The weekend was warm. Lawn mowers could be heard buzzing most everywhere in town and the weather perfect for outside chores. After church many people had an opportunity to go to the beach for the first time and Lambert’s Cove was pleasantly crowded all weekend long. I want to thank Charlie Kernick for pinch-hitting for me over at the post office Friday and Saturday. His wife said he had the extra time because his garden is all planted for the season.

The first weekend of the unofficial summer season brought thousands of visitors, as was evident by the long lines at the grocery stores in town and increased automobile traffic everywhere. Andrea Rogers reports that the two day Artisans Show at the Grange Hall was a huge success.

Simi Horwitz and Toni Kurash have planted her flower boxes at their apartments on Park avenue in New York city, Diane Smith has tended to her garden in Boston and Anna has planted ours in the backyard. Alex Karman planted the garden for his mom and Charlie Kernick’s patch was all planted before the rain on Monday.

Over the weekend Kevin Wojcik and Lynn Dolan opened their house in Vineyard Meadow Farms for the season.

Lynne Whiting reports that the Davis House Gallery on State Road is open every Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. and by appointment.

Alex Karman of Bronx, N.Y., arrived last Friday to spend the long holiday weekend at his mother’s house on State Road. He had several guests: Jason and Waina Satran and their children Brandon and Mia of Boonton, N.J.; Saul and Michelle Farber from Tacoma, Wash. and their children Max and June; and Brooklynites Thomaz Eliasinjki, Margaret Farrell and Taya Page. They went to the beach, held a seafood extravaganza, and had Wiffle ball matches, and the children and their parents were constant visitors to the playground.

Amy Hoff, over at the library, reports that the annual Remembering the Rosenthals concert is tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the library. It will showcase collaborative pianist Diane Katzenberg Braun, award-winning musicians from the New England Conservatory in Boston, clarinetist Amy Advocat, and violinists Daniel Koo and Steven Laraia. The concert series is made possible by the generous support of Sara Rosenthal MD and Julie Prazich MD. Tickets are free and available to the public but they must be reserved in advance due to space limitations. Call 508- 693-3366 or stop by the library desk to reserve your seats.

The book sheds at the West Tisbury School are completely full and the library is no longer accepting book donations at this time. Books can be brought to the school gym between 9 a.m. and noon as soon as school is out for the season.

The parks and recreation committee reports that beach stickers will be available starting on Saturday June 18, every day at their shed at the school near the tennis courts on Old County Road. The hours on weekdays are 9 a.m. to noon and weekends from 4 to 7 p.m. The beach opens for the season on June 25. Swimming lessons begin on July 11. Please register at the same place you buy your beach sticker. For further information call the park department at 508-696-0147.

Doug Pease reports that the First Congregational Church’s 28th annual Strawberry Festival will be on held on Saturday, June 18 from noon to 4 p.m. It has become a popular family and community event. For more information call 508-693-2842. The festival will be hosted indoors in the event of inclement weather.

The May 27, 1976 annual town meeting lasted for five hours, a record, and many issues large and small were discussed at length. The matter of spending $9,600 to maintain the town dump drew a variety of opinions. TJ Hegarty wanted to know why the money spent annually wasn’t put toward the purchase of machinery to do the job. Fred S. Fisher Jr. of the finance committee responded by saying “for years we have tried to stay away from that. You would then need a place to house it and a man to run it; he would want a salary and health insurance. Eventually we’ll have all this, I suppose we will be spending 40 or 50 grand and provide money to fix his teeth—but as long as we can stay away from it we should.” An informal standing vote indicated the town did not want to purchase their own machinery to cover dump. The budget request was then approved by a vote of 131 yes, 96 no.

Happy birthday to: Casey Decker, Sian Williams and Laurence Binney Friday; George Hartman, Debra Yapp, Stephanie Brothers and Karl Kallinich Saturday; Dale Julier, Margery Meltzer, Jason Look and Jean Powers on Sunday; Jen Wool, Dorothy Gregory, Mary French, Hildy Mitchell, Wanda Higgins and Ernie Barrett on Monday; Andrea Hartman, Steve Berlucchi, Cheryl Grimes, Darcy Neago and Holly Pennington on Tuesday; John Powers, Richard Andrade and Melinda Brodsky on Wednesday; and Woollcott Smith, Alysse Fischer, Jodi Blair, Katherine Walsh and Josh Gothard on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Beth McElhiney, Mary Jane Pease, Becky Baxter, and Simi Horwitz down in NYC. Also belated anniversary wishes to Roger and Gloria Sylva who celebrated their 48th last Monday.

Well that is all of the social news for this week’s edition. Sunday is the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.