John S. Alley

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

People are beginning the task of cleaning up the yard after the long winter, raking the lawn and flower beds. Some have already begun planting peas and other hardy vegetables in their garden. Businesses are reopening for the season, Middletown Nursery and 7a Foods to name just two.

Today is Good Friday and the beginning of the holiest weekend of the Christian calendar. Easter services will start at sunrise at Ann Nelson’s home. Then at the Agricultural Hall a 10 a.m. service will include the annual egg hunts for the children after Sunday school. The Rev. Cathlin Baker will lead the congregation.

Tara Whiting, town clerk, reminds voters who plan to cast absentee ballots that they have until noon on Wednesday. Annual town reports are available at the town hall.

The annual town meeting is Tuesday. The election is Thursday; polls are open from noon to 8 p.m.

Leslei Monast will host a small gathering of family next Tuesday to celebrate her husband’s 65th birthday. Congratulations Will, you now are eligible to collect Social Security!

Rosalie Powell returned home last week after spending part of the winter on Sanibel Island, Fla. She reports having a wonderful time.

Liz over at Vineyard Gardens, reports that on Palm Sunday the place was busy with people looking at all the spring flowers. This week’s lecture on Saturday is success with small fruits; learn how to plant strawberries, asparagus, raspberries, blackberries, grapes and blueberries. They can help you make it easy and you will get a nice large crop. On Sunday the garden will host the annual Easter egg hunt, a fun event for the whole family. They hide hundreds and hundreds of eggs among the nursery stock. Find the magic egg and win the grand prize, a chocolate bunny. The egg hunt begins promptly at 1 p.m.

Paul Karasik has just returned from DeKalb, Ill., home of Northern Illinois University. It is also the home of barbed wire and there is a Barbed Wire Museum in town. He gave three lectures in two days at NIU and spent a third day critiquing 15 graduate student paintings. He said it was a privilege.

Marjorie Pierce reports that the community suppers put on every Wednesday by her committee for the past 13 weeks served over 900 meals. She thanks people for their generous donations, especially Cronig’s and the Black Dog Bakery, as well as all the volunteers who contributed their time to make it all happen and to the many people who turned out for the dinners.

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services is holding its annual electronics disposal day tomorrow from 9 am to 2 p.m. on the campus on Edgartown Road, across the street from the regional high school. This is a good time to get rid of all those old appliances taking up space in your basement. They will accept computers, monitors, televisions, printers, notebooks, copiers, scanners, air conditioners, stereo equipment, dehumidifiers, cell phones, microwaves, fax machines, refrigerators, washers, dryers and ranges. Fees range from $1 to $35. There is no charge for mice and keyboards and discounts for carloads. All donated things will be disposed off-Island in an environmentally-friendly way. For more information call 508-693-6570.

The Squibnocket Pond district advisory committee will host a public meeting on Tuesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Chilmark town hall.

The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital will hold its annual health fair tomorrow morning from 8 a.m. to noon. Screenings are free and there will be a rehab and wellness open house.

Jennifer Tseng over at the library reports that artwork by Richard Limber will be on display during the month of April. A reception will be held on Friday, April 27, at 4 p.m. Also their spring egg hunt will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m. sharp. As we begin National Poetry Month, the library will host the annual community poetry reading on Sunday, April 22, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. It will feature community members reading their own poems or the poems of others. Help keep the tradition alive by attending as a reader or a listener or both.

Dr. Wendy Chabot reports that mindfulness-based stress reduction is an eight-week curriculum developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the UMass Medical Center. By cultivating mindfulness, moment-to-moment, nonjudgmental awareness, participants learn to relax more fully into the present moment. A free, introductory session will be held on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Yoga Barn.

On April 10, 1942, a large wildfire started accidentally from a pile of burning brush in the field east of Mabel Johnson’s house. It was fanned by a brisk wind and easily jumped the Edgartown Road and spread rapidly over seven acres of dry grass and into the woods. Fire trucks arrived promptly from Vineyard Haven, the state forest and a crew of men from Oak Bluffs and Edgartown who happened to be working on the New Lane road project, and Antone Alley, and they were able to get the fire under control in short order. The homes that were in the path of the fire were Laura Lee’s, Margaret Howland and Flora Jordan’s. The barn on the Cleaveland estate, now owned by Sidney Riggs, caught fire but was saved from serious damage by Mr. Alley.

Happy birthday to: Pat Gregory, Hans van Nes and Susan Britt today; Sally Anderson, Joe Amaral, Ken Bailey and Rosalee McCullough on Sunday; David Berlow and Robin Fitzpatrick on Monday; John (My Way) Alaimo, Will Monast, Heidi Pachico and Caroline Mayhew on Tuesday; Linsey Lee, Sally Sherwood, Kristin Buck, Hallie Britt, Donna Michalski on Wednesday; Carmen Wilson, John Hoff and Antone Rezendes Sr. on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Kailyn Hart.

Well, that is all the social news for this edition. If you have any news you would like to share please call or e-mail me. I am quite sure that on Sunday the ladies will all be wearing colorful Easter bonnets and the men sporting new neckties. Those of us with a Portuguese heritage will continue the time-honored tradition of giving a loaf of Easter sweet bread (with hard-boiled eggs inside) to our friends and neighbors. Best wishes for a happy Easter, and have a great week.