JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
The boat schedule changed earlier this week and you can tell from increased traffic on the roads and in town that new arrivals are here, with more expected this weekend, which is the official start of the summer season. Many a backyard grill will be fired up for the first cookout of the season.
The long holiday weekend begins today. Monday is the Memorial Day holiday and there will be a parade and traditional observances in Vineyard Haven. Town buildings, banks and the post office will be closed. If the swans choose to stay in the Mill Pond, it will surely make it feel like summer is just around the corner even if the weather has not cooperated.
Over this holiday weekend, let’s not forget what Memorial Day is really all about and take some time out from all our activities to remember those who have gone on before us. Brian Athearn, veterans graves officer, has placed new American flags on the graves of all the veterans.
Andrea Rogers reports that the 10th annual Artisans Spring Fair will take place today, tomorrow and Sunday at the Grange Hall. She reports that they have added a few new features for this year’s show. They will be open rain or shine with free parking for all and plenty of good food. For more information about the fair, call her at 508-693-8989.
On Tuesday, the Boston Pops released the names of the 20 contestantsselected for their first-ever musical theater competition for high school students. The contestants were selected from more than 200 applications. Our own Katie Mayhew, a student at the regional highschool, hasbeen selected asa finalist. The first live round of the competition w ill be held on June 2 overseen by the conductor, Keith Lockhart. Good luck, Katie.
Jennifer Zern of Los Angeles, Calif., arrived last weekend to spend a week with her parents, Kristen and Brook, at their South Vine home. She has been feasting on seafood meals this week as she much prefers seafood direct from the Atlantic Ocean. She will be returning home on Sunday. Her parents recently returned from a month-long trip to Spain and other European nations. This winter they moved here from New York city. They own and operate the Association of Travel Marketing Executives.
Caitlin Staskiewicz of Tampa, Fla., who spent many summers working on the Vineyard, graduated last Monday from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement. She officially starts work for that agency on June 13. She reports missing her many Vineyard friends and hopes to get a chance to visit before the end of the summer.
Phyllis Meras of Music street returned home on Wednesday evening from a 15-day trip to Germany. She visited many cities and had a wonderful time. Linda Baughman of Philadelphia, Pa., who has been staying at Phyllis’s house and tending to her livestock, mowing the lawn and watering plantings, headed back home on Wednesday afternoon. She reports having a very busy but enjoyable visit and enjoyed nature, the lilac season, the lambs in the meadow next to the house and the humming of the bumblebees.
Will and Leslei Monast of Waldron’s Bottom Road traveled over to their summer home on Cuttyhunk Island for the weekend. Will has some carpentry work to finish up and Leslei will be opening their cottages for the summer. His daughter Sarah managed the business at their estate while they were away. They also attended the annual town meeting earlier this week and Leslei was re-elected tax collector for the 20th year.
Dudley Eppel and his wife, Nancy, of Vero Beach, Fla., are expected to return to their Pond View Farm Road home this weekend. Dudley has had the garden turned over and will be busy planting vegetables and flowers.
Bob Luskin, of Washington, D.C., and Edgartown Road arrived last week for the summer. He reports that his son Cass will be a senior at the University of Texas this fall and is majoring in classics and political science. He visited his father for several days and has returned to Texas to enter summer courses. Bob’s other son, Peter, graduated from the University of Colorado in December. He sold his truck and moved to Damascus, Syria, is studying learning to speaking Arabic and is doing some tutoring work.
Rosalie Powell, over at the Bayberry Inn, reports that her sons Jimmy and Ted and his Susan visited with her on Mother’s Day. Also her grandson Kevin, who had been serving in undisclosed locations in the Middle East servicing top-secret aircraft, has been transferred to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and is now crew chief of the new F-22 aircraft.
Andy and Susie Boass of Hopkinton and Middle Road returned home after a month-long visit to their home on the shores of Jerry’s Pond. Susie has about finished tracing her family tree that extends into the Mayhew family. She says it has been difficult but very rewarding.
Colleen Morris, who works over at the library, was the winner of the quilt made by several local folks: Cherrilla and Coca Brown, Janet Belain and Rhonda Backus. The entire proceeds of the raffle were donated to Camp Safe Haven. This is the second year the ladies have made a quilt.
Charlie Kernick of Edgartown Road is very proud to report the birth of his fifth grandchild, Anabella Louise Athearn Kernick, who was born last Sunday morning at 4:50 a.m. at Women and Infant’s Hospital in Providence, R.I. His son Tyler assisted in his wife Crissy’s delivery, as did her mother, Rosa Branco, who added her nursing expertise. Anabella weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces at birth, and is healthy with a full head of curly black hair. Congratulations, Grandpa.
The Old Mill, the Edgartown Road home of the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club, will be holding an open house and annual plant sale tomorrow and Sunday from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. All proceeds will benefit their restoration project.
The school invites all veterans, current members of the armed services, and the public to an assembly this afternoon from 1 till 3 p.m. There will be a slide and chorus presentation.
Today marks the 116th anniversary of the purchase, by the library association, of the Moses Mitchell school building and land on Music street. The purchase price was $360, quite a substantial sum to invest in a small piece of real estate in 1892. Subscriptions were solicited by the association to remodel the building for library purposes and within six months, $450 was raised and the work completed.
When we first became a town, the library was located in a small portion of the second floor in the Dukes County Academy building next door. The Preservation Trust purchased the land and building for $1 just four years ago. The trust restored the building, which now serves as the town library annex.
Happy birthday to Eric Whitman, Nathan Belain and Jeffrey Meeks today; Tom Goethals, Lynn Buckmaster-Irwin and Emily Sobel tomorrow; Alice Scott, Ann Nelson, William Stewart and Mathew Hayden on Sunday; Caroline Delgado, Wendy Turnell and Larry Yorke on Monday; Brenda Hayden, Kaila Binney, Shannon McAuliffe and Hy Hoffman on Tuesday; Martha Tohlen, Cheryl Stark and John Clothier on Wednesday; and Alan Cottle, Dionis Montrowl, Alan Brigish and Liza Lynch on Thursday.
Kevin and Maria McFarland will celebrate a wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Anniversary greetings on Sunday to Matt and Donna Annese, the owners of the award-winning Dog Shack restaurant up in Dudley.
Well, that is all of the social news for this edition. If you have any news, please call or e-mail me. Have a safe holiday weekend and a great week.
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