Our winter this year was bad, but when we hit this month it was downright awful. Last weekend was not bad at all, though. It sure has been like a ghost town all week, largely because it is the school’s winter vacation and many families are on the move. Even the usually busy Reliable Market down in Oak Bluffs has suffered a slowdown from their normally brisk pace.

Thoughts of spring — just a few weeks away — and milder temperatures, warmer sunshine and daylight getting longer each day gives us hope. Soon, Eleanor Stanwood will be reporting on the birth of lambs at her farm.

Susan Block reports that Frank Adam’s flower garden on Music street is getting close to blooming, and Anna Alley has spotted several robins at her backyard feeder.

Bob Luskin of Edgartown Road reports that his son Peter is just back from two weeks in Beirut and Tripoli as part of his job for the International Monetary Fund. After two tours with the Army in Afghanistan, he seems to have developed a knack for finding jobs in places where “duck” is a verb. He also has made it very clear that he’d rather be in West Tisbury than Tripoli, which is still a dry town.

Anna Alley and our son Sam went up to Taunton to visit our new grandson, Henry, and the rest of his family on Saturday. They returned home Sunday night and reported all was well. The boat was sold out until the 4 p.m. sailing. Folks were headed off on school vacation, and the line of cars for the 8:15 a.m. boat was backed up to Five Corners when we arrived.

The Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank held bank appreciation days for their customers last week. They gave out shopping bags and other promotional items. It was a truly bright and innovative idea in an otherwise bleak week.

Tara Whiting, town clerk, reports that there will a write-in contest for board of assessors. All other incumbents are running unopposed. The annual town meeting is April 8 and the town election is on April 10 (polling hours are 12 to 8 p.m.). The last day to register to vote in the annual election and town meeting is March 26. Also, the selectmen have a draft town meeting warrant of 43 articles. It will also contain a question about appointing or electing your treasurer.

Peggy Stone, board administrator, reports that on Sunday, March 9, there will be a family skate at the Martha’s Vineyard Arena from 1 to 2:20 p.m. Admission is free and they ask you to bring a snack or dessert to share. Hot chocolate and drinks will be provided. The event is sponsored by the parks and recreation committee. Call them at 508-696-0147 for more information.

Paddy Moore reports that the town Democratic committee will meet tomorrow morning to elect delegates to the Democratic state convention. The convention will vote on candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer and senator. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting starts exactly at 10 a.m.

Linda Baughman of Philadelphia arrived for her annual visit with Phyllis Meras on Tuesday. Linda reports that they have had a lot of snow in Philadelphia this winter and it has been downright cold.

Old friend Faith Runner passed away last week. She was a grand lady who lived in town for many years. She bought a piece of property that once belonged to my grandfather, and built two apartment buildings. Our condolences to her family.

When I was emptying my kindling box on Thursday, out fell a yellowed envelope postmarked Dec. 1, 1933. It appears to never have been opened and was addressed to a Mrs. Edith Thompson, address TOWN. That was an old method of addressing a letter to someone who lived in the same town. At that time every letter was hand-cancelled and it wasn’t a problem for the postmaster to place it in the correct postal box. It was a bill from Owens Nursery in Vineyard Haven for two bouquets of flowers for a total of $2. It was marked paid by Granville Shattuck, proprietor.

Lynne Ditchfield reports that registration is open for all ACE MV spring classes. Registration will be held on Tuesday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School lobby. Other ways to register are online at acemv.org, where you can view and download the course calendar and registration form, or by mail two weeks before a class starts.

Happy birthday to Susan Goldstein, George Brush, Robyn Athearn, Noah Richards and Thomas Brennan today; Susan Phelps, Donnie Mills, Sam Alley, Tom and Anna Christensen tomorrow; Robert Pacl, David Fielder, Charles Sebastian and Josh Emin on Sunday; Celeste Bailey, Haley Knowlton, Robert Goodwin, Tom Church, Francine Fischer and Roger Sylva on Monday; Diana DeBlase, Lonni Phillips, Glenn Andrews and Vicki Broscheit on Tuesday; Ken Vincent, Caitlin Cassiani and Mariah Hallbilsback on Wednesday, and Leslei Monast, June Miller, Doug Seward, Hans Adcock and Victoria Segel on Thursday.

Belated birthday wishes to Joanne Peterson and Dennis Jason.

Well, that is all of the social news for this week. I don’t want to miss the news about your vacation so please call or email me (alleys@vineyard.net) with details. Have a great week.