JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Sprinkle a little salt over your left shoulder before reading today’s column as it is Friday the 13th.
It was a toasty warm weekend with the temperature reaching almost 90 degrees. Lots of folks went to the beaches and held backyard barbecues. It is getting busier by the day and if you drove down to Vineyard Haven last weekend you experienced your first traffic jam of the season.
Tomorrow is Flag Day and next Friday summer begins.
Jim Martin and his wife Mary attended the First Congregational Church service last Sunday. Jim was the minister here for more than 12 years. They are here for a week’s visit. Jim, Yale Chaplain Bruce Blair and the Rev. Terry Newberry will participate in a gathering of friends to celebrate the life of Bill Blair tomorrow at 2 p.m. Cathlin Baker has been selected to be the new minister of the church by the search committee. She was introduced to the congregation last Sunday morning.
In the Congregational tradition, Reverend Baker will hold a worship service on Sunday. After the benediction, she will leave the sanctuary and a meeting of the congregation will be quickly called to order. A motion will be made to call her to be the “settled minister” and a vote will be taken.
The First Congregational Church will host the 20th annual Strawberry Festival next Saturday, June 21, between 1 and 4 p.m. Enjoy the native berries on shortcake with whipped cream, or berries with ice cream, or berry smoothies. Tables will be set up on the lawn. Proceeds from this popular event provide funding for the continuing maintenance of the historic building and grounds.
Drs. Sara Rosenthal and Julie Prazich and their cat Margaret Rose of San Diego, Calif., arrived Memorial Day weekend to spend time at their house in the cove. Their guests this weekend are Betty Ketchum and Paul Cavanaugh, old high school friends. Next weekend Julie’s sister Vicki Miller and brother-in-law Buddy of Manchester, N.H., will be their guests.
Dick and Diana Reishe of Runner Road and Wilton, Conn., arrived recently to pass the summer at their home on Town Cove.
Rez Williams and his wife, Lucy Mitchell, returned to their Edgartown Road home yesterday after a brief vacation before the summer activities get rolling.
Heidi Pacheco of Skiff’s Lane reports that she has a new batch of peanut butter sandwich girl scout cookies for sale. If you are interested in supporting a worthy cause, call her at 508-696-6975.
Gloria Sylva reported that 19 eighth graders that participated in the exchange program with the “English kids” returned home Monday from the United Kingdom. They stayed with the student they hosted and their parents in Warrington and Shelley. They visited their schools, did a lot of sightseeing and toured London. They are glad to be back home. Games Day will be held on Tuesday and school is out for the summer on June 20.
Emily Gadd, of Boseman, Mont., and South Road, has been busy planting her gardens this past week. She reports that she is planting some new types of vegetables this year to go along with her oceans of flowers. She has been urged by many friends and neighbors to open a roadside stand to sell her vegetables and flowers.
Will Monast of Waldron’s Bottom Road returned home on Sunday after spending several days on Cuttyhunk working on projects and helping his wife Leslei open up Pete’s Place and its rental units for the summer. Here in town, he has just started restoration work on the old Frank Adams place on Music street. Mr. Adams was a master carpenter and jack of all trades. In 1919, he poured cement slabs to make a firm and decorative driveway to the garage he had just built on to his workshop to house his new Model T Ford.
Alex Karman of New York city hosted a gang of friends at his mother’s house on State Road. They biked around the Island, enjoyed a cookout and he tended to his mother’s garden before heading back on Monday.
Leslie Gray and Hunter Moorman, of Arlington, Va., arrived last week to spend the summer at their home on Panhandle Road. Leslie is a garlic aficionado. She already has planted a new crop of Carpathian garlic and is now harvesting asparagus. She hopes to garner another blue ribbon at the agricultural fair. Hunter has been busy mowing the lawn and working around the house.
Colleen Morris over at the library reports that the arts and crafts class tomorrow will be making paperweights for Fathers Day. At 4 p.m. tomorrow, Tim Boland from Polly Hill Arboretum will lecture on Sustainable Living Landscapes for the Health of the Island.
Chris Turner, of Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., arrived this week to open her Vineyard Meadow Farms home. Her husband, Gordon, arrives tomorrow and they plan on spending the summer at their house. Gordon also intends to do a fair amount of boat fishing this summer.
Mia Lewis of West Lafayette, Ind., and her daughter Beatrice Masters arrived last weekend to spend some quality time at the family camp on Thumb Cove. Her niece Miranda Lewis, of Atlanta, Ga., is arriving tomorrow.
Fathers Day is on Sunday. Its origin dates back to near the beginning of the last century. President Calvin Coolidge made it a national day and President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law with a presidential proclamation. A Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there.
The town is seeking individuals to serve on the following committees: affordable housing, conservation commission, joint transportation, MVTV representative, personnel board and planning board. If interested, please call Jen Rand at 508-696-0102.
Perhaps the most elaborate and certainly one of the most popular events in the history of the agricultural hall (a building now known as the Grange Hall) was held on June 15, 1920. The play, Gifts of the Past, written and directed by Emma Whiting, was written so that most all of the people in town had a part in it. The show was enthusiastically received by an overflow audience in the hall. The play was a historical drama with 14 different scenes depicting highlights in the life of the town. The entertainment was under the auspices of the ladies of the Congregational Church. The pageant captured the history of the town from 1750 up to 1920. West Tisbury was part of Tisbury until it seceeded in 1892. Many descendants of the first settlers played a part in this elaborate extravaganza. It was widely known that the costumes and family heirlooms used in the play were priceless. At the close of the production all of the people in the play gathered together on stage and sang Auld Lang Syne and the audience joined in with them.
Donna and Mike Diaz of Old Court House Road report that their daughter Christina graduated cum laude from University of New Hampshire. Her parents, her brother Mike, cousins Ted and Sue Powell and Linda Warren, her grandparents Pierce and Bernice Kirby, attended the graduation ceremony. Christina will be attending the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland, for her master’s degree in the fall.
Tom Hodgson of Tiasquam Road proudly reports that his new grandson, Cooper Thomas Morse, was born on June 2. He is the son of Christopher and Lucy Hodgson Morse, who are now living in Chatham, N.J. Pamela Thomas of North Kingstown, R.I. is the grandmother.
Happy birthday to Dick Philibosian of Auburn, Anti Botti and Les Leland today; Bea Amaral, Elaine Pace, Leslie Gray, Sandra Hakala and Bill Haynes tomorrow; Joyce Currier, Katherine Bernier, Cynthia Riggs and Fred Barron on Sunday; Mike Diaz, Ruth Campbell, Don Davis and Anne Fischer on Monday; two special women fr om Webster, Donna Annese and Deborah Kokernak, Leslie Baker, Don Rogers and Erin Rathmell on Tuesday; Maggie Barron, Peter Eldridge and Randi Baird on Wednesday; and Debra Levesque, Sam Mitchell and Sarah Montrowl on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Mary Jane Pease, Becky Baxter, Natalie Grew al and Simi Horwitz. Belated anniversary greetings to John and Elizabeth Churchill. Ed Levine and Vicki Bijur will celebrate on Monday. Belated 25th anniversary greetings to Hunter Moorman and Leslie Gray.
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.
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