everyone lunch each day, and he accomplished some needed repair work on my house. They got a taste of Island living as they were on the last boat leaving the Vineyard during daylight hours on Monday. Ed said the parking and traffic in Vineyard Haven was awful, the sea was rough, the salt water splashed over the freight deck onto his new truck but they returned home by 6 p.m. in the evening. Just in time, as school opens today in Webster, Ed is a crossing guard and Jane works in the administration office.

Patricia McCornack reports that they are always trying something new at Featherstone and would appreciate your support: On Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. is the opening of the art of ceramic bowl making show, Island potters making bowls for your pleasure and purchase. For $25 you choose your bowl, they fill it with soup and provide Rikards bread, beverages, and dessert.

Kristin Zern, of South Vine, reports that Scott Blakeman, a wonderful political comedian who is very funny and well respected in Washington, D.C. for his humor, from a liberal Jewish point of view, will be presented at the Grange Hall at 8 p.m. tomorrow night. He was a featured panelist on MSNBC’s live coverage of the 2010 White House correspondents dinner.

George Hartman, of Panhandle Road, reports that at the fair’s fourth annual antique garden tractor pull he finished in second place in the 1,500 pound category.

Marjory and Robert Potts, of Elias Way, were very pleased at the turnout for the revival, last week, of their documentary on Frances Perkins, You May Call Her Madam Secretary, and the first woman ever to be appointed to high public office in the United States. Over 100 people were at the Hebrew Center screening, on a night that had many other events on the Island. Marjory reports that the audience of Islanders and visitors from all over the country responded to the film about this remarkable woman who was a force for New Deal change in Franklin D. Roosevelt administration with enthusiasm.

But the happiest part, Marjory said, was the reaction of their visiting grandchildren, Ellie, Owen and Aitken Potts of Arlington, Va. They had to be dragged to the event where Ellie, 5, immediately fell asleep on her mother Christina’s lap. Owen and Aitken, however, were completely absorbed in the film, especially watching their Papa Robert narrate and become characters such as FDR and Al Smith. Highlight of the summer for Marjory was Aitken commenting on her post film presentation: “Nana, you were awesome.”

Lynn Demond was in town recently. She competed in the Chilmark and Falmouth Road Races, visited with old friends and next week will be off to Lima, Peru for a little archaeology work and relaxation. She commented at how busy it seemed all around the Island.

Ginger Duarte reports that the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club elected the officers for the following year at its annual meeting held recently at the Old Mill: president, Cathy Minkiewicz; vice-president, Margaret Gallagher; and treasurer, Simmy Denhart.

Colleen Morris, over at the library, reports that on Thursday at 5 p.m. Cynthia Riggs, of Edgartown Road, will give a book talk and sign copies of her latest book. It is the ninth in the Victoria Trumbull series, Touch-Me-Not. Next Friday Arnold Rabin will present pictures at an exhibition.

Town clerk Tara Whiting reports that absentee ballots for the September primary have arrived; if you will be unable to vote in the primary, on September 14 please contact her at the town hall during normal business hours at 508-696-0148 to make arrangements to vote absentee.

On August 31, 1946 the voice of the popular radio show The Shadow, Stephen Courtleigh, along with his wife Barbara, son George and daughter Pat returned to New York city after spending two months in town. The famous line at the beginning of each broadcast “The Shadow knows the evil that lurks in men’s hearts” and evil laugh were legendary. The program was broadcast weekly and could be heard in this area on stations WEAN and WJZ radio. They spent many summers in this town in the late 40’s and 50’s, they rented Denys Wortman’s camp in Tiah’s Cove the first year. The Shadow, after renting Donald Campbell’s house on Old County Road for several summers, purchased property from Donald that had been in his family for generations. Steve purchased two sections of his house from an old building that was about to be demolished to make way for the new A& P store in Vineyard Haven, had them moved by Harry Horton and it is still part of the place. After his death his wife sold it a few years later to Tom Maley. He was an avid fisherman, was featured in the first commercial for television with a Vineyard back drop in the early 1950s for Lucky Strike cigarettes. He was filmed casting his line into the surf on South Beach near the opening while a voice-over promoted smoking Luckies.

For all you sports fans seventy-one years ago today the first televised Major League Baseball game was broadcast on station W2XBS from New York that, a few years later, was assigned the call letters, WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn that afternoon. Red who sat in the catbird seat, as he described it, many years later became a Chilmark summer resident.

Happy birthday to: Nancy Burelson, Alan Northcott, Shannon Larsen, Paige McCarthy, John Christensen and David Vigneault today; Steve Hart, Jessica O’Connor and Bob Potts tomorrow; Nicole Alley, Carol Christensen and Manuel Estrella 4th on Sunday; Barry Stone, Cheryl Lowe and Christopher Gross on Monday; Anna Edey, Pat Mitchell, Chuck Wiley, Michael Smith and Janet Johnson on Tuesday; Ebba Hierta, Karen Russillo and Candace Webster on Wednesday; Hilary Blocksom, Ann Bassett, Nelia Decker and Jane Dreeben on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Pete Karmen. Anniversary greetings to Matt Taylor and Dr. Carrie Flyer today, Sarah Monast and Elton Nascimento on Monday and Jay Segel and Celine Gobard on Friday.

A bit of cocktail party trivia: Sunday marks the 94th anniversary of the first telephone cable connection between the Vineyard and Nantucket; also Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the country 78 years ago Tuesday.

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.