Congratulations to Christopher Paul Manning who graduated on May 31 from basic enlisted submarine school in Groton, Conn. Chris graduated second in his class of 82 sailors – Class 13260 USS Spinax. He was the only one in his class to be meritoriously advanced from E1 to E2.

The weekend was hot and humid and lawn mowers could be heard buzzing most everywhere in town. The weather was perfect for outside chores. After church many people had an opportunity to go to the beach for the first time and Lambert’s Cove was pleasantly crowded.

In March of 1881 an energetic number of residents formed the Rural Improvement Society of Cottage City, a group whose mission statement of 99 words neglected to even casually mention its single biggest accomplishment. It elected officers with bold-face Cottage City names, and membership dues of $3 were payable at once or in installments.

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The Trustees of Reservations have been providing tours to the Cape Pogue Lighthouse for many of the Vineyard’s first and second grade school children. I have had the pleasure of bringing several of these groups over on the ferry. Clearly a lot of preparation went into these outings as the kids were appropriately dressed and had their knapsacks.

Welcome to summer. It has been great without the wind and it has been warm during the day and cool at night. We do need the rain but it can come at night and clear away for the day.

If you didn’t know already, you’ve probably gathered from what has been said so far today, this is one special group. So when they asked me back in January to be the one to give this speech, after a year in which some of them accused me of abandoning them to work with the middle school, I was overcome with gratitude.

The Vineyard community will always have a strong love affair with its four lighthouses. Nearly all of the local ones are still standing, though some have been moved. All but one of the lighthouse keeper houses, though, are no longer with us. Automation ended the era of climbing the stairs to the top of the tower each afternoon to light the beacon.

Will somebody please plant a mulberry bush in the middle of the roundabout! After so much bickering, I think it’s time to sing its praises.

The staff and board of directors at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard would like to recognize the retirement of one our most passionate and tireless volunteers, Janet Norton. Since the beginning of the animal shelter, Janet has helped do the many tasks and thankless jobs that are a necessary to care for the dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs that come through our doors. Without the time and care Janet and the many other volunteers do at the shelter, we could not operate as we do.