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.

There I was, relishing my steamed lobster on special at the Net Result picnic table on gorgeous, brilliant June 1. In point of fact, I was a tad too enthusiastic about that cute crustacean, what with it being my first day of a months-long staycation, so I stupidly gulped entirely too much too prematurely.

I am writing this letter to thank Lori Mahoney for an incredible act of kindness, which reaffirmed my belief in human goodness.

I was driving on the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road last week looking for a flowering hanging basket for my deck when suddenly my car started to veer off the road with a loud bang! Fortunately, I was almost opposite Jardin Mahoney’s Garden Center and so I limped into the parking lot, jumped out of my car and viewed a totally flat tire.