JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Last weekend was delightful after a week of rain and many chores were done outside. The azaleas at the Foote tennis court have been in full bloom and are quite a sight. Many people have returned after a long winter in warmer climates. Automobile traffic has picked up with this, the official opening weekend of the summer season.
Monday is Memorial Day and there will be a parade and traditional observances down in Vineyard Haven. Town buildings, banks and the post office will be closed. This is considered the official opening of the summer season. If the ducks choose to stay in the Mill Pond it will surely make it feel like summer is just around the corner. The VTA bus schedule is now providing expanded coverage on the weekend evenings; the late bus to Aquinnah departs from the Grange hall at 11:38 p.m. The everyday schedule goes into effect on June 26.
At the beginning of this holiday weekend let’s not forget what Memorial Day is really all about and take some time out from all our busy activities to remember those who have gone on before us. The cemetery superintendent and the mowing crew have been working for the past week, sometimes in inclement weather, mowing and trimming the cemeteries. Brian Athearn, veterans’ graves officer, has placed new American flags on the graves of all the veterans. A special effort is made for this particular holiday each year to keep up our cemeteries in first-class condition so they can properly receive visitors who have come to pay their respects.
As of last weekend Richard and Diana Reische, of Wilton, Conn., have returned to their residence for most of the summer. Last Sunday their son, Eric, from Aspen, Colo., joined them to help with the early tasks of cleaning and refreshing their Runner Road home. Eric’s family, along with their other son Kirk and his family from Pelham, N.Y., will be back for a vacation in August.
Jill Carlton and her husband, Pete Karman, and their son, Alex, from New Haven, Conn., opened her house for the season and planted a garden. They returned home on Sunday. Alex will be back this weekend and after that Jill and Pete will be here for two months. This will be the longest time Jill has spent here since she was a teenager. They are looking forward to the experience.
Ava Plakins and her sister, Naomi, of New Hope, Pa., arrived at their house on Middle Road last Saturday. They plan to be here until Memorial Day. They had a large stand of bamboo cut down on their property recently and if anyone wants any of it for their garden please contact them; it is free for the taking. Ava said there must be a landscaper that could use the bamboo. It seems like a shame to chip it all up.
Sig Van Raan, of Music street, reports that he and his wife, Susan Dickler, spent the weekend in Durham, N.H., celebrating the college graduation of his daughter, Sofia, who graduated with honors from University of New Hampshire with a degree in English and specializing in creative writing. Sofia will be spending the summer with them on the Vineyard working and getting ready for a year of world travels before resuming graduate studies. She plans to teach and pursue writing.
Sig and Susan are busy packing up their Cambridge condo, having bought a pied-à-terre in Manhattan and planning more year round living at their Music Street home.
Sig’s son, Jackson, has completed his first year at the University of the Redlands and will return soon after spending the month of May in Guatemala where he worked with a group doing volunteer work with street children. When Jackson gets home he will spend the summer with his family, hoping to work and save money for college next year. Susan’s daughter, Willie, is visiting from Baltimore, where she just finished her first year of nursing studies.
Carol Craven, of New York city, arrived on Monday to open her house for the summer season. Geoff McCullough and his family were here last weekend and stayed at his parents’ house. They enjoyed biking and other outdoor activities.
Kevin Wojcik and Lynn Dolan will open their house in Vineyard Meadow Farms for the season this Memorial Day weekend. Next weekend Kevin will be hosting his annual reunion of UConn college friends at their house.
Ed and Jane Konicki, of Webster, are arriving today to spend the Memorial Day weekend with the Alley family. This will be Ed’s first visit since his major heart operation just last month.
Darah and Henry Whyte, of North Carolina, arrive today to visit with Kristin Buck and her husband, Brian Smith, on State Road. They have come to visit see Kristin’s daughter, Alice, for the first time. Darah and Kristin worked together for several summers at the Beach Plum Inn.
Kristy Knoff and Charlie Carrol, of Williamsburg, Va., are here visiting with Sara Palatroni. They lived on Music street for three years in the Frank Adams house before it was renovated.
The West Tisbury School’s spring book fair is right around the corner! Stock up on summer reading titles! Sales before and after school (June 1 to 7). A Grandparents/Parents/Those Whom We Love Breakfast is set for June 7 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Please contact Stephanie in the library if you have questions. Judy McCarthy, over at the school, reports that eighth grade students and chaperones are leaving next week for England. This is part of the student visitation program in place at the school for many years.
The Garden Club, at the Old Mill, on Edgartown Road will be holding an open house and plant sale to benefit their restoration project tomorrow and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The town’s premiere artist, Allen Whiting, will open his Davis House Gallery on State Road tomorrow afternoon. He will be celebrating his 30th summer season. The gallery will be open from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. His works spanning some 40 years will be the subject of a Featherstone art show in July.
The parks and recreation committee invites the public to their next meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. over at the Howes House. On their agenda will be the dog policy at Lambert’s Cove Beach for the summer. Beach stickers will go on sale Saturday, June 18 at the shed at the school. Beach stickers will be required beginning Saturday, June 25.
The annual Friends of Family Planning Art Show Benefit at the Agricultural Hall is upon us! It will be held all weekend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Andrea Rogers reports that the 13th annual Artisans Spring Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday at the Grange Hall. She reports that they have added a few new features for this year’s show. They will be open rain or shine, with free parking for all.
Margaret Knight reports that the Congregational Church Bell Choir is honored to host the Merrimack Valley Ringers for a concert on June 3 at 7 p.m. at the West Tisbury First Congregational Church. A bell choir like this is amazing to hear. Their repertoire is of Celtic and folk origin with some original compositions and even Bach! Tunes include Greensleeves, Shenandoah and much more. Admission to the concert is free. There will be a potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m. before the concert. All are welcome hope you can make it.
Alan Brigish proudly reports that after winning the gold in the wild card category of the 2010 New England Book Festival, he and Susan Klein have just won a second award, the bronze medal winner of the 2011 Indie Excellence Award in the category of Northeast Regional Publications for their book Martha’s Vineyard — Now and Zen.
Colleen Morris, over at the library, reports that Lucy Mitchell, of Edgartown Road, will be presenting an exhibition called A la Ronde all this month at the library. There will be an opening reception next Friday at 4 p.m. These collage/drawings are part of a series of 16, done after visiting a house, now owned by the National Trust, in England. The building was conceived of and decorated by two women at the turn of the 18th century. The 16-sided house is embellished with shells, feathers, lichen, seaweed, paint and paper, all of it done by these two artists who made it their life’s work. Library director Beth Kramer urges you to start the long weekend with a little jazz music by the JC Trio today at 4 p.m.; she also asks you to stop by and hear the golden voice of Davina Porter, and there will be another public forum on library expansion on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Stop by to listen and express your point of view on library expansion.
Wenonah Madison reports that 7a Foods (formerly Back Alleys) will be opening in early June. They will be offering breakfast and lunch to go, homemade ice cream, a variety of prepared foods and locally sourced gourmet foods.
Seventy years ago tonight people gathered around their radio set in their living room to listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt hold a fireside chat announcing that he had proclaimed an unlimited national emergency due to Germany’s sinking of the unarmed merchant steam ship Robin Moor outside of the war zone near Brazil. He also had begun the process of securing a strategic interest in the Azores as it was believed to present a serious threat to the Americas if it fell into German hands. We didn’t think much about it that summer but the clouds of war were forming.
“On June 2, 1946 Steve and Barbara Courtleigh and their son George, of New York city, arrived to spend the summer season in town. Their daughter Pat will join them in August. They have rented the winter home of Donald Campbell on Old County Road. The Campbells have moved up to their summer home on Basin Road in Menemsha. Steve, an actor, is also the voice of the Shadow on the radio and you can listen to the popular mystery program, sponsored by Blue Coal, Sunday nights on radio station WJZ. Steve, an avid fisherman, plans to make frequent trips to New York to fulfill his acting obligations. He was recently hired by Lucky Strike cigarettes and was photographed surfcasting on South Beach. An advertisement will appear in Life, Colliers and the Saturday Evening Post magazines in a month. They also plan on filming him surfcasting and using it in a television commercial as test to see if the emerging new form of entertainment will reach more of their customers.”
Happy birthday to: Kaila Binney, Karen Cullinan and Seth Cooperrider today; Cheryl Stark, Martha Tohlen, Robin Carberry and Sherl Dagostino tomorrow; Alan Cottle, Dionis Montrowl, Alan Brigish, Fan Ogilvie, Robyn Bettencourt and Lisa Lynch on Sunday; Colin Whyte, Peter Hoffman, Leah Pachico and Greg Marcella on Monday; Howard Wall, Linda Gandel, David Murphy and Amy Fournier on Tuesday; Eric Magnuson, James Huckins and Chaya Thanhauser on Wednesday; Linda Lee Alley, Linda Doane and Henry Kudish on Wednesday; Wayne Sylvia, Bill Blakesley and Casey Decker on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Bernadette Smith, Marie Allen and Toni Kurash. Kevin and Maria McFarland will celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary on Wednesday, and anniversary greetings to Matt and Donna Annese on Sunday.
Well, that is all of the social news for this edition. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.
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