JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

We enjoyed a gorgeous Labor Day weekend. Cookouts and outdoor activities, including some on the beach, were the order of the day. Traffic was considerably lighter and parking spaces were not hard to find if you went into town. Activity around the school increased dramatically on Tuesday as teachers returned to work preparing for the opening of school yesterday morning. School buses are now on the road, so be prepared to stop when you see red flashing lights at the top of the buses as the driver is about to put out the stop sign.

The 62nd Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby begins Sunday morning and runs until mid-October. For more information, get in touch with the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce at 508-693-0085. Joyce Bowker, director of the council on aging, is busy setting up a schedule when free fish will be available to the seniors and looking for volunteers to help out. Call the staff next week at 508-693-2896 for further information.

Ed and Jane Konicki of Webster visited the Alleys over the holiday weekend. Ed cooked out for everyone Saturday evening. They picked beach plums and trimmed up Anna’s flower beds in the front yard before returning home on Monday.

Warren and Marilyn Hollinshead of Pond View Road have been busy preparing for the past two weeks for the wedding of their daughter, Dana, to Todd Gill on Sunday. Warren reports that he mowed the lawn because there will be an outdoor wedding ceremony and reception with more than 250 guests. Family members and friends began arriving for the special day on Wednesday.

Hunter Moorman and Leslie Gray of Panhandle Road are hosting Hunter’s daughter Anna Timm and her friend Steffen Lentz for a two-week visit from their home in Zurich, Switzerland. Anna was last here during the fair in the summer of 1999 (some readers may remember her prize-winning Rueglitorte) and is enjoying both familiar sights and the unaccustomed calm. Hunter is just back from a couple of weeks in Australia studying the school leadership programs in Victoria and touring in Sydney and the Outback.

Students are returning to colleges in great numbers each day. Jon Nelson and Justin Kelleher are off to Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Sam Alley to Framingham State, Howard Pilskan to the University of New Hampshire and Sean Gilpin and Shannon McAuliffe to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Connie Koch reports that her son-in law, Chuck Taylor, who was the managing editor of the Seattle Washington Weekly, is now the editor of an online newspaper in Seattle, Crosscut.com. Connie returned to her Washington, D.C., home yesterday after a wonderful summer.

Ben Moore of Alley Way reports that he and his wife Paddy have a new granddaughter. Her name is Serra Worlock and her parents are Patrick and Dana of Brooklyn, N.Y. Paddy went down to the city to be with them and help out for a few days.

Pierce Kirby 3rd of Moscow, Russia, and North Tisbury has been visiting his parents Pierce and Bernice and family. Pierce owns Neftenaya Company Polaris that buys and sells oil and gas assets worldwide. Pierce reports that he has been busy entertaining clients all last month. He hopes to stay here until the end of September.

Professor Carey Rosenthal of Upper Darby, Pa., was in residence for the holiday weekend. He made some fall repairs around the house and dined at Phyllis Meras’s house this past Saturday night. He is planning to go to Estonia in a few weeks where his daughter Blake will take part in a skating competition.

Dee Griffin and Calvin Risen of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., were married Wednesday morning. It was the first Vineyard visit for each of them and they enjoyed it very much.

Nancy and Bill Strecker of Lambert’s Cove report that her son John Neale and his Stanford University roommates got together at their home this past week to celebrate their 15-year reunion. Zak Raskin defeated Eric Lassen, in the first West Tisbury Stanford Alumni International Basketball Championship. Zak has been playing basketball since he was quite young and has been a member of the Brentwood All-Star team and the winner of the UCLA basketball camp 3-on-3 contest. His eligibility to play in the Stanford Alum Championship was due to his father, Alex, (Stanford ’92) of Los Angeles, Calif., who was joining his fellow alums Eric Lassen (‘92) hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Jim Sawyer (’92) Atlanta, Ga., and John Neale (’92) of Acton, for their 15-year reunion. Media coverage was provided by Irena Raskin (video) and Holly Neale (photography.) A grand time was had byall. 

Catherine Tack, of London, England, leaves today to return to Richmond, Va., for a year before going to school to earn her doctorate in physical therapy. Her parents, Martha and Carl, leave tomorrow to fly back to their home in London. Catherine reports that the entire Tack tribe will return for a Thanksgiving holiday.

Lifeguards no longer are stationed at Lambert’s Cove beach, stickers. Parking lot attendants are gone until next summer.

The Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council will be holding a meeting on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Howes House to help all those interested in applying for grants that support cultural activities in the community. Grant applications will be due in mid-October. Council members will be on hand to answer your questions, walk you through the application process and show you how to prepare your budget.

On July 15, 1947 James A. Austin, of Scarsdale, N.Y., for many years a summer visitor in Lambert’s Cove, purchased property on Paul’s Point consisting of more than 26 acres and 2,000 feet of shore frontage on Vineyard Sound from the heirs of C.F. Morse. Also included in the transfer is the bungalow on the point which Mr. Austin plans to modernize and enlarge to use for a summer home. Paul’s Point is one of the most prominent projections into Vineyard Sound lying between Lambert’s Cove and Cedar Tree Neck. The name derives from Old Paul, an Indian convert from Christiantown, who died in the 17th century. 

Happy birthday to Barbara Hull, Nancy Richards and Chris Turner today; Harry Athearn, Dan Larkosh and Joan Murphy tomorrow; Ben Sweet and Owen Jones on Sunday; Don Mohr, Dot Fisher and Scott Campbell on Monday; Bob Holt, Ann Evasick, Maria McFarland and Paul Schneider on Tuesday; Tim Barnett, Lauren Beford and Deborah Shipkin on Wednesday; and James Powell and Shirley Howell on Thursday. Happy anniversary to Don and Tina Fisher on Monday, Pierce and Bernice Kirby on Wednesday, and Danny and Cheryl Metell on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Sig Van Raan and anniversary greetings to Don Evon and Denise Doreen Mount and Adam McInnis and Karla Jenkinson.

Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s column. If you have any news, please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.