JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Monday is Memorial Day and there will be a parade and traditional observances in Vineyard Haven. All town buildings and the post office will be closed. The swans and baby cygnets on the Mill Pond surely make it feel like summer is on its way. The VTA bus schedule is now providing expanded coverage on the 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.
Malcolm Hall reports that his family and staff are fine after the devastating tornado in Moore, Okla., on Tuesday. Ann Alley, an Oklahoma City native, reports that her brother Curtis and wife Jeri are also okay.
At the beginning of this holiday weekend, let’s not forget what Memorial Day is really all about. Let’s take some time out from all of our busy activities to remember those who have gone before us. Brian Athearn, veterans’ graves officer, has placed new American flags on the graves of all the veterans.
Ralph and Alvida Jones of Danl’s Way held a small party on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate their 65th anniversary and their respective 90th birthdays. Ralph was 90 in April and his bride will be 90 next month. They met while working in the chemistry laboratory at Merck & Co. in Rahway, N.J. They like to say that the chemistry was right. They were married May 22, 1948 in Jersey City, N.J. Congratulations!
A large crowd gathered last Sunday afternoon at Abel’s Hill Cemetery to say their final goodbye to Mike Pease. A highlight of the ceremony was the two aircraft that flew over the assembled gathering.
Alex Karman of Brooklyn opened his mother’s house for the season last weekend and planted their vegetable garden. He expects his parents to arrive on July 4.
Connie Andrade reports that the second annual Brave Women, Brave Men benefit concert at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center to support Dukes County Veterans’ Services and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund will be held on Sunday from 4 till 6 p.m.
Phyllis Meras will be writing an occasional travel column for those of us over 65 years of age. It will be carried in the Providence Sunday Journal newspaper.
Bob Lewis and Lynn Hodges were married last Saturday afternoon down by Tom Maley’s pond. Damien Brown and Olga Barannikova were wed last Sunday just off of Mud Puddle Lane.
Allen Whiting will open his Davis House Gallery on State Road tomorrow afternoon. The spring gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday 1 to 6 p.m. and by appointment.
The popular Bite take-out shack in Menemsha will open for the season this weekend. It is owned and operated by the Flynn sisters of Indian Hill Road.
The annual Friends of Family Planning Art Show Benefit at the Agricultural Hall will be held all Memorial Day weekend from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. The event supports the Family Planning Clinic of Martha’s Vineyard. Kick off the season and head to the Agricultural Hall to admire and purchase artwork, paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry and more. Local restaurants, caterers and private chefs will provide the food this year. There will be live music and parking is free. Andrea Rogers reports that the 15th annual Artisans Spring Fair will take place from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday at the Grange Hall. She reports that it is the only art show on the Vineyard exclusively featuring all Island artisans. The food will be catered by Little Rock Farm. They will be open rain or shine with free parking for all. For more information about the fair call her at 508-693-8989.
Norman Perry reports that the Garden Club on Edgartown Road will be holding their annual plant sale tomorrow and Sunday from 9 a.m. till 2 p.m. The Garden Club is the first conservation group on the Island. In 1942 the Garden Club purchased the Old Mill, restored it, and they use the building as their center. If you have any questions call Mary Louise Perry at 508-696-8416.
The Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society reports that as a part of National Chamber Music Month, their spring concert will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown.
Assistant curator Anna Carringer reports that the Martha’s Vineyard Museum will offer a new exhibit today, Taste for the Exotic, that centers on three regions of the world where Vineyarders ventured: East Asia, the Pacific islands and the far north. She says that the Island has a rich history of Vineyard mariners traveling the world.
History notes:
Seventy-two years ago tomorrow night, people gathered around their radio 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. Also he had begun the process of guiding this country to secure a strategic interest in the Azores, as it was believed it could present a serious threat to the Americas if it fell into German hands. Other than sending “Bundles for Britain,” we didn’t think much about it that summer but the clouds of war were forming. On June 1, 1946, Steve and Barbara Courtleigh and their young son George, of New York City, arrived to spend the summer season in town. Their daughter Pat joined them in August. They rented the winter home of Donald Campbell on Old County Road. The Campbells moved up to their summer home on Basin Road in Menemsha. Steve, an actor, was the voice of the Shadow on the radio and you could listen to the popular mystery program, sponsored by Blue Coal, Sunday nights on WJZ radio. Steve, an avid fisherman, planned to make frequent trips to New York to fulfill his acting obligations. He was hired by Lucky Strike cigarettes and was photographed surfcasting on South Beach. An advertisement was to appear in Life, Colliers and the Saturday Evening Post magazines. They also planned to film him surfcasting and use it in a television commercial as a test to see if the emerging new form of entertainment would reach more of their customers. For the record, the first paid advertisement on television was in 1941. The price was $10 and the product was Bulova watches.
I am sure you remember the famous line in the commercial; the announcer spelled out each letter in B-U-L-O-V-A and firmly proclaimed that America ran on Bulova watch time.
Happy birthday to Toni Kurash, Tom Goethals, Chuck Hughes, Brenda Brathwaite, Lynn Buckmaster-Irwin, Amy Barrow and Jason Gale today. Susan McConnell, Matthew Hayden, Ann Nelson and William Stewart celebrate tomorrow. Wish Wendy Turnell, Marie Allen, Marianne Sebastian and Larry Yorke happy birthday on Sunday. Leon Braithwaite, Brenda Hayden and Maya Sharpe celebrate on Monday. Martha Tohlen, Sheryl Dagostino, Cheryl Stark and Robin Carberry have a birthday on Tuesday. Alan Cottle, Allison Horowitz, Leah Pachico and Liza Lynch celebrate on Wednesday. Wish Peter Hoffman, Barbara Portman, Colin Whyte, James Paul and Chris Osmers a good one on Thursday. Kevin and Maria McFarland will celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary on Sunday. Belated birthday greetings to Bernadette Smith, Amelia Spirito, and Janice Donaroma.
Well, that is all of the social news for this edition. If you have any news please call or email me. Have a safe holiday weekend and a great week.
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