Well, the month of March came in like a lion, no doubt about it, with a mini snowstorm. The old saying is that March will leave like a lamb, we certainly hope so. It sure was like a ghost town last week, largely because it was the school’s winter vacation and many families were on the move. People left Dodge for a warmer climate while others went up north to ski. Even the usually busy Reliable Market down in Oak Bluffs suffered a slowdown from their normally brisk pace.

Thoughts of spring, just two weeks away, with milder temperatures, warmer sunshine and the daylight getting longer each day all give us hope.

Anna Alley has spotted many robins, cardinals and finches flying about her backyard, so has Susan Block. She figures they must have remembered that Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday.

Pierce Kirby 3rd of Vienna, Austria, was home recently to visit his parents and friends. He also had several business meetings stateside and looks forward to returning, but not until the weather is warmer.

Phyllis Meras of Music street held a birthday party Saturday night for her friend Tom Thatcher. Many people attended the festive affair and a great time was had by all.

Sam Alley of State Road had enough of the miserable cold and seemingly endless snow and went down to Miami Beach. He sent home a picture of himself on the beach standing next to a thermometer reading 82 degrees.

The annual Health Fair at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital will take place from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 14. If you have any questions about the fair, please call them at 508-693-4645.

Town clerk Tara Whiting reports that the ballot is closed for the annual town elections and there are no contested offices, but there will be four override questions on the ballot. The poll hours will be extended this year from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The last day to register to vote in the annual town meeting is March 25. The town meeting will be held on April 14 and the elections will be two days later.

Paul Karasik, development director, reports that the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School is a free kindergarten to 12th grade public school with students from every Island town. Learn more about the school at an open house and fill out an application for next year’s lottery on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. For information, call 508 693-9900.

Amy Hoff over at the library reports that on Saturday at 4 p.m. Alfred Woollacott 3rd will read from his novel The Immigrant. This event is free and open to the public.

Eighty-one years ago Wednesday evening Vineyarders gathered around their radios to listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt hold the first of his radio-broadcast fireside chats. FDR used the informal radio addresses to explain his policies to the American public. In an era before television, FDR used the most immediate and intimate means of communicating with the public available at the time: the radio. While listeners could not actually see him and he was not actually next to a fireplace — photos show FDR at his desk surrounded by microphones — the phrase fireside chat was coined by journalist Robert Trout, a frequent summer visitor before the war, and it evoked a comforting image during a time of great national anxiety.

Happy birthday to Leslei Monast, Doug Seward, Hans Adcock, June Miller and Victoria Segel on Friday; Mike Eldridge, Simon Athearn, Jeanne Barron, Polly Bassett and Susannah Maher on Saturday; Amelia Pennington, Ashleigh Plante, Elizabeth Mahoney and Wayne Arruda on Sunday; Shelly Mayhew, Stacy Fernandez and Shannon Rynd-Ray on Monday; Jane Konicki, Sue Merrill, Jeffrey Entner and Salvatore Della Torre on Tuesday; Whit Griswold, Alix Small, Eileen Maley, Allison McMorrow, Sheriff Mike McCormick and Carol Brush on Wednesday, and to Blair Emin, John Leaird and David Desmarais on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Liza Lawson and Tom Majeski.

Remember that Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday morning so set your clocks ahead at bedtime Saturday, also check your computer clock setting to see if it is programmed properly that way you won’t be late for church.

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

Send your West Tisbury news to: alleys@vineyard.net.