JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Well, tomorrow is the first day of the fall season and we are thankful for all of our summer memories as September is slipping away as quick as you can say Jack Frost! We know he is waiting just around the corner, but it doesn’t seem possible with the beautiful Indian summer weather we are having. The end of the shoulder season of transit service will cease on Oct. 8. The winter schedule begins the following day.
Colleen Morris reports that Tuesday she will be celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day. Folks are busy harvesting the last of the vegetables from their gardens and the berries that are still available for canning, and settling into their fall routine as the sun is now setting around 6:30 p.m. Andy Boass of Middle Road reports that he and his wife, Susie, one of the famous Glimmerglass Girls, have been busy canning vegetables and making jelly and sugar cakes. Andy, a beekeeper, is in the process of collecting honey from his many hives.
Phyllis Meras of Music street returned home last Sunday after a spending several days in New York city and Rhode Island on business. She is preparing for weekend guests.
Bill Coogan of Pine Hill Road reports that 10-week-old Erin Willa Coogan made her Martha’s Vineyard debut last month. Accompanied by her parents Christine and Matt and her older sisters Molly and Isabel, she attended her Grandpa Bill’s 70th birthday party, relaxed with her Uncle Gabe, introduced herself to her many Vineyard cousins and put in some serious beach time before returning to her home in Brooklyn, N.Y.
James Coyle reports that the biggest news at 42 Looks Pond Way is that their daughter Kate and her husband Ryan brought two handsome little boys, Ryan and James, into this world on August 15 in New York city. Mother, father and the little boys are all doing great. James and Holly and can’t wait to bring them all up to West Tisbury. These are their fifth and sixth grandchildren. Congratulations!
Kendall Gifford Miller of Athens, Ohio was in town last week. He was working on the east side of his grandfather’s old store that abutted the now-removed ice cream parlor. He had repainted the front on an earlier visit this summer.
After vacationing at her house on State Road most of the summer, Jill Carlton and her husband Pete Karman of New Haven, Conn. have returned to their home off-Island. They will be back in a week or so to enjoy the fall season. Jill harvested her final crop of vegetables from her garden before leaving.
Anna Alley of State Road went up to Taunton last weekend to visit daughter Nicole, husband Arsen and grandson Robbie. They had an end-of-season barbecue for their friends and clients. Grandma was needed to watch over Robbie. It has been reported that Robbie had a good time at the party.
Paul Karasik of Head of the Pond Road reports that he has a cartoon in this week’s New Yorker magazine. It is the first one in the issue and appears to be the featured gag on the homepage.
The Follansbee family from Maine, Massachusetts and California gathered at Deborah Mayhew’s home this past weekend to mourn the passing of her partner, Todd Follansbee, who died suddenly and unexpectedly last Friday. The Mayhew family joined Todd’s parents, sisters, daughters and in-laws in a private service at the Gay Head lighthouse on Tuesday. Caroline Mayhew and her fiancé Dan Johnson came from Washington, D.C., Sarah Mayhew came from California and Katie Mayhew returned from Arizona, after only two days into a three-month wilderness trip. The Mayhews are grateful for the outpouring of sympathy, gifts of food and visits from the many friends Todd made in the five years he lived with Deborah in West Tisbury. Let me add my sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Jennifer Tseng, over at the library, reports that they will be moving the library soon to their temporary headquarters across from Conroy’s Apothecary in North Tisbury, by mid-October. They will be there during the construction and remodeling work that will last about a year and a half. The temporary headquarters is essentially an office space with minimal room for materials, so give them suggestions of what you feel is absolutely necessary to make your library experience helpful.
Cycle Martha’s Vineyard will be held on Saturday Oct. 14. The 100-kilometer route circuits the Island, traveling along the ocean, Nantucket Sound and the state forest. The 50K route offers views of the Sound and the ocean. It is sponsored by the Rotary Club with proceeds to benefit many of their charities.
Next weekend will be busy over at the agricultural hall. The annual Living Local Harvest Festival will be free fun for all ages — fresh local food, live music (and animals!), interactive educational demos and classic harvest fest games and activities. This year’s festival will include a skillet toss and pumpkin-launching trebuchet. The festival and activities run from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m., followed by a harvest potluck from 7 to 10 p.m. that concludes with a community potluck dinner and dancing.
George Hartman reports that the 25th annual Antique Power Show he is organizing again this year asks all exhibitors to plan to set up between 9 and 10 a.m. on Saturday or late Friday afternoon. Next week he will be there on Friday after 4 p.m. to set up the grounds — any help is welcome. If you have questions,
please call him at 508-693-6039. George, the master of steam engines, will have a display that will mostly include early automotive engines from the mid-1890s thru 1903. He is planning to run his 1903 locomobile car engine on live steam during the show. George spent countless hours restoring that steam engine he proudly displayed two years ago. He returned home on Monday after a weekend in Whatley at the last old engine show of the season.
Lee McCormack has been busy promoting Nothing Happening Day tomorrow on Facebook. Of the many suggestions and comments of what to do is to stop by any barbershop and watch hair fall. Doing nothing is the hardest job in the world because you can never tell when you are through!
Ginger Duarte reports that the Electronics Disposal Day is tomorrow at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, located across from the high school. Fees are between $1 and $30. Please check the website for more details: mvcommunityservices.com. The site will also tell you what objects to bring.
Lynne Ditchfield reports that this fall ACE MV is offering 43 classes and seminars in arts and communication, business and computers, cooking, history, healthcare and fitness, writing, languages, Island land and sea including two free courses sponsored by NAMI and the Red Cross. Classes start Oct. 6 and preregistration is strongly advised as classes are limited in size.
My friends at the History Channel provided this bit of history: 74 years ago today, without warning, a powerful Category 3 hurricane slammed into the Vineyard and southern New England. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was the most destructive storm to strike the region in the 20th century. With Europe on the brink of war, little media attention was given to the powerful hurricane at sea. There was no advanced meteorological technology — fishermen and boaters were at sea, and summer residents enjoying the end of the season were in their beachfront homes. Around 3 p.m. the full force of the hurricane made landfall, unfortunately around high tide with much flooding. Surges of ocean water and waves 40 feet tall swallowed up coastal homes. In Milton, south of Boston, the Blue Hill Observatory recorded one of the highest wind gusts in history, an astounding 186 mph. The Vineyard was hit hard with one death and millions of dollars in damage.
On Sept. 30, 1945, Barbara Fales and her daughter Sandra returned to her mother’s home on Old County Road after a few days in New York city. Her mother, Mrs. W. Cleaveland Foote, and the family planned to close the house and leave the following week for Miami, Fla. where they would spend the winter. Sam Fales, who had recently received his discharge from the service, planned to leave Florida for Venezuela shortly. He would spend two months there before taking a position in Ecuador. His wife Barbara and daughter Sandra intend to join him in March. They plan to make their home there for an indefinite period of time.
Happy birthday to Judy and Larry Schubert, Amanda Dickenson and Tony Rezendes today; Carole Kimberly, Angela Scarborough and Kathy Lobb tomorrow; Granville White, Terre Young, Mike Donaroma and Sean Conley on Sunday; Lydia Olsen, Brandie Lewis and Galvin Franklin on Monday; Cynthia Wayman, Manuel Estrella III, Kali Wingood and Cheryl Metell on Tuesday; Jennifer Wilcox, Ashley Hunter, Ann Fielder and Carol Craven on Wednesday; and Mariko Kawaguchi and Wayne Smith on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Susan Block, Celine Segel, Ruth Van Brakle and Melissa Thomas. Happy anniversary to Noah and Susan Block on Monday, and Greg Donovan and Lucia Maria Sandel on Thursday. 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.
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