Spring has really arrived. The temperatures have hovered in the mid 70s during the week. Beach plum bushes are in full bloom as are the lilies of the valley and the Scottish broom.

The Aquinnah Shop Restaurant will be open over the weekend with extended hours.

Thank you to Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribal Youth Program Director Amera Madison and her assistant Philip Moreis, Jr. for their volunteer duties at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Electronic Disposal Day on Saturday. We appreciate their volunteerism.

The Federated Church meetinghouse is now open for tours. In addition to Sunday service, held at 10:30 a.m., the church meetinghouse will be open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. from May 25 to Oct. 12, free to the public. The meetinghouse is located at the corner of South Summer street and Cooke street in Edgartown. Designed by Frederick Baylies Jr., and built in 1828, this was the fifth meetinghouse of the First Congregational Church of Martha’s Vineyard. Later, Mr. Baylies also designed and built the Baptist Church building on School street, and the Old Whaling Church on Main street. In 1925, the members of the Baptist Church, which is now a private home, merged with the members of the Congregational Church, forming what is now the Federated Church. For information, please call 508-627-4221, or visit federatedchurchmv.org.

Susan Battiste of Cape Breton Island was the weekend guest of Pesto Pam Glavin. On her way to the Vineyard, Susan stopped in Nahant to have lunch with our friend Janet Foley. While here, she visited with her former co-workers from elder services, Jackie Cage and Karen Colaneri. Sue, Pam and I enjoyed hot lobster rolls at Menemsha Fish Market on Sunday evening while overlooking the harbor. Thank you Stanley, Lanette, and Janelle Larsen — magnificent! Sue has invited us to visit her in Cape Breton but the thought of a 14-hour drive is exasperating.

Get well wishes to Jim Benoit who has undergone surgery off-Island this week. We anticipate his return home over the weekend.

It was nice to catch up with Margaret Leonard Burke on Saturday, having her eight-year-old granddaughter Lily Haynes inform her that I was the lady who shared my knowledge of whalers and whaling with her class this year. Of course, Margaret is one of the members of the Oak Bluffs Leonard family, and her sister Judith was in our MVRHS class of 1964. Lily is the daughter of Jennifer Burke and Bruce Haynes of West Tisbury.

My sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Daniel L. Mayhew who passed away unexpectedly on May 17. Danny had been a friend since our sophomore year at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and perhaps it was in our junior year that we protested the irrational and incompetent driving of our school bus driver when a group of us from Chilmark and what was then Gay Head decided we would just as soon get off the bus once and for all! We may have had detention for a few days but it was well worth it and has been the topic of our conversations since then. Danny was a member of the class of 1964. He had promised me that he would attend our 55-year reunion, which would have been his first to attend as he was always rather quiet and a homebody. He was one of our young men who went off to Viet Nam in the ‘60s, having served two tours of duty as a member of the United States Navy as a Seabee. He was always immensely proud of being a Viet Nam veteran, and rightly so. Upon discharge, he worked as a civilian at Weymouth Naval Air Station for many years. In September 1968 he married Ethel (Judy) Dunham Crowley and became the stepfather of her three children. Dan and Judy were the parents of Daniel Paul Mayhew and Paula Mayhew. He enjoyed working as a builder and could build or repair just about anything. In recent years, he worked at the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribal Housing Authority building, repairing and maintaining the tribal housing homes. He was very kind and generous with the tribal elders, taking them to do their grocery shopping and other errands on his time off and on weekends. Danny was predeceased by his wife Judy on March 24. He is survived by his brother Paul Henry Mayhew and his wife Beth of Chilmark and their son Jon Robert Mayhew of West Tisbury and his son Paul Henry Jeffers-Mayhew of Aquinnah, as well as by Jon’s wife Kristie, and by his children Paul and Paula and his grandchildren, whom he had just spent time with on Saturday. Services are incomplete at this time.

Condolences to the family and friends of Charles E. Downs Jr. who passed away this week. He was the eldest son of Charles E. Downs Sr., our late superintendent of Martha’s Vineyard Schools, and his wife Margaret, a dedicated Martha’s Vineyard Hospital long-term care volunteer. He is survived by his wife Gaynell DeBettencourt Downs and their sons Curtis, Bart, and Brian, as well as by his brothers Michael and Timothy and their sister Mary Downs Butler and their families.

Congratulations to Tom and Christine Murphy on the birth of their second grandson, Samuel Kausch, on April 28 in Salt Lake City. Katie Murphy Kausch and her husband Tim are the proud parents of Samuel. They and their son Noah, who is two and a half, will be spending her maternity leave in Aquinnah for six weeks. Katie is currently the director of child care services at the University of Utah. Sam will be welcomed over the summer by his uncle Tim Murphy as well.

While I search once again for my birthday book...I do remember that May 25 is the birthday of George Gilman of Opie’s Way.

Have a safe and pleasant Memorial Day Weekend. Be mindful of those who served to protect our freedom. Visit the cemeteries and view the flags waving on the gravesites of those who served — very impressive.

Send your Aquinnah news to junemanning152@gmail.com.