JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

A happy Fourth of July to you all. Welcome to the summer season and all the excitement it brings along with it. Traffic is heavy everywhere, even over at the landfill. The weather was cool in the evenings with an occasional thunderstorm for good measure. Just about every building in town is now occupied, the buses are comfortably full, planes and boats are crowded. Many backyard cookouts will be held all around town this evening. This is the start of a long holiday weekend. The post office and banks are closed today.

The annual Independence Day parade in downtown Edgartown steps off promptly at 5 p.m. Janet Heath of the Preservation Trust reports that there will be two free band concerts in the Old Whaling Church: one at 2 p.m., one at 7 p.m.

Do yourself and your family a big favor and make getting to the parade and fireworks a whole lot easier by taking the bus to Edgartown and avoiding traffic gridlock. Main street will be closed to all automobile traffic at 3 p.m., but the buses will be diverted to convenient location near Cannonball Park until 7 p.m., when they will return to their regular stop on Church street. Call 508-693-9440 for more information.

On Sunday, a 75th birthday party celebration will be held for David McCullough who lives on Music street. His wife Rosalee has arranged the event for family and close friends. All of their children — Melissa, Davy, William, Geoffrey and Dory — will be here with their spouses and children for the big show.

David reports that he is hard at work on a new book about Americans in Paris from the 1830s to the 1930s. It will be about artists, writers, architects and doctors in Paris. It is a book he has had in mind to write for quite some time and is finding it fascinating. He also reports that Tom Hanks is developing with David a new HBO mini series on his book 1776. He is pleased that the John Adams mini-series on HBO was so well received, successful and popular.

Kendall Gifford Miller, his wife Carla and children Daniel and Carl of Newark, Ohio arrived last weekend for a vacation. They have been cleaning the yard, planting daylilies and continuing to improve the property.

John and Judith Churchill of New York city arrived earlier this week at their Lambert’s Cove home for the summer. Judith reports that it is nice to be back in the Cove and is looking forward to relaxing and house guests this summer.

Nancy Accola has arrived to spend the summer at her camp in the Makonikey section of Lambert’s Cove. She is settling in for a long summer.

About eighty people attended the night before the Fourth of July party at the home of Wollcott and Leah Smith down in Tiah’s Cove Thursday evening. Their many friends and neighbors enjoyed the evening and a wonderful dinner. A Smith party to bring in the Fourth is rapidly becoming the “in thing” to be invited to.

Jane Newhall and Anita Guerra, of San Francisco, Calif., arrived on Tuesday to spend the summer and are staying on South Road. Jane and Anita look forward to visiting with their many friends during their summer visit.

Bunny Fales arrived just after Memorial Day to open up her house on Old County Road. She has just completed the second volume of the memoirs and flying adventures of her and her husband Sam’s life in Venezuela, known as Venezuelan Ventures. Copies are available at The Bunch of Grapes and the Edgartown Bookstore.

Her daughter Barbara Fales de Braganca and her husband Miguel returned home last week from a study group trip to Caracas, Venezuela, accompanied by Tony Woodcock, the new president of New England Conservatory along with other board members and community leaders in education. The conservatory has a unique, signed friendship agreement between their faculty and respective youth orchestras, including the Orquesta Simon Bolivar, which performed at Symphony Hallto great acclaim this past November.

Also, Annabel de Braganca has returned to the Island to work, having recently completed her freshman year at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Her brother Miguel has completed his sophomore year at Berkley College of Music and is back working with the land bank and performing music here on Island. Their sister Camilla will enter her senior year at St. George’s and is currently doing community service work in Costa Rica and Peru.

Don and Marian Mohr of Otis Bassett Road celebrated their 40th anniversary yesterday. Their son Steve and daughter-in-law Janice are here from Charlotte, N.C., for the week andjoined themfor dinner at the BeachPlum Inn at sunset. They areenjoying the Vineyard visiting their favorite places. A very special week for all of the family. Congratulations.

Catherine Tack of Richmond, Va., and her significant other Adam O’Connor arrived earlier in the week to spend some time at the family home on Waldron’s Bottom Road. Her mother Martha and father Carl will be arriving tomorrow from London, England, for the summer.

Bob and Barbara Day of Willow Tree Hollow arrived home on Monday after attending the weddingof her cousin, Audrey Desch, a Chilmark summer resident, to RickDionisio at Skytopin the Poconos. Among the many friends and relatives attending the weddingwere their daughter and son-in-law Catha and her husband Dave Carlson.

Last weekend was busy in town with art show opening receptions. Sunday afternoon brought Allen Whiting’s annual art show and opening at the Davis House gallery. His daughter Bea reports the crowd was robust despite the light rain, thunder and lighting. The Allen Whiting family was assisted in preparations for the event by Josie Franciose and Jon McGuinn with their dog Beckett, who have been visiting from Salt Lake City. Also in town for the opening were Bea’s girlfriends visiting from New York city, Chaya Thanhauser and Maya Glavin, and from Los Angeles, Andrea Silva. The Davis House setting was enhanced by Susan Silva’s superb flower arrangements. The gallery is now open Thursday through Sunday from 1 till 6 p.m. through Labor Day weekend.

The Granary Gallery on Old County Road has begun its 55th summer.

Tomorrow afternoon artists Rez Williams of Edgartown Road and Enos Ray of State Road will have their opening and reception from 7 till 10 p.m. at Kim Nye’s new gallery on Uncas avenue in Oak Bluffs.

Will Monast, who is busy restoring the Frank Adams House on Music street, found a portion of a July 1935 Boston Herald in the kitchen floor that was used as a shim to level the linoleum. Like Ed Konicki, he found an advertisement by the New Haven Railroad, owner of the Steamship Line, where you could buy a weekday excursion from Boston to Oak Bluffs for $2.50, leaving Boston daily at 7 a.m. and retur ning at 6:40p.m.  Lee Revere reports that the 51st annual book sale is being set up in the school gym again this year. We have moved the tables in and will have moved in thousands of books in last week.Book donations can be brought to the gym Monday thru Friday between 8 and 11 a.m. The sale sta rts Friday, July 25, and concludes with Free Day on Monday, July 28.

Carol Carrick of Oak Knoll Road will be displaying her husband Don’s original children’s illustrations for the month of July at the library. Come and meet Carol at an opening reception and informative talk next Wednesday at 4 p.m. Donald Carrick illustrated more than 80 books that won many awards, among them, 36 written by his wife. Many of them are situated around a cabin he built in the woods of the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont and their home on the Vineyard. Come and listen to the story behind these great illustrations at the library on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Beth Kramer, library director and a Kripalu certified instructor, will share gentle yoga with you for the month of July at the library. Come and stretch with Beth every Monday morning (July 7, 14, 21 and 28) for an hour at 7:30 a.m. It is free, just bring your own mat with you. Spaces are limited, so sign up at the library.

For more information on either event, call 508-693-3366.

The African Artists’ Community Development project will be selling African crafts from Ghana, Tanzania, Zambiaand Zimbabwe. Items for sale include baskets, Tuareg silver jewelry, carved wooden bowls and salad servers, animal sculpture, brilliant khanga printed cloth and much more. The sale will be held on Tuesday July 8 at the Grange Hall from 5 to 9p.m. At 6:30 and 8 p.m., they will show their film, Waging Peace in Zambia. For more information, call Marsha Winsryg at 508-693-4059.

On June 29, 1945, Joseph Santos of Music street was transported to the hospital for a treatment for a severe cut on his left foot. The deep gash was closed by means of several stitches. Joe was repairing the roof of his house and was barefooted at the time of the injury. It seems he stepped on a piece of metal flashing, causing the injury. He was the owner of the former Moses Mitchell Academy building on Music street and in addition to operating his own farm, was the caretaker of the Raymond Barth property on Scotchman’s Lane and Old County Road.

Happy birthday to Pat Goodell, Jane Hawkes and Sandra Clark today; Dan Whiting, Bob Gray and Abigail Bailey tomorrow; David Douglas, Bart Smith, Amelia Espy and Emma Kiley on Sunday; David McCullough, Mary Lu Keep and Sarah Pallatroni on Monday; John Mayhew 3rd, Sarah Cottle and Andrew Gardner on Tuesday; Devin Church, Robert Blanchard and Laurie Turnie on Wednesday; and Tom Vogl, Rez Williams, Sandy Fisher and Deborah Withers on Thursday.

Happy anniversary to the famous Webster socialites, Ed and Jane Konicki, on Wednesday.

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