February was one of the warmest months since record keeping began in 1882. We did have two decent snowstorms, rain, wind, and a real cold blast but that was it. It was 69 degrees last Friday afternoon. Spring is less than three weeks away. Daffodils in many areas are about to sprout.

Ann Nelson held a gala birthday party Saturday night for Tom Thatcher. Many attended the festive affair and a great time was had by all.

Our condolences to Bruce Blackwell over the death of his his partner Brandy Wight, who was 101. He established the Red Barn antiques and was a familiar figure in town for many years.

The Martha’s Vineyard Cancer Support Group’s daffodil sale is coming. On March 17, bunches of daffodils will be sold for $10 apiece at the Edgartown Stop & Shop, Reliable Market in Oak Bluffs, Cronig’s in Vineyard Haven and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. All the monies collected will be used to help patients and their families with medical expenses and the cost of transportation, lodging and food when they have to travel off-Island for treatment.

Susan Stevens, principal of the Chilmark School, reports that they will be holding an all-Island event to introduce STEAM to adults. These are activities that incorporate science, technology, engineering, art and math into the curriculum. The STEAM night will be held on Wednesday, March 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Chilmark School.

Olivia Nelson over at the library reports that Saturday from 4 to 5 p.m., there will be at an art reception for Valentine Estabrook. Her show titled Spacewalk is a collection of paintings inspired by images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. On Sunday at 1:30 p.m., stop in for the kids chess club with Doug Brush and Ken Vincent. On Monday at 11:30 a.m., the library will host a balance workshop with Kanta Lipsky followed by soup, bread and conversation. This workshop is part of the library’s Explorations in Healthy Living series. Signup at the library is required.

History note: 83 years ago Thursday evening Vineyarders gathered around their radios to listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt holds the first of his radio-broadcast fireside chats. FDR used the informal radio addresses to explain his policies to the American public. In an era before television, FDR used the most immediate and intimate means of communicating with the public available at the time: the radio. The president used this electronic tool to talk about a range of topics from New Deal economic policies to aid for Europe in the fight against fascism to reporting on the military and domestic fronts during World War II. While listeners could not actually see him and he was not actually next to a fireplace (photographs show FDR at his desk surrounded by microphones), the phrase fireside chat was coined by journalist Robert Trout. Trout was a frequent summer visitor to the Vineyard.

Happy birthday to Tom Church, Francine Fischer and Roger Sylva Friday; Vicki Broscheit, Lonni Phillips and Valentine Estabrook Saturday, Kristen Delgado, Kenneth Vincent, Mark Shelton, Catlin Cassiani and Sofia Tanhauser on Sunday; Leslei Monast, Doug Seward, June Miller, Victoria Segel, Hans Adcock and Patricia Kirwin on Monday; Jeanne Barron, Simon Athearn, Mike Eldridge, Polly Bassett and Susannah Maher on Tuesday; Amelia Pennington and Elizabeth Mahoney on Wednesday; and Jane Konicki, Suzane Angeley, Tim Boland and Shelly Mayhew on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Liza Lawson.

Well that is all the social news for this week. Call or email with details about your vacation. Have a great week.

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.