Soo Whiting revived her July 4 celebrations with pyrotechnical thunder and lightning at her property on Tisbury Great Pond. Soo’s late husband Flip Harrington used to enjoy creating the noise and spectacle for their friends but the tradition stopped after Flip died six years ago. This year, Soo invited about 100 people to bring their own everything, while the “next generation,” as she calls them — cousins Will and Everett Whiting and Davis Solon — agreed to maneuver the mechanics of the fireworks explosions. Kaboom!

Our neighbor John Athearn is glad to be home from a stay in “a big off-Island hospital where they did horrible things to me,” and a long recovery in a rehab facility. He adds that he is happily welcoming visitors.

”It’s a party, a blowout,” says an announcement for the bittersweet celebration of the life of Janice Haynes at the Agricultural Hall on Wednesday, July 10 at 5 p.m. Janice died much too young on June 3. Organizer Beckie Finn suggests streaking your hair lime green or lilac in honor of Janice’s spirit and to bring photos and written memories, which Beldan Radcliffe will assemble into a book. Pot luck, music, dancing, wicked stories and heartbreaking memories will be shared and collected. Also bring your own place settings; the dishwashers are busy partying.

If you have found an interesting man-made object while digging in the garden or think you may have snagged another Venus of Willendorf at that little street market in Bratislava, bring it to the library Saturday, July 6, from noon to 3 p.m., when four archaeologists will be in attendance to help you identify your bibelots. The gentlemen will talk about the archaeology of the island and the region and display a selection of interesting objects.

Islander, teacher and filmmaker Victoria Campbell will screen her documentary Monsieur Le President on Wednesday, July 10 at 3:30 p.m. at the library. Victoria arrived in Haiti just days after the 2010 earthquake with her camera and a bag of medical supplies. There she met Gaston, a beloved voodoo priest, who restored and staffed a former medical clinic but the news was not always happy from there.

Amateur athletes have been appearing on our TV screens as they compete in the Olympic trials. The Agricultural Society and the library are sponsoring some practice meets here at the library at a Blue Ribbon Series Kick-off Party for kids who want to hone their moves for the big time, the fair. Events include sack races, tugs of war, corn husking, corn pool, baby animals and more. Friday, July 5, 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, if it rains.

A sorrowful report concerns another neighbor, Hunter Moorman, who died just after spending three weeks in Paris, making daily excursions to the Musee D’Orsay and a side trip to London for a museum exhibit. Hunter, I am told, had covid along with other health issues.

New York Times columnist and author Frank Bruni is guest speaker at the Author Series Thursday, July 11, at the Chilmark Community Center. His latest book is The Age of Grievance, in which he says our complaints — and the sense of losing — define our culture and politics at both ends of the spectrum. I suspect the feelings may be more acute since the presidential debate and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling.

Now that summer and its people are here, I have noticed a trend that had been lagging, at least up-Island. A lot of women are wearing false eyelashes and they do look pretty. I was at the eye doctor’s in Falmouth last week and I asked the doctor if he finds it difficult to diagnose concerns when the patient wears false eyelashes. The doctor, his nurse and their assistant all looked up with expressions of annoyance. They told me it is a nuisance for an ophthalmologist to have to wade through all that extra shrubbery. My tidbit of advice, ladies — keep your eyelids naked until after your appointment.