Over 50 antique automobiles arrived last Thursday for their annual visit and exhibition. Their owners are members of the Boston Area Roadsters. Several of them stopped at the Field Gallery last Saturday and immediately drew a large crowd of people curious to see the cars close up and ask the owners questions. A beautifully restored 1949 Chevrolet seemed to draw a lot of attention.

 

Dudley and Nancy Eppel of Pond View Farm road arrived recently from Vero Beach, Fla. to spend the summer at their home. Dudley has already planted a vegetable garden in the back yard. He expects several family visits by his children during the summer.

 

Malcolm and Judy Hall of Oklahoma City and Pond Road returned to the Island last week. Their daughter Emily came the next day. Emily has already started her house cleaning service, picking up where she left off last fall. Her old clients are thrilled to have her back. Her parents are busy preparing the house for family and friends to spend the Fourth of July. Malcolm reports that he has some wonderful new okra recipes.

 

Bob and Barbara Day of Willow Tree Hollow are back after visiting their daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law John and children in their new home in Menlo Park, Calif. Bob was delighted to spend much of his time gardening. The main event was Grandparents’ Day at the children’s nearby school. Over 400 grandparents attended and were treated to wonderful displays of the children’s art work, writings and mathematical studies.

 

They also enjoyed several of Freddy’s and Bobby’s baseball games. Three-year-old Lucy was busy with aerobics and swimming. Once back in the east, Barbara and Bob went to granddaughter Jessica Carlson’s graduation from Milton Academy. In the fall, she will attend Wesleyan University. This summer, she will work at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival in Chilmark.

 

Cathy Cook, of Burnham, Me., and her two sons, Nick and Chris, were in town last week. Cathy for many years was a faithful summer visitor and considers the Island her true home. She got a chance to visit old friends and catch up with the latest social news.

 

Nicole Alley and her husband, Arsen Hambardzumian, and their son, Robbie, of East Taunton came down last week. They took me out for a wonderful breakfast and dinner as they could not be here for Father’s Day. Arsen also found time to make several septic inspections and map out a new septic system for a client in Vineyard Haven. They had a fun time and were the last people to board the boat on Wednesday.

 

Ellen Weiss of Old County Road recently returned to her house for the summer. She is professor emeritus at the Tulane University School of Architecture and has taught architectural and planning history at several universities and served on the boards of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vernacular Architecture Forum and the Southeast Society of Architectural Historians.

 

Dr. Carey Rosenthal and his wife Abby of Upper Darby, Pa. arrived last weekend to spend some quality time at his State Road home. They had their wedding anniversary dinner with his sister, Sara, and Dr. Julie Prazich at their Lambert’s Cove home Sunday night.

 

Susan Block of Music street reports that their niece Jennifer Cromheecke and her three children, Jay, Anna and Claire, arrived to visit them on Wednesday. Jennifer lives in Chicago with her husband, Todd, and their children. She drove from Chicago with a stop at Niagara Falls. Jennifer is Adam Block’s daughter. They had dinner with them at the Offshore Ale House last night.

 

Winnie Eyrick of LaPorte, Indiana, has arrived to spend the summer season. On Sunday she visited with her niece, Anna Carringer, of Old Courthouse road.

 

Lucy Gordan and her husband Luciano Rastelli of Rome, Italy, were the weekend guests of Phyllis Meras. This was their first trip to the Island. Lucy reports that they enjoyed the beauty and quaint towns. Luciano was impressed with the size of the fish that was caught. He is retired from the UN and they both enjoyed the visit.

 

Dr. Sara Rosenthal and Dr. Julie Prazich of San Diego arrived Memorial Day weekend at their house in the Cove. They will be getting it ready for the season and entertaining old friends.

 

Sig Van Rann of Music Street reports that they are getting the cottage ready for tenants starting this week and they are preparing for the second annual Mother of all Yard Sales tomorrow morning. There will be great quality items from the far reaches of this planet, as well as basic sundry household items.

 

Lee Revere reports that they are starting to work on the 55th annual library book sale. Books in good condition can be donated Monday thru Fridays from 8 till 11 a.m. at the school gym starting on Monday. The sale opens Friday, July 27, and runs thru Monday, July 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Any questions, please ask the library staff.

 

Marian Irving of Old County road reports that the Congregational Church is the place to be on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Strawberries on shortcake, strawberry smoothies or vanilla ice cream covered with the delicious red berries will all be available to enjoy. Come on down and grab a table on the lawn with your family and friends and do not miss this 18th annual event. All proceeds assist in the preservation of the historic church.

 

 Next Saturday at 4 p.m. Spindrift Marionettes and The African Artists Community Development Project will sponsor their first annual solstice puppet festival at the Tisbury Waterworks. There will be two puppet shows inside the newly renovated waterworks building and African crafts will be for sale.

On June 28, 1950, a dozen members of the West Tisbury Grange #251 had nearly finished what seemed like an impossible task of clearing the Mill Pond of the dreaded parrot weed that was so thick it virtually choked the pond. Grangers volunteered their time for more than three months to pull out the weed from the man made pond that was built to supply water power to the old mill building across the street. When the project was finished, the Grange purchased the first pair of swans to inhabit t he pond. The reason for doing so is that they are very partial to parrot weed and would help to keep it under control. Over the years several sets of swans have called the pond home. So many that people today often refer to it as the swan pond.

 

Happy birthday to Stan Hersh, KantaLipsky and Matt Stackpole today; Mary Louise Perry, Richard Sylva and John Moore tomorrow; Ben Moore, Marti Mariner, Russ Cote and Lt. Brian Kennedy on Sunday; Eric Johnson, Bess Child and David Franklin on Monday; Alicia Tonti, Lynn Bouck, Maryrose Sarja, Sarah Murphy and Kathy Retmier on Tuesday; Jonathan Belain, David Steere and Woody Bowman on Wednesday; Samantha Look, Alvida Jones, Michelle Ciccone, Lynn Weber, Bill Blakesley and Sam Decker on Thursday. Belated anniversary wishes to David Lewis and his wife, Danica Kombol.

 

Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s column. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.