It is hard to believe the summer season is fast becoming history. The fair is in full swing. It seems everyone is entertaining house guests plus going to the fair and of course the fireworks Friday night. The traffic has been a nightmare; it seems that everywhere you go it has been flat out awful. By next week the fair will be but a memory as most all the trucks and carnival equipment will leave starting on Monday. Last Saturday traffic from the farmers’ market, Chilmark Road Race, peach festival, and ice cream festival at the library, plus a rainy day to boot, brought the town to a virtual standstill. Marian Irving reports that a record 1,215 people attended the peach event at the church.

College students, summer visitors and their children have begun filling the boats everyday but this time going in the opposite direction. Many public schools in western Massachusetts and other states will open before the end of the month. It will be evident next weekend that the seasonal exodus is well underway. Long lines of people and cars leaving the Steamship Authority docks have been a daily occurrence since last Saturday. We are again reminded of the late Howard Andrew’s famous bumper sticker Pray for September. It is just over two weeks until Labor Day, the unofficial end of the summer season.

Nicole Alley and her husband, Arsen Hambardzumian and four children, Robbie, Henry, Eddie and Mark, arrived yesterday to visit, go to the fair, and enjoy the beach, playground and Flying Horses. All the grandsons haven’t been here since last summer and they all have grown and are more energetic than ever.

Ellen Sturgis reports that the riparian owners of Tisbury Great Pond will hold their annual meeting Saturday at 10 a.m. at Howes House. All owners are cordially invited to attend. Topics under discussion include the health of the pond and the year’s openings. For questions or further information, please contact Ellen Sturgis at rotgpond@gmail.com.

Ellen arrived at Thumb Point recently for two weeks and is hosting a number of friends, including her annual gathering that dates back to Hampshire College graduation (many decades ago). Madeleine Blaise, author of the new book To the New Owners, which among other things captures the sadness of “selling our childhoods” when the family home can no longer be afforded, will be in attendance.

The Plakins sisters, Naomi and Ava, were at their Middle Road estate last week and invited friends over Sunday for a spirited discussion on their deck.

Denise Mount, of Canton, Conn., arrived on Monday to spend a few days with us and attend a concert.

Sig Van Raan reports that last week was busy on Music street. Their friends from Cuba, Fernando Saez and girlfriend, Dailie Caranaza, visited while performing at the Yard with their dance troupe, Malpaso. Fernando joined in on Sunday morning softball in Chilmark and showed everyone his skill at shortstop. Sig’s daughter Zoe and granddaughters Eva and Zaya are visiting from Santa Fe, N.M. Daughter Sofia arrived from New York for a few days as did son Jackson from Burlington, Vt. Jackson is preparing to walk the New England extension of the Appalachian Trail later in the fall. They are hosting some of the staff from the Ms. Foundation in advance of the annual summer gala held annually on the Vineyard.

On August 16, 1945 Miss Marjorie Manter was hostess to 16 young people at a scavenger hunt birthday party. Friends attending the festivities were Muriel Doane, Cynthia Riggs, Rosemarie Duys, Sally Raymond, Virginia Rebello, and Jane Austin and Jack Reed, Ted Brown, George Manter, Lincoln Foote, Robert Doane, Robert Austin, John Raymond, Daniel Bryant, James Alley, and David Engley. Duplicate lists containing 30 articles to be collected were distributed to the guests and the hunt was on.

Participants went door to door in an effort to collect the items. Robert Doane and Lincoln Foote were the only two to collect all the articles and to find a 1940 license plate and won first prize. Marjorie Manter and Jack Reed garnered second prize and Muriel Doane, James Alley and Robert Austin third prize. Mrs. Nelson Bryant and Elizabeth Manter assisted in checking in articles from the hunt and serving refreshments.

Happy birthday to: Gerry DeBlois and Christine Napolitan Friday, Joe Ulva, Jennifer Sepanara, and Bill Clinton Saturday, Bruce Marshard, Maureen Hall, Morgan Taylor, Debra Polucci and Robert Francis on Sunday, Amelia Kauffman, Susie Millett Boaas, Lynn Ditchfield, Jen Zern, and Tim Gregory on Monday, Chelsea Pennebaker, Elizabeth Orcutt and Laura Gilman on Tuesday, Carol Nagi, Mo Bresnahan, Bill Tsikitas, and Lindsay Webster on Wednesday, and Michael Oliveira, Vaughn Russillo, George Eli, Mike Oliveria and Caryn Broitman Thursday.

That is all the social news for this week’s edition. Our trivia question this week: National League umpire Jocko Conlan ejected Pittsburgh Pirates manager Frankie Frisch for coming out on the field holding an umbrella to protest the soggy playing conditions during the second game of a doubleheader at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. That rainy day argument was the subject of a painting by what famous artist?

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.