JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Well, signs of fall are beginning to appear each day. Canada geese are headed south each morning with time out for a last of the summer dip in the Mill Pond. The berries are early this year and folks have been out picking quince, cherries and other fruit to make into jelly. You felt a dramatic reduction in traffic on Monday. We are about to begin to settle into our fall routine shortly as the sun is now setting just about 7:30 p.m. A lot of year-round people will be taking a well deserved September vacation shortly, after a hectic August in what has been a busy summer season. Automobile traffic is beginning to thin out a lot each day and SSA boats are packed going to the mainland. On Monday and Tuesday the traffic was just horrible in Vineyard Haven. Your mail box soon will have catalogs featuring Halloween and, yes, a few Christmas books have arrived. Starting tomorrow the Farmers’ Market and Artisans Festival will be held once a week.
It certainly has been busy around town with the President and First Family staying just up the street.
Signs welcoming the First Family, with a very few exceptions, have been friendly and respectful. As Chris Matthews would say, “a few wing nuts, mostly uninformed” have attempted to mar their vacation.
Tremors from an earthquake in Virginia were clearly felt here about 2 p.m. on Tuesday. With the President here, this drew national attention after the Washington press corps felt the tremors in the press headquarters in Tisbury. It overshadowed the Qadhafi/Libya strife for a few hours.
Ed and Jane Konicki, of Webster, visited with us over the fair weekend. Ed brought a large bounty of fresh vegetables and corn from his garden and it was delicious. It was his first visit after a serious operation last spring. They enjoyed the fair and parties. They left for home on Monday. Ed enjoyed being interviewed by channel 4 television and by the Boston Globe.
Kristin Zern, of South Vine, reports that Scott Blakeman, a wonderful political comedian who is very funny and well respected in Washington, D,C., will perform at the Grange Hall at 8 p.m. on Sept. 2 and 3. He brings his humor, from a liberal Jewish point of view, back for a return engagement after sold-out performances last year. He was also a featured panelist on MSNBC’s live coverage of the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Jim and Holly Coyne, of Music street, arrived last week and plan to be here for awhile. Jim expects that family will be coming down to visit soon.
Walter and Lisa Smith, of Augusta, Ga., arrived on Tuesday to visit the Alley’s for a week. It has been a number of years since their last visit. They were married here 20 years ago.
Charlie Kernick, of Edgartown Road, reports that they had a small but energetic welcoming party for the President last Thursday night, gathering on the side of his lawn to watch the motorcade pass by. Morgan Taylor Lucero and her husband, Bobby, joined John Athearn on the “reviewing stand.” All were surprised when two black tactical vehicles suddenly arrived, and a bomb sniffing dog and three Secret Service agents tumbled out and began to furiously inspect John’s car, which was parked in front of Cliff Athearn’s house, across the street. John quickly hollered that it was his vehicle, at which point he was “asked” to move it from the street, post haste! John hasn’t moved that quickly in years. Also on State Road, opposite the town hall, a fair few people gathered for the same purpose. Ed Konicki and Mary Jane Case were on Channel 4 television expressing their opinion about the visit.
About 50 people attended a cookout held in honor of Peter Luskin, who had just returned home from Afghanistan on a brief leave. One of the first things Peter requested was to dive off the big bridge before going to Alchemy for dinner and meet old friends last Friday. Nicole Alley and her husband, Arsen Hambardzumian, who were visiting us, attended the gathering as they knew Peter from summer’s past and they were pleased to meet him again.
Over in Kansas, William McCullough, his wife, Cissy, their children, Caroline, William Jr. and Melissa and dog, Millie, vacationed last week and attended the fair. His wife’s father, Senator Bob Graham, also attended the fair and reported having a swell time.
Visiting Pete Karman and his wife, Jill Carlton, of State Road, this weekend are Peter and Rosella Matt, of New York city. Peter is a wine merchant who has become a geologist; his wife teaches Italian at NYU.
Jim and Pam Butterick, of Barnes Road in Oak Bluffs, are delighted to open their home once again for the fifth annual Evening of Music on the Lagoon on Sept. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. Join them to listen to pianist John Gorman’s playing classical and romantic selections while sipping wine, enjoying appetizers and watching the sunset over the Lagoon on the final Sunday before Labor Day. Your tax-deductible donation will directly benefit the restoration and ongoing maintenance of the 1895 Hook and Hastings pipe organ in the Federated Church in Edgartown.
Phyllis Conway, of the Chilmark Church, reports that the Boston String Quartet will perform Sunday at 7 p.m. in the church on Menemsha Crossroad.
Nelia Decker, children’s librarian, reports that the Maddie Show is coming to the Oak Bluffs Library tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. It is sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Library Association. Wendy Moore is the author of the Maddie books and a musician with a Celtic flair.
Carol Craven and Haven Cutler held an art trunk show at Carol’s Music street house yesterday, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the library.
Susan Wasserman, of Music street, reports that the Friends of the West Tisbury Library have planned their annual meeting for 5 p.m. August 31 at the library. Everyone is welcome to attend. Each year they give short reports on activities and money and then serve refreshments.
“On August 31, 1946 the voice of the popular radio show The Shadow, Stephen Courtleigh, along with his wife, Barbara, son, George, and daughter, Pat returned to New York city after spending two months in town. The famous line at the beginning of each broadcast ‘the Shadow knows the evil that lurks in men’s hearts’ and evil laugh were legendary. The program was broadcast weekly and could be heard in this area on stations WEAN and WJZ radio. They spent many summers in this town in the late 40s and 50s they rented Deny Wortman’s camp in Tiah’s Cove the first year. The Shadow, after renting Donald Campbell’s house on Old County Road for several summers, purchased property from Donald that had been in his family for generations. Steve then bought two sections of his house from an old building that was about to be demolished to make way for the new A& P store in Vineyard Haven. He had them moved by Harry Horton and it is still part of the place. After his death his wife sold it a few years later to their neighbor, Tom Maley. Steve, an avid fisherman, was featured in the first commercial for television with a Vineyard backdrop in the early 50s; it was for Lucky Strike cigarettes. He was filmed casting his line into the surf on South Beach near the opening while a voice over promoted smoking Luckies.”
For all you sports fans, 72 years ago tomorrow the first televised Major League baseball game was broadcast on station W2XBS from New York (a few years later it was assigned the call letters WNBC-TV). Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn that sunny afternoon. Red, who sat in the catbird seat, as he called it, many years later became a Chilmark summer resident.
Happy birthday to: Hallie Armer, David Roderick, Ken Rusyczyk and Taylor Smith today; Nancy Burelson, Alan Northcott, Shannon Larsen, Paige McCarthy, John Christensen and David Vigneault tomorrow; Steve Hart, Jessica O’Connor and Bob Potts on Sunday; Nicole Alley, Carol Christensen, Tom Rancich and Manuel Estrella 4th on Monday; Barry Stone, Cheryl Lowe and Christopher Gross on Tuesday; Anna Edey, Pat Mitchell, Chuck Wiley, Michael Smith, Jennifer Powers and Janet Johnson on Wednesday; Ebba Hierta, Karen Russillo, Russell Schubert, Tessa Wall and Candace Webster on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Pete Karman. Anniversary greetings to Matt Taylor and Dr. Carrie Fyler tomorrow, Sarah Monast and Elton Nascimento on Sunday, and Don Evon and Denise Mount on Monday.
A bit of cocktail party trivia: Sunday marks the 95th anniversary of the first telephone connection between the Vineyard and Nantucket; Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the country 79 years ago Tuesday; 70 years ago last week National League Umpire Jocko Conlan ejected Pirates manager Frankie Frisc for coming out onto the field holding an umbrella to protest soggy playing conditions during the second game of a doubleheader at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. The rainy day argument was later portrayed in a painting by what famous artist? Clue: The title of the painting is Bottom of the Sixth.
Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s edition. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.
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