The town of Natick welcomed hundreds of teams from all over Massachusetts, including Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, as well as Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Spread over seven sites during a 4-day period, they held 400+ games and ultimately crowned 17 champions and 10 Sportsmanship Award winners.

Coach Ellen Biskis and her merry team of ballers, which included her sixth grader Tauras, was one of those teams. After a weekend of running back and forth, trying to keep control of that black and white ball, Tauras’s team came out on top as champions of their division. Ellen’s daughter Gražinas was also there with her team. Although they played amazingly well the two very close losses the team suffered did not allow them to advance.

After a fun but exhausting weekend, Missis Biskis was on one of the last boats home with her two kids and welcomed by her eldest, Kestutis, and her husband Tauras. It was their anniversary.

Casey Elliston was celebrated at the derby awards ceremony this past weekend at Farm Neck. He managed to juggle work, family life and some time along the Vineyard shoreline, where he reeled in a weighable bonito, bluefish and false albacore. His perseverance and timing earned him the first shore-caught triple crown and, as a result, the Abe Williams Memorial Award.

He and fishing partner Evan Hammond also took the stage together. The team weighed in the first shore triple crown (a bonito, false albacore and bluefish), earning them the Bob “Hawkeye” Jacobs Memorial Award.

Casey’s eight-month old son, Winston, took the stage with him and the crowd let out a lovely little “aww.” With Winston on stage in Casey’s arms, Julia had two hands free to clap loudly with the crowd.

Holly and Larry Glick have been away for the past few weeks. Their chosen destination was New Jersey. They didn’t travel to the beaches, mountains or some spectacularly glamorous place, but rather they traveled to lend a helping hand to their daughter Amanda and her family.

Amanda, her husband Zach and 2-year old Benjamin welcomed to the world Noa Rose Suchoff on Oct. 7. Benjamin frequented Squid Row this past summer--usually with a popsicle--and quite often stood alongside the touch tank, peering in with amazement. I look forward to seeing the whole gang sit a spell on Squid Row next summer. Congratulations to all and welcome little Noa.

It’s a popular week to turn two in my neighborhood. Vera Scheffer-Lew, daughter of Isabelle and Jeremy, celebrates on Oct. 22. Finley Wilbur, daughter of Becca and Nick, celebrates on Oct. 22. These cute little humans bring such joy. Now that they are two, conversations with them will get even more exciting as their vocabularies increase. I must say, it is so fun to watch them grow.

A quick note goes out to all the kiddos residing in Chilmark: The Chilmark Volunteer Firemans Association invites you to the back side of the Crossroad fire station (also known as the town hall parking lot) for treat bags and photo ops on Sunday, Oct. 31 between 5:30 and 6:30. It’s not a party per se, but it is a great opportunity to see friends decked out as ninjas, witches, puppies, goblins and the department members’ all-time favorite: firefighters! Questions? Email me. I’ve got the scoop.