JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

Well, the weather has been unusually mild all week, allowing us time to put down the storm windows without freezing your hands. Our foliage, what there was of it, has gone past the peak color and leaves are beginning to fall rapidly. Scarecrows and pumpkins dot the landscape these days in all parts of town. Remember, to avoid confusion, please be mindful that at two o’clock next Sunday morning (Nov. 7) we will return to Eastern Standard Time and the daylight hours will grow shorter.

Sunday night we will celebrate Halloween. Its origin comes from an ancient Celtic festival that was at least 2000 years old. The American tradition of trick-or-treat dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. Poor people would beg for food and were given pastries called soul cakes. By the 1920s Halloween had become a community holiday with parades and townwide parties. Today we spend an estimated seven billion dollars on the occasion annually, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.

The annual Halloween party sponsored by West Tisbury Park and Recreation Committee will be held Sunday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Agricultural Hall. There will be refreshments, games, costume parade and maybe a spooky hayride. For further information, please call 508-696-0147.

Last Saturday afternoon a number of federal, state and county officials gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport. The occasion was to announce officially that the airport is the recipient of $10 million of stimulus money for the airport taxiway and ramp reconstruction project. This project is classified as “shovel ready,” and Lawrence-Lynch Corporation of Falmouth and Oak Bluffs was the successful bidder. They began moving heavy equipment to the airport on Tuesday. Airport manager Sean Flynn is confident that this project will create at least 100 Vineyard jobs.

Over 100 people gathered later that afternoon at a reception in the Agricultural Hall to thank Rep. William Delahunt and state senator Rob O’Leary for their years of service to the Vineyard. They expressed their heartfelt thanks for supporting them and making them feel as if they were a part of the Vineyard community. A good time was had by all.

With the large number of yard and estate sales around town this month, Lee Revere remarked to me that the Friends of the West Tisbury Library are accepting books in good condition for the 54th annual book sale to be held in late July next year. Books may be dropped off at the library during business hours. They cannot accept textbooks or encyclopedias.

Tuesday is election day. Polls will open at 7 a.m. over at the Public Safety Building in North Tisbury and close at 8 p.m. In addition to voting for governor and several statewide offices, the contest for U.S. congressman between William Keating and Jeff Perry has drawn national attention. Locally, the race for sheriff is between Mike McCormack, the incumbent, and challengers Neal Maciel and Warren Gosson. There is a vacancy for county commissioner that will be filled by write-ins, and there are three binding ballot questions. Tara Whiting, town clerk, reports that the absentee ballot requests and early voting have been brisk. So be sure to vote on Tuesday.

When you are in or near the woods these days, remember that the archery season for deer is into its second week. John Varkonda, 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. Be extra careful when driving, as deer are apt to cross the road day or night.

Shirley Mayhew, of Look’s Road, reports that her husband, Johnny, who lives at Windemere, will turn 90 on Nov. 2, which is a weekday, and also election day. So the family is holding an open house birthday party for him in the downstairs dining room on Sunday (Halloween) from 2 to 4 p.m. They invite his friends and former students to stop in to wish him a happy birthday and share a glass of wine and piece of birthday cake.

Please mark this date on your calendar now. The All-Island Seasonal Flu Shot Clinic will be held on Thursday, Nov. 11 at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School from 8 a.m. to noon.

Maria McFarland, administrator of the town conservation commission, reports that there are now two openings on that board. If you are interested in serving, contact her for more information at 508-696-6404 or send in a letter of interest.

June Manning reports that on Monday a seminar, From Farm to Market: Meeting the Local Demand, is being cosponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Network and the Island Grown Initiative. It is aimed at food entrepreneurs, from farmers to eaters and both men and women. Ali Berlow, founder of IGI and Edible Vineyard magazine, will moderate the discussion. Panel members will include Rebecca Miller of North Tabor Farm, Sarah McKay, manger of Cronig’s Markets, and Wenonah Madison and Dan Sauer, both of 7a farm. The program will focus on business planning and market opportunities for locally grown food. It will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Grange Hall. Light local foods will be offered. Cost is $10, and preregistration is recommended, as space is limited.

Orlaith Estes, over at the school, reports that on Tuesday and Thursday there will be parent-teacher conferences, and therefore noon dismissal for all students, The British exchange students will be heading home tomorrow, and on Friday the fourth grade Theatre Project will begin at the Vineyard Playhouse.

Colleen Morris, over at the library, reports that the J C Trio will be playing jazz music at 4 p.m. and all the town children are invited on Sunday to the library Halloween party from 3 to 5 p.m. There will be games, snacks and hayrides. So come in a costume and have a good time.

As Halloween is nearly upon us, let me remind you of the biggest spoof accidentally played on the public. It was the famous radio broadcast in 1938 of Orson Welles’s dramatization of H.G. Wells’s tale War of the Worlds. Anyone who was listening to the program Mercury Theatre of the Air on CBS radio that evening was horrified and genuinely scared by the news of an invasion from Mars, covered by live reports on the radio. This dovetailed with the fact that we were also concerned about the growing crisis in Europe, shared through transatlantic radio reports from CBS correspondents. The headline on page one of the New York Times the following morning read Radio Listeners in Panic Taking War Drama as Fact. If, however, that Sunday evening you were listening to the program that was broadcast over the NBC radio network you knew nothing about “the invasion” and enjoyed the show. What was the name of that weekly comedy program that starred a wooden man and was sponsored by Chase and Sanborn coffee? Simi Horwitz, down in NYC, knew the answer and has already sent it to me via computer; she also included the time of the weekly broadcast.

Happy birthday to Paul Wells, Joe Capobianco, Fran Finnegan and Barbara Moment today; John Adams, Lisa Epstein and John Bugbee tomorrow; Barbara Coogan, Adam Church, Laura Entner and Cole Ferraiuolo on Sunday; ace reporter Hermine Hull, Coco Brown, Laurie Larsen and Timothy Donovan on Monday; John Mayhew, Julie Skinner, Doug Kent and Elizabeth Bouck on Tuesday; Renee Monast, Charlene Douglas, Carey Rosenthal and Suzanne Howes on Wednesday; Sarah Monast, Norman Perry, Magie Chianese and Mike Lynch on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Sandy Hill.

Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s column. If you have any news please call or e-mail me.

Happy Halloween everyone!