Our weather was delightful and summerlike last weekend. It is getting busier each day as more people continue to arrive for their vacations. The crunch is upon us. Independence Day is Tuesday and all municipal buildings and post offices will be closed. The up-Island bus traffic has increased dramatically in just a week as this weekend will be unbelievably busy.

A Happy Fourth of July on Tuesday and welcome to the summer season and all the excitement it brings along with it. If you went downtown for any reason last weekend the traffic was brutal everywhere. Just about every building in town is now occupied, buses are comfortably full, and planes and boats are crowded. Many backyard cookouts will be held around town Friday night and Saturday evening assuming the weather allows. This is the start of a long holiday weekend for many people.

The annual Independence Day parade in downtown Edgartown steps off promptly at 5 p.m. Do yourself, and your family, a big favor and make getting to the parade and fireworks a whole lot easier by taking the bus to Edgartown to avoid traffic gridlock. Main street will be closed to all automobile traffic at 3 p.m. but buses will be diverted to convenient location near Cannonball Park until 7 p.m., when they will return to their regular scheduled stop on Church street. Call 508-693-9440 for more information.

I went off-Island on Saturday to join up with Anna, who had left the day before to watch the grandchildren while their parents went down to New York city for a wedding event. My oh my it was a busy time. The weather was sunny and hot and those kids kept us moving constantly. We came home on a packed late ferry Sunday night.

One of the largest crowds ever attended the Strawberry Festival last Saturday afternoon at the West Tisbury Congregational Church. The weather was good and so were the strawberries. Marian Irving reports that it was a very successful day, all money raised will go to help with church maintenance and projects. The event had a staff of nearly 40 volunteers. Marian is very grateful to the community for their support.

Alan and Fran Kauffman, of Teaneck, N.J., are at their summer home on Plum Bush Point for the season. Fran reports that she is busy preparing for several house guests that will be arriving tomorrow.

Don and Marcia Klepper-Smith, formerly of Durham, Conn., are now residents of Old County Road and enjoying their life as adopted Vineyarders. Don is the chief economist and director of research of Data Core Partners LLC. Marcia is busy improving the grounds and keeping Don straight. Both of them are looking forward to the Fourth of July celebration.

About 60 invited guests are expected to attend the annual night before the Fourth of July party at the home of Wollcott and Leah Smith down in Tiah’s Cove Friday night. Their many friends and neighbors will enjoy the evening and a wonderful dinner. A Smith party to bring in the Fourth is the in thing to be invited to.

Charlie Kernick reports that a group of neighbors banded together to fund a plaque to be installed on the eastern shore of the Mill Pond as a lasting reminder to all who pass of how important a place the pond has been in the town’s history. It’s a beautiful bronze monument that will be dedicated during a public ceremony on Sunday morning, July 9 at 11:30 am.

On July, 1942 new blackout regulation for this town were passed along from the federal government with a warning that they were to be strictly enforced. They were: 1. Any outdoor lighting fixtures on a building cannot hold a bulb larger than 10 watts and the bulb must be directed downward. 2. All windows where any light could be visible must be completely darkened. 3. Window shades must be drawn in all lighted rooms. 4. Night driving shall be with parking lights only with a top speed of 15 mph.

A dozen blackout wardens had been appointed the previous year and assigned specific areas of town and patrolled their sectors nightly. They also had to make sure that the new set of regulations was fully complied with.

Happy birthday to: Clifton Athearn, Rebecca Conroy, and Margaret Gallagher Friday; John Miller, Brian Jolley, and Max Bradshaw Saturday; Ava Plakins, Diane Abbot, Sioux Eagle, Elliott Tolen, Janaye Rooney, Marsha Winsryg and Joseph Thompson on Sunday; Allison McKinley, Dan Howard and Bradley Permar on Monday; David Bouck, Sandra Clark, Samantha Eng, Pat Goodell and Jane Hawkes on Tuesday; Dan Whiting, Cherrilla Brown, Abigail Bailey and Shawn Barber on Wednesday, and Terry Cutler, Amelia Esparini, Emma Kiley, and James Sepanara on Thursday. Happy anniversary to the famous Webster socialites, Ed and Jane Konicki, on Monday. Belated anniversary wishes to Ed Levine and Vicki Bijur and to the Field Gallery that opened to the public 47 years ago.

That is all of the social news for this week’s column. If you have any news, please call or e-mail me. A happy and safe Fourth of July and see you at the parade. Have a great week.

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.