The crunch is upon us as some folks got a head start on the long holiday weekend. Independence Day is Thursday and all municipal buildings and post offices will be closed.

A happy Fourth of July and welcome to the summer season and all the excitement it brings along with it.

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 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 the buses will be diverted to a convenient location near Cannonball Park until 7 p.m. when they will return to their regular scheduled stop on Church street.

One of the largest crowds ever attended the Strawberry Festival last Saturday afternoon. Anna Alley reports that a staff of nearly 40 volunteers served over 1,000 dishes of strawberries in a very successful day. All of the money raised will go to help with church maintenance and projects. The church is grateful to the community for their support.

Alan and Fran Kauffman of Teaneck 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 soon.

Don and Marcia Klepper-Smith of Old County Road, Emily Gadd of South Road, Toni Kurach and Simi Horwitz of New York city and Jen Wool can’t be here for the parade this year but send their best for a happy Fourth to all.

Jean and Tim O’Reilly, with daughter Molly and son Andrew of Dublin, Ohio are visiting Flat Point Farm for a bit and visiting with family and friends.

George and Andrea Hartman presided over a celebration of birthdays past and present with their family recently. They had their lunch under the massive oak trees in their garden.

Celeste and Jay Segel of Pond Road returned home last week after a ten day vacation in France. They visited her parents in the southern part of the country along with several other locations. Jay reports that it was a relaxing time with beautiful weather to boot.

Over at the library Olivia Larsen reports on some of next week’s activities: Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. author Justen Ahren will read from his newly released poetry collection, A Machine for Remembering. On Monday at 9 p.m. Mark Alan Lovewell will host a stargazing event at the Grange Hall. Rain date will be Wednesday July 3.

Happy birthday to Samantha Look, Colleen O’Donnell and Lisa Vanderwekken today; Harriet Bernstein, Myles Thurlow and Ruby Hoy tomorrow; Clifton Athearn, Rebecca Conroy and Margaret Gallagher on Sunday; John Miller, Brian Jolley and Max Bradshaw on Monday; Ava Plakins, Diane Abbot, Sioux Eagle, Elliott Tolen, Debbie Farber, Marsha Winsryg and Joseph Thompson on Tuesday; Allison McKinley, Dan Howard and Bradley Permar on Wednesday and David Bouck, Sandra Clark, Samantha Eng, Pat Goodell and Jane Hawkes on Thursday.

Happy anniversary to the famous Webster socialites, Ed and Jane Konicki, on Tuesday.

Well 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.