John S. Alley >
508-693-2950
The ducks and geese have begun their long trek southward that for years has included a brief rest stop in the Mill Pond to relax and refresh. People have been busy making jelly from the vast amount of beach plums, grapes and chokecherries. There seems to be a bumper crop of berries everywhere.
A sure sign of fall is the start of the annual bass and bluefish derby this weekend. Joyce Bowker, director of the council on aging, reports that the fresh fish schedule at Howes House will be on Thursdays all during the derby. Please call 508-693-2896 after 10 a.m. that day and the staff will know the amount of fish that will be distributed to the senior citizens in the up-Island towns.
Gloria Sylva over at the school reports that they are getting settled for the school year. Enrollment is slightly less than last year. The official school figure will be available early next month.
The old Humphreys Mayhew house and grounds in North Tisbury is being magnificently restored; new trees, shrubs and lawn have been planted and made much larger. The house is now owned by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and his wife Kristen Kusama of New York; Harold Zadeh and his crew of Chris MacLeod and Jim McKeon expect to have it completely restored using the original flooring and hardware before the end of October. They plan to build a post and beam barn to replace the old one that was torn down.
Ralph and Jean Noseworthy and their friends Judy and Sandy McCarthy from Neboro and Orangeville, Ontario, made a surprise visit to the Island on Monday. Ralph was the only one who had been here before, as he is the Canadian cousin of my brother Jim and me. Jim, his wife Ann Bassett, and my wife Anna met them at the Square Rigger for dinner and a good talk.
Doris Anton of New York city and her faithful dog Bibsie passed the summer away at her house in Tiah’s Cove. They plan to stay until Halloween and look forward to enjoying the fall weather.
Tom Dresser reminds all of you that the annual walk to raise support and funds for Alzheimer’s will take place at noon on Sunday, Oct. 5. This year the walk will be along State Beach, from the little bridge to big bridge and back, less than 2.5 miles. An added feature is a kayak component: paddlers are welcome to circumnavigate the walk route. For further information contact Tom at 508-693-1050 or Christy Stusse of Alzheimer’s Services at 508-775-5656.
Tuesday is state primary day and the polls over at the public safety building will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The candidates for state representative seem to be drawing the most voter interest.
Barbara Day of Willow Tree Hollow reports that all her guests have departed after a hectic August. She has now turned her full attention to the retirement and thank-you potluck party for our 20-year veteran state representative Eric T. Turkington at the Agricultural Hall on Sept. 21.
Leor Alcalay, of Cambridge, reports that an examination of how abstract art communicates the human experience, as explored via the life of Holocaust survivor and artist Albert Alcalay is being broadcast on PBS this week and will be shown again on Sunday. Leor’s late father was a Serbian Jew captured by Nazis in Italy during World War II and sent to a concentration camp. Albert and his family vacationed in this town for more than 30 years.
A group of Amish carpenters from Pennsylvania arrived last weekend to raise a post and beam farm barn to be used by the Agricultural Society on its property on Panhandle Road.
Will Monast, the builder in charge of the Frank Adams restoration project on Music street, reports that while he was lowering floors by nearly three feet, he was moving earth that had not been disturbed for thousands of years if ever. The old place, he says, is beginning to reinvent itself as a true agent of change. He found a scrap of newspaper under a shingle near the old chimney indicating that the unique stones that covered a brick fireplace chimney may have been done by Frank Adams shortly after he acquired the house in 1900. A photograph of the house, circa 1920, supplied by Barbara Hull, shows the stones had been placed before the photo was taken.
While working in my backyard this week I discovered a beautiful brick beehive-shaped cistern, likely used to collect rainwater from the roof. A cement cap gave way because a tree root had grown and split it in half. The cistern probably dates to S.M. Mayhew, the original owner of the house.
Happy birthday to: Tim Barnett, Lauren Bedford and Deborah Shipkin today, Jim Powell and Loren Gibson tomorrow, Katherine Hough and Tom Johnson on Sunday, Betsy Fisher and Kent Medowski on Monday, Greg Pachico, Amy Alberice, Brendan Karalekas and Winn Davis on Tuesday, Celine Segel, Susan Clements and Jay Gardner on Wednesday, Sandra Bernat, Mary Dacey and Scott Britney on Thursday. Belated birthday greetings to Bob Pachico, and belated wedding anniversary greetings to John and Shirley Mayhew and Matthew and Stacy Hayden.
Tomorrow is Tivoli Day in Oak Bluffs.
Well, that is all of the social news for this week’s edition. If you have any news please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.
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