NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

Welcome to the Island, Ashley Sheping! Ashley’s folks have had a home here for 30 years; her dad and I reminisced about talking to their neighbor, noted columnist and author, Nelson Coon. Ashley has arrived today and is looking for her on-Island friends but doesn’t have all their cell phone numbers. Many of her friends live here now, a lot of them were in school with her at the University of Vermont. Kate McGovern is a name that pops up. Please, contact Ashley this week!

Another big welcome goes out to Jim and Trude Hart, who made it here a few days ago after their winter escape in Florida, where Jim is the stalwart columnist for the Condo News. They have arrived just in time for Trude’s birthday. Welcome back; the neighborhood is too quiet without you.

A new star is born. Michael and Johanna Kobran of Tashmoo Woods are thrilled to announce the birth of their grandson, Zachary Michael Kobran, on May 12 weighing in at 8 lbs, 8 oz., and 21 inches long. Zachary Michael and his parents, Ellen and Chris, will be visiting on Island for the July Fourth weekend, joined by his cousin Ed who is only one week older. Ed’s parents, Carl and Adrianne Strolle, will come along and supervise the play dates. Aunt Kathy Bird from Washington, D.C., will also be in attendance and add to the merriment. By the way, Johanna Kobran is president of the Unitarian Universalist Society here on the Vineyard. I’m sure she’ll be quite busy.

Martin and Gail Becker have returned, as well as Martin’s beloved boat. They had the pleasure of adding a new grandchild to their expanding brood in April and I shall get you the details for next week’s column.

Now here comes Grandma’s Brag Book. My son, Chris Clark, his wife, Lilly, and their two boys, Corbyn, age six, and Dominic, age three, visited for six days, taking time off from their busy lives in Rockford, Ill. Chris and Lilly work for the same security firm out there, are both in college, and are enjoying new home ownership, two cats, one dog and a new chinchilla. Auntie Joy and Cousin Ian kindly looked after the pets while my family traveled by van across country, stopping to visit Niagra Falls for the first time. Then they proceeded to White Plains, N.Y., where they had a night visiting my mom, Nonna. Once on Island they stayed with the boys’ granddad, Richard Clark, and had a wonderful Clark reunion barbecue. First stop on Friday night was, of course, Grace Church for lobster rolls where Chris’s grandma, Lorraine Clark, is so active cooking and serving. The little family made it to my house, where we visited and some of Chris’s high school friends stopped by. Every day we played, had dinner together at the Ocean View with Joe Cormier, Renae Brown and their daughters, Cheyenne and Monique. We attended the town picnic together on Monday. My grandsons went rowing on the lake, played games and had pony rides, not to mention the free ice cream. I must thank all the volunteers and town workers who made this picnic such a success. Now, Corbyn and Dominic have one living great-great-grandmother, two living great-grandmothers, and two living grandmothers. To avoid confusion, I go by my teaching name, Missy G. Since Dominic wasn’t talking the last time I saw him, it was a pleasure to hear him say “Missy G.” The family also made it to the arcade, the Flying Horses, the Cliffs in Aquinnah, and Menemsha Beach. They departed Wednesday and once again spent the night at Nonna’s in White Plains.

Net Result fish and chips are being serviced on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Tisbury Senior Center. Iced tea and dessert are included, all for $8. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

Save the date: John Crelan’s Bloomsday production will be June 16 at 8 p.m. More details as the day nears.

The birthday bandwagon pulls along Ben Crisman, Peggy Tileston, Arthur Lenna and Josh Kochin today. Tomorrow is shared by Mat Hebert and Margie Meltzer. June 6 honors Hildy Mitchell and Denise Searle. June 7 is for Larry Leuning, Trude Hart and Grace Murphy. June 8 is a party for Wendy Fitting, Pat Garza (my grandsons’ maternal grandma), Miles Gross, David Alan Friedman and Marshall Cole Pratt. June 9 belongs to Tasha Bahal, Elizabeth Baldwin and Naromar DePaula Jr. And on June 10 Crystal Baker, Joshua Robinson-White, Ruth Stiller, Grace Schmidt — 94! — and Keosha Walker take the cake. Many happy returns.