Well, the weather has made itself known — bitter cold, light snow, high winds and temperatures all over the map. Most all of the daytime SSA trips had to be cancelled last Friday due to the wind that gusted up to 65 mph. Friday is the beginning of a long holiday weekend. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day so the schools, post office, museum and all town buildings will be closed.

Jimmy Powell reports that Christmastime seems to bring many of his relatives to town. Pierce Kirby 3rd came home from his work in Austria in time to help out in the mail room at Alley’s General Store. This time he had help from his nephew in law, Wade Simmons of San Francisco. Wade married Christina Diaz last September in the Congregational Church and Pierce performed the ceremony. Christina is the daughter of Donna and Mike Diaz of North Tisbury. Christina has just passed the Massachusetts Bar exam. Congratulations! Mike Diaz Jr. flew in from Hollywood where he is working in the movie industry. Also visiting for Christmas were Rosalie Powell’s sons Ted and Jim. Ted and his wife Susan came down from their home in Canton, and Jim flew in from Utah where he is teaching at Utah Valley University. He looks forward to coming home at the beginning of May for the summer. He says Brian Athearn, Dr. Michael Jacobs and Bruce Marchard will be pasturing their sheep and work horses on his farm in Lambert’s Cove this spring and summer. Rosalie continues to teach the art of hooking rugs at the Bayberry and will begin teaching an ACE MV rug hooking class starting this month.

Tara Whiting, town clerk, reports that the census forms are on their way to you if you haven’t already received it. Please fill it out send it back as soon as possible. If needed, there will be a dog license renewal form enclosed. Dogs must be licensed annually. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call her from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is another deadline fast approaching that you ought to keep in mind. Nomination papers for the annual town elections are also available. They need to have 20 signatures of registered voters in this town and return it to the town clerk by 5 p.m. Feb. 19. Also, if you need an absentee ballot, you must submit or come in and fill out n absentee ballot application. Applications are only good for a calendar year and anyone who requested one last year needs to do it again. Please call her with any questions at 508-696-0148.

Sam Alley of State Road went up to visit his nephews Robbie and Henry Hambardzumian at their house earlier this week. Sal Laterra was in our house visiting us when he got home on Thursday.

Amy Hoff over at the library reports that Rob Myers will be hosting a night of live music at the library tonight from 7 to 9:30 p.m. with his band Jellybone Rivers and the Maniacs of the Heart, featuring his bandmates from the Daytrippers, Brian Weiland and Doug Brush. Anthony Esposito and Adam Howell will also be playing sets. This event is free and open to the public. She also reports that on Monday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. the library will host its first Writers Read evening. This event features community members reading short original prose pieces. Both fiction and nonfiction readings are welcome. Each reader is allotted six minutes to read. A critique to follow the reading is optional. Sign up to read in advance by calling 508-693-4307 or take a chance and sign up that day.

Sarah Monast reports that Adult and Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard (ACE MV) invites you to its walk-in winter registration at the regional high school front entrance lobby from 5 to 6:30 p.m. tonight. You can choose from 36 different classes including social justice for graduate credit, self-directed investing, rug hooking, guitar, Wampanoag culture, languages and more. Take classes through ACE MV for college credit, professional development or personal enrichment. For more information, call 508 693-9222 or email info@acemv.org.

History note: On Jan. 24, 1948 the membership of the Agricultural Society voted to sponsor its annual fair as it has for the past 86 years. This summer, however, the fair will run for three days beginning on the last Wednesday in August. The return to a program covering three days instead of two is a revision to the original custom. A two-day fair was the rule before World War II. The Society intends to resurrect another custom of a bygone era, an open night on the evening of August 26. This week committees were appointed in the various classes to prepare premium lists and a program. William Penny announced that Alice Mathiewson will be the fair manager assisted by Ted Minelt.

Happy birthday to Jane Rossi, Thaw Malin, Paul Jackson, Jennifer Garcia and Cynthia West Friday; Dr. Judith Fisher, Wendy Benedetto and Adam Fragosa Saturday; Eleanor Dale Neubert, Chris Fielder, Julie Wells and Hannah Maxner on Sunday; Debra Swanson, Roy Hope, Andy Estrella, Michael Shea and Patti Lynn on Monday; Lee McCormick, Jena Wingood and Nancy Cabot on Tuesday; Bob Luskin, Carl Tack, Phaedra Fortes, Nili Goldstein, Maya Segal and James Costello on Wednesday, and Sandy Atwood, Anya Toteanu, Hilary Wall and Willie Levesque on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Dianne Powers.

Well, that is all of the social news — what there was of it — for this week’s edition. Trivia facts: a mere 58 years ago today Patsy Cline sang the now classic Walkin’ after Midnight and gained national attention with her winning appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, one of the most popular programs of the early days of television. By the way, who was the sponsor of this program?

If you have any news please call or email me. Have a great week.

Send your West Tisbury news to: alleys@vineyard.net.