JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Last weekend the weather was mild and people were playing tennis on the town courts at the school while others were practicing their golf swing at the Agricultural Society field. Gloria Sylva, over at the school, reminds parents that next Tuesday the school will be closed in honor of Veterans Day. We returned to Standard Time last Sunday morning making the daylight hours mighty short with darkness falling shortly after 4:30 p.m. The parks and recreation committee thanks everyone who made the annual Halloween party a success. Congratulations to Tina Miller who won the candy corn game by correctly guessing there were 92 pieces in the jar!
Well, election day dawned bright and clear and the line at the polls at 7 a.m. was quite long — out the door and around the corner. More than 100 ballots were cast in the first hour and town clerk Prudy Whiting was sitting at her table with a cardboard box containing 250 absentee ballots, the most West Tisbury ever cast in a single election. Later, traffic was nearly nonexistent as several election night gatherings were held around town, and lights burned until the wee hours of the morning. Those lawn signs promoting candidates disappeared as fast as they were erected on Wednesday, but the outpouring of emotion all day was phenomenal.
Today is the start of a holiday weekend for some of us. The post office, school and all other town and county buildings will be closed on Tuesday in honor of Veterans Day. This holiday was created to acknowledge the armistice that ended World War I. Over 50 years ago the day was rededicated to honor the veterans who fought in all of our country’s armed conflicts. Let us pause for a moment on Tuesday to remember all of those who have gone before us.
Jill Carlton, and her husband, Pete Karman, of New Haven, Conn., were at her summer home on State Road to close it up for the season over the weekend. Pete stacked the outside furniture in the garage while Jill put the garden to bed and finished her work in the house. They both enjoyed their new deck and look forward to making good use of it next summer.
The J. K. Scanlon crew working on the town hall began pouring the buildings new cement foundation yesterday. The large pieces of cut stone, its foundation for 138 years, will not be reused.
Ben and Paddy Moore, of Alley Way, recently returned from Bedford, N.Y. They went down to see the new rental of Patrick, his wife Dana and their children Calder and Serra Worlock.
Phyllis Meras of Music street returns home today after a business trip down to New York city. She spent some time with Sal Laterra in Providence, R.I.
Leslie Hecht and her children Sidne and Mason, of Sandy Hook, N.J., arrived on Tuesday for a visit with her mother, Shanti Blum, of Music street.
Judy McCarthy at the school reports that there will be a coffeehouse tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria. All are welcome, listeners and performers; please bring a dessert along to share with others. Due to parent-teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday, there will be a noon dismissal on Wednesday and a noon dismissal of students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades only on Thursday.
Marian Irving reports that plans are well underway for the annual Church Christmas Faire on Dec. 13. Do you have any Christmas ornaments just sitting in a box, unused? Donate them to the faire. They’re affordable gifts for the children to buy, and collectors will enjoy them, too. New this year is the plant and garden corner (bring plants to the church by Saturday, Dec. 6). and pet table.
When you are in or near the woods these days remember that the archery season for deer is into its second week and shotgun season is about to start at the end of the month. John Varconda, manager of the Manuel Correllus State Forest, would like to remind people who enter the forest to wear bright colored clothing to be on the safe side.
A flu shot clinic will be held on Tuesday at the at the regional high school on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.
The annual meeting and election of officers and trustees of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society will be held on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in their hall on Panhandle Road. Also the Barnraisers’ Ball will be held tomorrow night from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in the hall. It’s free, just bring a dessert to share.
Amy Houghton, of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, suggests you come see the great new exhibit at the museum, called Count Me In: Not So Small Town Politics on Martha’s Vineyard. In the exhibit you can see the old hand-crank West Tisbury ballot box (one of these was distributed to each town in the Commonwealth in 1913 and used at each election up until about five years ago); a ballot for the 1884 Presidential race; and first-hand accounts of past elections from Vineyard Voices.
Happy birthday to Fred Estabrook and Vickie Thurber today; Marylee Schroeder and Cynthia Robinson tomorrow; Sharon Estrella, Gabriella Camilleri, Erin Leighton and Nicole Casey on Sunday; Binny Ravitch, Ken Hurd, Teresa Nelson, Michael West and Linda Talbot on Monday; Richard Cohen, Marian Mohr, Mary Jo Joiner, Andy Brunk, Cynthia Eakin and Salvadore Della Torre on Tuesday; Tina Fisher, Barbara Hoffman and Wendy Hitchcock on Wednesday; Bob Gothard, Lucy Mitchell, Al Littlefield, Cheryl Kram and Rosemary Jean Jackson on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to John Adams, Sandy Hill and Renee Monast.
Well, that is all of the social news for this week. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a great week, and congratulations to President-elect Obama.
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