Well, Father’s Day is Sunday and Dad gets to relax, at least for one day. Many outdoor cookouts will be held in his honor and for once he does not have to clean up afterwards. Also on Sunday summer begins, and the buses will begin operating on their full summer schedule. We will experience a dramatic increase in population and automobile traffic this weekend. However, the public schools will not be dismissed until Monday, June 29 this year so they can make up the snow days from last winter.

William McCullough, his wife Cissy and son Wm Jr., of Hingham, visited us last weekend and stayed at the McCullough compound in the Kansas section of town.

Malcolm and Judy Hall, of Oklahoma City and Pond Road, returned to the Island last week. Their son Houston came with them for the summer. His parents are busy preparing the house for family and friends that will be visiting them on the Fourth of July. Malcolm reports that he has some wonderful new okra plants.

Bob Luskin and Charlotte Fallon of Edgartown Road have returned to their home to spend the summer season. Charlotte says Bob will be using his old family china many times this summer. Their first guests, Duane and Grace Clark, are from Falls Church, Va. Grace is Charlotte’s childhood friend and Duane and Bob swim along in their wake. Bob’s son Cass graduated from Harvard Law School shortly after Memorial Day and is headed to Lafayette, La., to work as a public defender, supported by a fellowship from Harvard. His older brother, Peter, has been working since February in Beirut as the human access team leader for Mercy Corps, which delivers humanitarian aid in Syria and to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. His Dad says the guy never shrinks from a challenge. Well, Bob, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Marian Irving reports it is strawberry time. Volunteers at The First Congregational Church are getting ready to slice hundreds of pounds of fresh berries Saturday morning. The festival will be held Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome to sit and be refreshed in the shade of the trees. This annual fundraising event benefits the historic church.

Carolyn Stoeber reports that Heather Gardens will host the PeaceQuilts Art reception Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. There will be beautiful one-of-a-kind art quilts for sale, plus a variety of handmade artisan gifts from Haiti, including jewelry, bags, metal art and other products. While Heather Gardens already sells a few products from Haiti through PeaceQuilts, the art quilts will be on display as well as other goods not usually available for sale at the nursery.

Services will be held for Mary Fischer in the West Tisbury cemetery Saturday at 1:30 p.m. It will be followed by a celebration of her life at the Agricultural Hall.

Lee Revere reports that work is beginning on the West Tisbury library’s 58th annual book sale. Books in good condition can be donated by dropping them off at the shed at the West Tisbury school, near the place you buy beach stickers Shortly after school is dismissed for the summer, you may deliver books to the gym, where preparations will begin for the annual sale. Any questions, please ask the library staff.

Geoff Currier reports that David McCullough will speak on July 14 at 7 p.m. at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury to benefit the West Tisbury Library Foundation. Mr. McCullough will talk about his newly-published and well-reviewed biography, The Wright Brothers, and the research behind it. This will be the only event he will hold on the Island this summer.

Amy Hoff, over at the library, reports that the library will be closed on Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day.

Saturday is the official opening day for Lambert’s Cove beach, when stickers will be required. They are now on sale at the shed over at the town tennis courts, next to the West Tisbury School, daily from 9 a.m. to noon and on weekends from 4 to 7 p.m.

On June 15, 1942, John Palmeira, air raid warden and chairman of civil defense, ordered all motorists driving at night to use only their parking lights on all roads leading south off the Edgartown Road. After school was dismissed and the teacher who was in charge of the control center, Miss Ruth Blanchard, has gone up to New Hampshire to be with her mother for the summer, John was forced to move the control center from the schoolhouse to his home for the summer. Ruth had tended to the center from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.; after 5 p.m. and on weekends it was staffed by volunteers. The alarm, should there have been a warning of an air raid, was the ringing of church bells. Mr. Palmeira received a siren for his automobile to help him spread any alert. He also conducted monthly air raid exercises and school students were drilled in the proper procedures to take in case of an air raid. Sector wardens walked in their assigned areas to make sure that blackout screens were in place on all homes each and every night.

Happy birthday to: Debra Levesque, Travis Thurber, Caitlyn Parkhurst and Karen McDonald Friday, Kathryn Harding, Donna Eldridge and Keelan Weiss Saturday, Connie Toteanu, Allen Look, Luke Bartkus and Dawne Charters on Sunday, Stan Hersh, Karen Lipsky, Jean Kelleher and Matthew Stackpole on Monday, Mary Louise Perry, Richard Sylva, Josh Montoya and Brit Wells on Tuesday, Ben Moore, Peter O. Bettencourt, Marti Mariner, Russ Cote and Lt. Brian Kennedy on Wednesday, and Eric Johnson, Debra Phillips, Bess Child and Lori Rezendes on Thursday. Belated anniversary wishes to David Lewis and Danica Kombol and Tony Silva and Dianne McDonough.

Well that is all of the social news for this week’s column. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. A trivia note: the movie Jaws was released 40 years ago this weekend. My how time flies! Have a great week.

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.