JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Well, we experienced an absolutely superb weekend. The weather was great. The boat schedule changed on Monday and you can tell from increased traffic on the roads that the crowds have started to arrive. More are expected for the long holiday weekend, which starts the summer season.
The swans and baby cygnets on the Mill Pond surely make it feel like summer is on its way.
Monday is the Memorial Day holiday. 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. There will be a parade and traditional observances down in Vineyard Haven. Brian Athearn, veterans graves officer, has placed new American flags on the graves of all the veterans. Town buildings and the post office will be closed.
The VTA bus schedule is now providing expanded coverage on 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 23.
We have new brick sidewalks in front of the town hall, 7a and the Grange Hall.
Ed and Jane Konicki of Webster came down for the weekend and enjoyed the weather, meeting old friends and having a good time. They returned home on Sunday.
Bob and Barbara Levine of University Park, Fla., have returned to their Field View Lane home after spending the winter months in the deep South.
Alex Karman of New York city will be arriving this weekend and plans on hosting a number of his friends at his mother’s house on State Road. This is Alex’s annual retreat and Olympiad.
Ava Plakins and her sister Naomi of New Hope, Pa., arrived at their house on Middle Road on Monday. They plan to be here for a short time. They have had a lot of work done to the exterior of their property last fall and plan on doing some additional projects before summer.
Allen Whiting will open his Davis House Gallery on State Road tomorrow afternoon. The spring hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m. and by appointment.
The popular Bite takeout shack in Menemsha is now open for the season. It is owned and operated by the Flynn sisters of Indian Hill Road.
As reported last week, Sig Van Raan’s parents were honored for their rescue of Jewish children during World War II. And this past week Susan’s daughter Willie (Emma Rose) of Baltimore married Mike Levin, also of Baltimore. They chose to hold an intimate ceremony with close family at Susan and Sig’s New York apartment so Susan’s 98-year-old mother could attend. A wedding reception followed at the Baltimore Museum of Art attended by extended family and friends, including the Cohens, Goldsteins and Binneys of West Tisbury, as well as the Morrisses of Vineyard Haven. Sig’s daughter Sofia attended from the Vineyard and his other daughter Zoe flew up from Santa Fe, N.M.. Sig’s son Jackson flew in from college in California. Sig aggravated his arthritic knee doing the Watusi with his two daughters. Then on Thursday, Willie graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She and her new husband are planning to have their honeymoon on the Vineyard later this summer.
Following all of these events, Sig and Susan spent two days on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay before returning to the Vineyard for the summer season.
The up-Island tour of five special properties sponsored by the First Congregational Church will be held tomorrow. Tickets are $25 and will be on sale in the parish hall on Saturday beginning at 10:45 a.m. Tour hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Don’t miss this great opportunity to visit some unexpected and creative garden and landscaping designs.
The Merrimack Valley Ringers return to the Congregational Church on Saturday, June 2 at 4 p.m. for another concert. The Ringers are an auditioned community hand bell ensemble. Since most hand bell pieces only require 13 ringers, the larger roster allows them to perform music with members playing other instruments.
Now is the time to register to attend One Day University: Arts, Culture, Sustainability, held on June 23 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will be an interactive day with great minds, workshops and roundtable discussions.
The annual Friends of Family Planning Art Show Benefit at the Agricultural Hall will take place all weekend.
Andrea Rogers reports that the 14th annual Artsians Spring Fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday at the Grange Hall. They have added a few new features for this year’s show, which will be open rain or shine with free parking for all. For information call her at 508-693-8989.
The Garden Club will be holding its annual plant sale tomorrow and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will also be an open house in the old mill building. For information call call Mary Louise Perry at 508-696-8416.
The Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society will hold its spring concert tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown.
Jennifer Tseng over at the library reports that the JC Trio will be playing jazz in the library today at 4 p.m. The library will be closed for Memorial Day on Monday, and will reopen on Tuesday at 10 a.m. On Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. the library will be screening Under Our Skin, a film about Lyme disease. Dr. Enid Haller will lead a discussion afterward.
Seventy years ago tomorrow night people gathered around their radios in their living rooms 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 steamship Robin Moor outside of the war zone near Brazil. The president had begun the process of guiding this country to secure 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.
Happy birthday to Matthew Hayden, Ann Nelson and William Stewart today; Wendy Turnell, David Stein and Larry Yorke tomorrow; Brenda Hayden, Karen Cullinan, Kaila Binney and Elizabeth Jacobs on Sunday; Martha Tohlen, Cheryl Stark and Robin Carberry on Monday; Alan Cottle and Liza Lynch on Tuesday; Peter Hoffman, Barbara Portman, Colin Whyte and Chris Osmers on Wednesday; Howard Wall and Amy Fournier on Thursday. Kevin and Maria McFarland will celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary on Monday. Belated birthday greetings to Bernadette Smith, Toni Kurasch, Janice Donaroma and Marie Allen.
Well, that is all of the social news for this edition. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a safe holiday weekend and a great week.
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