JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Well, we received a cold blast that had the temperature in this section of town drop to a mere three degrees Monday morning, and I am sure it was colder in other areas. The windchill was nothing short of brutal; the high temperature was a mere 15 degrees and by nightfall it was six degrees. Ice formed everywhere, and a small section of the Mill Pond that escaped totally freezing over was just enough space for the swans and ducks to huddle together. On Tuesday it snowed, warmed up and turned to rain. The dramatic fluctuations in the weather pattern made me think of how appropriate Mark Twain’s comment many years ago is: If you don’t like New England weather, wait 10 minutes. Bruce Stone, town accountant, reports that the town has exceeded its snow removal budget for the year and will be forced to deficit spend for the remainder of the winter.
Last Saturday night Dick Knabel and Barbara Day cosponsored a library foundation gathering at his Panhandle Road home. Dan Waters gave an impressive talk about the need for a new library. Schematic drawings are now available at the library.
Meg Higgins reports that last Sunday the members of the First Congregational Church voted unanimously to launch a capital campaign with a goal of $600,000. The funds will be used to preserve the historic church and to renovate the parish hall. Just after the meeting it was announced that the first contribution toward that goal had been received. West Tisbury Grange #251 contributed $1,500 to the fund in memory of all of the Grangers that are current or former members. The Grange sponsored a “go to church” Sunday for many years.
Cynthia Riggs, of Edgartown Road, has made it official: There will be music this year at the 23rd annual Groundhog Day Celebration. Ed Rodgers, Linda Alley’s uncle, a superb trumpeter, former member of the U.S. Navy Band and music teacher, has agreed to provide an ample amount of the sweetest music this side of heaven, and he is nothing short of great. Cynthia heard him when he played with the Vineyard Classic Brass at the town Christmas Party. Sal Laterra, of Providence, R.I., and Diane Smith, of Boston, upon hearing the news, are planning on attending for the first time. The music tops off an evening filled with political activities, discussion of the petition to allow sale of wine and beer in restaurants, socializing with friends and neighbors and an occasional adult beverage.
Bob Luskin, of Edgartown Road, and his wife, Charlotte, just returned from a vacation in Napa, Italy. They also celebrated his significant birthday. He reports that as her gift, his wife was nice to him all day, an ordeal that will probably take her another year to recover from, particularly after learning that adding “and I mean that in a nice way...” did not qualify. However, being in a place with easy access to wine made it all possible. Bob, you should be so lucky! They all send their best for the New Year to all their Vineyard friends.
Lee Revere, of Forrest avenue, reports that the library is accepting book donations for their 54th annual sale to be held in July. As the holidays have passed and you maybe doing some winter cleaning, now is the time you may take books and drop them off at the library during normal business hours.
Tara Whiting, town clerk, asks me to make a correction: The last day to turn in nomination papers for the April election is Thursday, Feb. 24. She admits that she inadvertently counted backwards and ended up with the wrong date; she corrected her error.
What does Colleen have in store for us this week at the library? This afternoon at 4 p.m. the JCTrio will be performing jazz music and word has it that she is baking cookies for the event. Mitten puppet crafts will be made Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at which time the winter concert continues with Dan Waters and Jemima James on hand. The Scrabble club begins Monday night at 7 p.m. Colleen guarantees it will be fun for the whole family. And on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Alexandra Bullen will be on hand to talk about her new book, Wishful Thinking. Dr. Enid Haller will lead the discussion about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Howes House.
The West Tisbury Democratic town committee announces that their caucus to select delegates to the state convention in June will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 10 a.m. at the Howes House. It is open to all registered Democrats. For more information, contact Rufus Peebles, 508-693-5100, or rufus @vineyard.net
Tomorrow the 25th annual WMVY Big Chili Contest is the place to be to warm up on a chilly day. Come to sample all the many different kinds of chili. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs.
“On Feb. 1, 1954 Stanley Eddy of Chilmark announced he had leased the former Ole Borgen/Maud Call store which he had purchased at public auction last summer to Miss Erdine Cobb, of New York city. The building has had many uses over the years, store, post office, a parlor that featured famous home made ice cream and penny candy; it was also the headquarters of the only filling station in North Tisbury. They sold Texaco Fire Chief Gasoline and had only one pump. Miss Cobb plans to operate a special kind of catering service, it will be limited to providing casserole dishes, hors d’oeurve, sandwiches and canapés for cocktail parties and teas. Miss Cobb has named her business the Covered Dish and she plans to open around Memorial Day. The business will be open only during the peak season as Miss. Cobb will be otherwise employed during the winter months. She will take up residency in the newly remodeled a partment about May 1st when all the renovation work will be completed. Miss Cobb is excited at this golden opportunity and believes it will be a profitable business venture.”
Happy birthday to: John Barkin, Abigal Stanwood and Kristina Tillman today; Pam Speir, Janice Ovios and Charlotte Cole tomorrow; Dr. Charles Silberstein, Tallia Emily Annese, Jack Wilson and Sasha Robinson-White on Sunday; Margaret D’Angelo, Mellisa Lawry and John Hough Jr. on Monday; William Deeble, Bob Salop, Leah Smith, Tammy Jardin, Susan Wasserman and Rosemary Hoeft on Tuesday; James Irwin and Gayle Mone on Wednesday; Janet Belain, Rita Reynolds, Ken Francis and Jeanne Ogden on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Kristin Zern, Clara Marshall and Karen Coffey.
Happy anniversary wishes to Ken and Cathy Campbell.
Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s edition. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Trivia report that could come in handy at your next social gathering: Our Market, in Oak Bluffs, received its first shipment of canned beer 76 years ago today. Krueger was the first brewer to try this new way of distributing and marketing their product. Have a great week.
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