JUNE MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

Congratulations to my fellow staff members at the Vineyard Gazette for receiving accolades and returning home with 12 awards during the New England Press Association annual award dinner and exposition held in Boston over the weekend. It is rewarding to be among those high achievers in journalistic excellence!

Feb. 9, 1951 — the town of Gay Head received electricity, the last community in the commonwealth to receive such. We have come a long way in 58 years. Of course the initial wiring was only along State Road and a few of the off-road homes still had to wait for their wiring and poles. The ladies of the Aquinnah Club produced and presented a play with the wiring and the poles; it was rather comical. Several newspaper articles and photographs are still circulating from that momentous occasion.

The Aquinnah selectmen have rescheduled the special town meeting for March 3 at 7 p.m. There are a few vital items on the agenda which need to be resolved. Your attendance is requested to have a quorum of 39 voters — so please bring a friend.

The tribal quarterly general membership meeting will be held on Sunday, Feb. 15 at noon. Again, your participation is vital in making decisions on agenda items. The quorum is now only 35 so perhaps some decision will be made. The audit report is expected to be presented on Sunday.

Maisy was a favorite at the Aquinnah public library on Saturday. Nearly 30 adults and children attended the performance. Library director Jennifer Christy is now working on the next family night with a movie and potluck dinner for February. The birds have been completed and will be flying around from the rafters soon. Also on Saturday, participants worked on their blocks for making prints.

The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School theatre department will present Charlie Brown over the weekend. Please try to attend and support the efforts of our hardworking high school students in their performance.

Congratulations to Jesse Wiener on his production of Our Guy which was presented at the Pace University Theatre over the weekend in Manhattan. In addition to his fiancée Maggie, his parents Jerry Wiener and Carolyn Feltz attended, as well as many family members and friends who reside in New York and New Jersey. Following his graduation from Harvard in 2008, Jesse went directly to New York and he has been working in Manhattan fulfilling his dreams and working on his career. By Monday morning, he was already scheduled for his next production.

Get well wishes to Natalie Francis who has been confined to her home and is using crutches and a walker for mobility. We will see her out and about hopefully in a week or two.

Happy birthday wishes this week to Heather Vanderhoop as she celebrates on Feb. 14. Kayla V. Manning will party on Feb. 15 as will Trina Kingsbury.

A rousing happy birthday wish to one of my favorite VTA bus drivers — Fred Thifault, who observes a major milestone on Feb. 15.

Doug Fortes, Ed Conroy and Brenda Johnson all share the day on Feb. 16. Ava Stearns will be eight years old on Feb. 17. Linda Toland Hobbs will party on Feb. 18 and shares the day with John Robey. Linda Scott and Rose Marie King Roberts share the day on Feb. 19. And Olivia Marie Sims turns one on Feb. 19.