It was a dark and stormy night. That was the weather last Friday; the night of our farewell party. It didn’t affect those who came. It was to honor the postmaster of West Tisbury, John Hirt. He was leaving us and our Island for New Orleans.

The party idea came up a few weeks ago when I overheard John speaking to one of his West Tisbury zip code customers. He was moving on. His wife’s family is from New Orleans, and they had an opportunity to move down there. When I heard, I did one of those fake, overly dramatic acting pratfalls feigning a heart attack. I then picked myself up. I thought he needed a good sendoff.

So scheming with Diane and corralling both John and Katie Hough and Pat and Cindy Mitchell we decided to do a party to both honor John and the wonderful service that our postal station has provided over the years. So we invited Diane, Jack, Tara and their spouses, along with John, his wife Andrea and their son Miles to a farewell party.

With a fire roaring, some hot cider and some libations we celebrated not just John but the entire staff. I asked if any of the people around the table were members of the Facebook group, Islanders Talk. Only a couple of hands were raised. John’s was not one of them. So I had printed out and read all the congratulatory comments for him, from people far and wide on the Vineyard. There were about 40 comments. And for my first time on that site, there were no snarky responses but merely an outpouring of the thanks and well wishes for John. There were also kudos to the entire post office staff. In that small sample, they were and are a beloved group.

We even had a quiz that was finally solved. At the end, the Grahams, Mitchells and Houghs presented the Hirt family with a gift. It seemed like the right thing to do. We gave them a subscription to the Vineyard Gazette, a reminder of what they left; a small community with a big heart. They will be missed.

Jim Graham

West Tisbury