The weekend weather was not much different than the weather for the whole week, it rained off and on. The boat schedule changed on Tuesday, the port of Oak Bluffs is now open and you can already feel the increased traffic on the roads in town. New visitors are here with more expected this weekend. The fast ferry to New Bedford is now in operation for the summer. Many a backyard grill will be fired up this weekend for the first or in some cases second family cookout of the season.

Anna and I went up to East Taunton to be with daughter Nicole and her family for Mother’s Day. She decided to make it a weekend with the forecast of rain on Sunday. Nicole’s husband Arsen grilled enough food for an army on Saturday, which was quite pleasant. Anna’s sister Nina, her husband, Dieter and her niece Wendy Berry and her family, including Arsen’s mom, Aieda stopped by, ate roasted marshmallows, and had a good time. Several neighborhood children also stopped by from time to time. We shopped on Sunday, dodged the rain, and did what Mother wanted. Our son Sam could not be present but he mowed the lawn and had a bouquet of roses awaiting her return. We got home on a late boat.

Marilyn and Warren Hollinshead have returned to their home on Tisbury Great Pond after two days exploring Nantucket. They stayed at Mark Snider’s Nantucket Hotel and then returned for a Mother’s Day brunch at his Winnetu restaurant with daughter Dana, her husband, Todd and their children, Evan and Lauren.

Ellie Bates reports that the Writing Group will continue to meet weekly every Tuesday at the Howes House from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring a bag lunch or snacks to share. Former members welcome back along with new members to give feedback on work in a variety of in a supportive way.

Emily Gadd, of Bozeman, Mont., arrived on Wednesday for the summer at her Vineyard home on South Road. She is busy preparing to plant her garden that yields a bountiful supply of vegetables each year. Welcome back Emily!

Seventy-six years ago people gathered around their radios to listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt hold a fireside chat announcing that he had proclaimed an unlimited national emergency due to Germany’s sinking of the unarmed merchant ship Robin Moor outside of the war zone near Brazil. He had begun the process of guiding this country to secure a strategic interest in the Azores as it was believed it could present a serious threat to the Americas if it fell into German hands. Other than sending Bundles for Britain we didn’t think much about it that summer but the clouds of war were forming.

Happy birthday to: Paul and Richard Garcia and Norman Hall Friday; Eliot Bilzerian and Dianne Moyer Saturday; Candace Widmer, Ned Robinson-Lynch, and Veronica Conover on Sunday; Judith Bryant, Sally Hamilton, Donald Beaton, and Stuart Rodegast on Monday; Eric Whitman, Nathan Belain, and Jessica von Menren on Tuesday; Amy Barrow, Brenda Brathwaite, Chuck Hughes, and Lynn Buckmaster-Irwin on Wednesday; and Ann Nelson, Dan Leventritt, Emily Sobel, Matt Hayden, and William Stewart on Thursday. Happy anniversary to Deb and Ron Kokernak on Wednesday and belated birthday wishes to Noah Garcia.

Well that is all of the social news for this week’s edition. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Another trivia fact: on May 13, 1940, Great Britain’s new prime minister, Winston Churchill assured Parliament that his new policy will consist of nothing less than “to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might.” Have a great week.

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.