As we head into November, the temperatures have remained in the high 60s and, on occasion, the 70s. Home heating turn-ons just might be delayed for a week or two if these temperatures persist.

Kudos to the Town of Aquinnah select board for acknowledging the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and officially designating Indigenous Peoples Day as a holiday to be observed. Aquinnah is the first town on Martha’s Vineyard to bestow such a designated official day. After all, we have been here for more than 10,000 years. And, yes, we are still here!

More kudos to the town’s select board for acknowledging the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) in officially designating Cranberry Day an official town holiday. Cranberry Day, the second Tuesday in October, has been celebrated by tribal members for more than a century.

Since at least the early 20th century, the community has gathered at the cranberry bogs to harvest the last berries of the season. They are grown in their natural state, not resorting to the flooding of bogs as in commercial growth.

In earlier days, the berries were abundant and tribal members and their families travelled to the bogs by oxen cart. The cranberries were sent off island in wooden barrels and income from the sales provided funds for families to thrive all winter. Of course, families kept a supply of the berries in their cold attics and root cellars for winter consumption. There are many great recipes that abound every October.

And, thank you to the select board for appointing my grandson, Chris Manning, to the post of Gay Head lighthouse keeper. Thank you to Bill Eville, my managing editor at the Vineyard Gazette, for the great interview and article that appears in today’s issue.

Halloween will be happening this weekend so as not to disappoint all those ghosts and goblins. On Saturday, the Aquinnah Public Library will celebrate Halloween from noon to 3 p.m. So stop by and let the library staff enjoy the costumes.

Trick or Treat will be on Sunday evening. If you would like the Aquinnah children to stop at your home, please call Molly Purves at (508) 645-3251 to be placed on a list. It is recommended that you have a table outdoors to pass out the goodies.

The crew at USCG Station Menemsha will have a table outside from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Halloween eve.

Jon and Amy Macey have returned from a brief trip to Connecticut this past week where Jon is a professor of law at Yale University. They enjoyed a recent visit from their son Joshua and his wife Sophia. Joshua is an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago School of Law.

Saturday was a day of immense pleasure as I spent it with Tavia LaFollette of Baltimore and Stacy Horowitz Muise of Nantucket. Tavia is a teacher of theatre arts at Towson University and Stacy is a special education teacher on Nantucket.

Tavia and I met through my Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School classmate Ralston Jackson of Pittsburgh and Edgartown. They all attended Antioch University. Tavia spends time on Nantucket every summer and has visited with me previously. Thanks to Colin Ewing, she made the last flight back to Nantucket on that visit. This weekend, we had a grand tour around the island. Lunch was at the Black Dog Tavern.

In the small world department that we tend to share, the couple dining at the next table was Stacy’s cousin Loren Glassman and his wife Carla of Scarsdale, N.Y. Stacy had not seen them for a number of years. Following all the introductions, we promised to remain in touch with each other. ‘Till next time.

Happy Birthday wishes this week to Howard Goldstein on Oct. 31. Shirley Donaroma observes her special day on Nov. 1. Clara Ricciardi celebrates on Nov. 2. Nov. 3 is a day of celebration for Tim Collins, Kayla Foster, Marie Laursen, Abigail Peterson, Janice Sylvia and Phil Wallis. Melissa Vanderhoop Abram parties on Nov. 4, sharing the day with Cheryl Holenko. Elizabeth Witham and Gary Cook share the day on Nov. 5.