JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

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, beach plums and other fruit to make into jelly. We had a sharp thunderstorm Friday evening with a generous amount of lightning. You felt a dramatic reduction in traffic on Monday. We are about to begin to settle into our fall routine. A lot of year-round people will be taking a well-deserved September vacation shortly after a hectic August. SSA boats are packed going to the mainland. Starting tomorrow, the farmers’ market will be held once a week.

Ed and Jane Konicki of Webster visited with us over the fair weekend. To everyone’s surprise, Ed recently won some lottery money and he purchased a new car for his annual trip to the Vineyard. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves visiting old friends and making new ones. Ed especially liked the Back Door doughnuts, picking beach plums and making jelly. Everyone enjoyed the fair and the exhibits. It was a treat to have them with us.

Evan Ruddock of Boxford, an old college roommate of our son Sam’s, visited him last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the fair and relaxing on the Vineyard.

Katherine Long of Panhandle Road worked as usual in the fiber tent at the fair. Her sister, Mary Ruth Flores, from San Antonio, came up to be with her and help out during the fair.

Holly and Marco Bario and their children, Peter and Emma, are visiting Pat and Joan Jenkinson of North Road. They also arrived in time for the fair and celebrations of both Peter’s and Emma’s birthdays. Marco left on Sunday and Holly leaves for New York today, which leaves the grandparents with Peter and Emma for a few days to have some fun with us and their cousin Wyatt and Uncle Patrick.

Charlie Kernick of Edgartown Road reports that he did not have an invasion of house guests this year for the fair. His wife Stevie was here for the fair and then headed out on Tuesday to Memphis, Tenn., where she’s running a convention next week for the Property Records Industry Association.

Brianna Bingham requests that on Tuesday you participate in museum day at Flatbread Pizza. Museum staff will be hosting a raffle and trivia game in the evening. Flatbread will donate $3.50 for every large pizza and $1.75 for every small pizza sold, dine-in or take-out. The promotion lasts from noon to 9:30 p.m. Also, Anna Carringer reports that Brianna, of Charles Neck Way, will be finishing her time at the museum today and will be headed to San Francisco to take a similar position. Everyone at the museum wishes her all the best and trusts she will find time to come back and visit from time to time.

Kurt and Sue Reiche, of Pelham, N.Y., and their children, Luke and Heather, have been visiting his parents, Dick and Diana, and helped them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Jon Harris of Old County Road reports that his daughter, Nina, of Princeton, N.J., visited last week. She had a good time at the fair.

Vicki Bijuir, of New York city and Tiah’s Cove, has been here for the past week. She and her husband, Ed Levine, of New York city, came up to help celebrate her mother’s 94th birthday last Sunday. She reports that Ed has written a book called Serious Eats; their son William now lives in Los Angles and works for United Talent Agency. Vicki is still a literary agent and one of her clients, Laura Lippman, has a new book, And When She Was Good, that received a rave review from the New York Times.

Jean Barron of Campbell Road reports that her daughter, Julia, her husband, Dave Katz, and their children, Henry and Eliza, from Newport Beach Calif., are visiting for the month of August. Henry is enjoying his third visit to Vineyard. He’s been riding a pony, swimming in the cut at the Great Pond and picking zucchini, tomatoes and potatoes in Papa Fred’s garden and, of course, the fair.

Recent house guests of Elton Nasimento and his wife Sarah Monast of Old Courthouse Road were his cousins, Alessandra Azevedo and Débora Azevedo Domingues from Brazil. This was their first visit to the U.S.A. They enjoyed the superb weather, beaches and cookouts.

Paddy Moore of Alley Way reports that a broad-based host committee of Islanders is co-sponsoring an event featuring Angela Davis and Gina Dent. They were part of a delegation of women of color who visited Palestine in July 2011 and will present their report tonight from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. The event is co-sponsored by and a benefit for Jewish Voice for Peace.

Karen Flynn of Indian Hill and the Bite requests that you join her tomorrow evening for the opening reception of the PeaceQuilts exhibit at the Chilmark branch of the MV Savings Bank. They will have some wine, munchies and will display some of the new, beautiful quilts and other handmade PeaceQuilts products we’ve recently brought back from Haiti. Stop by between 4 and 6 p.m. (The bank was kind enough to let us delay the opening from last Friday due to the fireworks and fair).

The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard is holding a Walk for the Animals on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tradewinds Park in Oak Bluffs (rain date is Monday, Oct. 8), and they need volunteers for a variety of jobs. If you are able to help with the event, please call Pat Adler at 508-696-5901, or Duncan Ross at 508-693-0541 to sign up.

Jennifer Tseng over at the library reports that the J.C. Trio will be playing jazz at 4 p.m. this afternoon. Paul Levine reports that on Sunday, August 26, at 3 p.m., the Katharine Cornell Theatre will present the third annual performance of The World of the Troubadours and Trobairitz: Poems and Songs from 12th and 13th Century Southern of France. The program, which has been performed at Howes House for the past two years, has grown in popularity and scope. It is being held at the Katharine Cornell for the first time, featuring internationally-known soprano Jessica Goodenough Heuser. Also included in the program will be a brief historical introduction by Marisa Galvez, assistant professor of French at Stanford University. Jenny Allen and Justen Ahren will perform a duet and there will also be songs and verses performed by Beth Kramer, Susanna Sturgis, Joe Eldridge and Jonathan Revere.

A bit of cocktail party trivia: Sunday marks the 96th anniversary of the first telephone cable connection between the Vineyard and Nantucket, the swing music era began, and 80 years ago, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.

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, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.” and the evil laugh that followed 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 1940s and 1950s; they rented Deny Wortman’s camp in Tiah’s Cove the first year.

For all you sports fans, 73 years ago tomorrow the first televised major league baseball game was broadcast on station W2XBS from New York. A few years later, the call letters WNBC-TV were assigned. 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: Mike Olivera, Caryn Broitman and Vaughn Russillo today; Kendall Chaves, T.J Hagerty and Scott Vanness tomorrow; Hallie Armer, David Rhoderick, Ken Rusyk and Taylor Smith on Sunday; Nancy Burelson, Alan Northcott, Shannon Larsen, Paige McCarthy, John Christensen and David Vigneault on Monday; Steve Hart, Jessica O’Connor and Bob Potts on Tuesday; Nicole Alley, Carol Christensen, Tom Rancich and Manuel Estrella 4th, on Wednesday; Barry Stone, Cheryl Lowe and Christopher Gross on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Pete Karman. Anniversary greetings to Matt Taylor and Dr. Carrie Flyer Monday, Sarah Monast and Elton Nascimento and Don Evon and Denise Mount on Wednesday.

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.