Memorial Day weekend was especially memorable with the flags flying at cemeteries as well as many homes and businesses across the Vineyard. Such incredible patriotism. The weather has been cooperating, in the low 70s and then down to the 40s and 50s at nightfall. Lilacs are lingering, iris are in bloom, rosa rugosa and beach plum bushes are in full bloom as well. Many of our seasonal friends and neighbors have been in residence lately including Dr. Thomas Green, Tom and Christine Murphy and their son Tim; Eric and Sheryl Berke; Mimi Trimmer; Paul and Nancy Cotton; Clyde Phillips and Jane Lancellotti; Joe Spinelli and John McKinstry, to name a few who have ventured here early to enjoy the spring-like weather.

Edward Colligan has been rather ill recently and there will be a benefit for him on Sunday, June 1, at 1 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center. Tickets are $25 per person. There will be a silent auction with beautiful items to bid on.

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services will be the beneficiary of the benefit at Flatbread on Wednesday, June 4, at 5 p.m. A portion of the sales of pizza throughout the day will be donated to MVCS, whether you dine in or take out. There will also be a silent auction with many interesting items for your shopping pleasure. Support MVCS, which supports more than 6,000 residents each year in all of the programs provided.

Friday afternoon in Menemsha this past week was rather interesting. The tug boat pulled the barge and crane out from where the new Coast Guard boathouse dock is being built, which is similar to a landing strip. Other than the base, only a few of the footings have been placed to begin the actual construction. Those of us watching from Squid Row had a front row seat with Marshall Carroll at Menemsha Texaco giving us a running commentary. The Unicorn finally decided to leave its berth at the end of the west dock, just in the nick of time. While the barge was making its way south in the channel, a few rocks were displaced from the jetty on the Aquinnah side. Boaters beware.

Clara Corjulo has arrived home from her sophomore year studies at Salve Regina College. She will spend the summer with her mom Kathryn Corjulo at their new home on Harpoon Hollow.

Condolences to the family and friends of JoAnn deBettencourt who passed away on Monday at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. JoAnn was a schoolmate of mine at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and we shared several classes together, although she was two years ahead of me at that time. In the ensuing years, we enjoyed words of wisdom with each other on visits at her home with her family, as well as attending many Oak Bluffs Fireman’s Civic Association events together. Her services will be held this morning at 10 a.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church.

Maura Fitzgerald and Allen Carney hosted a pig roast at their State Road home on Sunday to celebrate Allen’s upcoming birthday. Friends from the Boston area joined more than 25 Aquinnah and Chilmark friends and neighbors who enjoyed roast suckling pig, barbecued chicken and ribs prepared on site by Tim Laursen of Local Smoke. The weather was beautiful, the smoker was smokin’ and the evening wrapped up with a special birthday cake made by Liz Kane in the shape of a striped bass. It was a great way to start the summer season!

Daniel Spitz Lee has been visiting his mother Marjorie Spitz for the month of May. They have been having a yard sale at the home of his late father, Bob Lee, in West Tisbury.

Condolences to the family and friends of Joanne Bray (Vanderhoop) Robey who passed away on Monday, May 26. Joanne was the daughter of the late Charles W. Vanderhoop and Ethel (Manning), born at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital on May 27, 1937 and raised in Gay Head at her family homestead. Her college years were spent at Bacone College, and her married life was in Boston where she worked in the public school system. Joanne was an Aquinnah tribal elder. She was the youngest child and was predeceased by her siblings Ethel Louise, Eloise Wood, Beulah Inez, Charles Wood Jr., and Arnold Cabot Vanderhoop. She is survived by her husband Henry Robey of Dorchester, her sons John and Elliot, and her grandsons Elijah and Gabriel, as well as her nieces Sylvia Page Browne, Brenda Martin, Michelle Lee, Martha Vanderhoop, Pamela Vanderhoop and Lisa Vanderhoop and their families, and by her nephew Charles Wood Vanderhoop III. Visiting hours will be at the Dolan Funeral Home in Dorchester Lower Mills, on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. Interment will be private. A memorial service will be held at a later date in Aquinnah.

JoJo Vanderhoop Lee has arrived for two weeks with his parents Marshall Lee and Martha Vanderhoop. He is working at HatMarChar during his stay. Then he will be off to Dublin, Ireland, for the summer where he will be conducting research on three novelists, two Irish and one German. Joseph was awarded two fellowships from his school, Columbia University in New York. He will be back in Aquinnah in August before returning to Columbia for his senior year.

Samuel Vanderhoop Lee, son of Marshall Lee and Martha Vanderhoop, and his band Magic Man opened the celebration in Boston on Saturday in government plaza. Sam and his band will be on a national tour this summer with Panic! at the Disco. The tour will follow Magic Man’s own West Coast headline tour. Magic Man’s new album Before the Waves will be released on July 8 and is available for pre-order on iTunes.

Family and friends gathered on Saturday afternoon to welcome three-week-old Kylee Rose Todd at a baby shower at the Aquinnah town hall for her mom, Kayla Manning. Luncheon was catered by Quitsa Cuisine, the hall was beautifully decorated, and they received many lovely gifts and clothing. It was a fun afternoon and evening.

Baron Peter Von Ochs and his wife Gudrun returned to their home in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday morning. We are sad to see them go after being such hospitable hosts during their stay as always. The good news is that they will be returning for the month of October.

Happy 7th anniversary wishes to Isaac and Noli Taylor as they celebrate on June 2.

Happy 7th anniversary wishes to Richard and Jennifer Randolph on June 2.

Happy 67th anniversary wishes to Av and Dora Morrow on June 3.

Happy 21st anniversary wishes to Capt. Brian F. Vanderhoop and Diotima Elaine Vogel Vanderhoop on June 5.

Happy birthday wishes this week to Roxane Ackerman as she parties today. Jasmine Devine will party on May 31. June Rosebud Vanderhoop will celebrate on June 1. Sam Taylor of State Road will party on June 2. Louisa Luening celebrates on June 2.

Arthur Battistini will celebrate at his new Battistini Bakery in Middleboro (Arthur, grandson of the late Elisha Smith, got his start by working at the Black Dog Café and the Home Port before heading to the Culinary Institute of America). Janette Galbraith will celebrate on June 4 and shares the day with our beloved MVRHS homeroom teacher whom we will look forward to at our reunion — Maurice Dore. Also celebrating on the 4th will be Jason Widdiss, Leah Bassett and Emily Vanderhoop.

George Baird parties on June 5 and shares the day with Emmett Cole Taylor who will be five years old. A day of celebration on June 6 for Hilda Mitchell, Griffin Hughes Douglas, Ernie Barrett, Barbara Conroy, Dr. Michael Drew and Tom Fantasia.