JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
Since it is spring, although it has not felt like it, people are beginning the task of cleaning up the yard after the long winter, throwing away the Christmas tree that is beginning to turn rust color out in the back yard, raking the lawn and flower beds. Some folks have already begun planting peas and other hearty vegetables in their gardens. Political campaign signs for selectman candidates Glenn Hearn and Richard Knabel have sprung up in many front yards around town over the weekend.
This is a big week for us with the annual town meeting on Tuesday and town election on Thursday. Town clerk Prudy Whiting wants to remind you that if you will not be available to vote in person at the annual election on April 10, you can vote via an absentee ballot at the town hall until noon Wednesday. She also reports that the annual town reports are available at the town hall.
The town meeting warrant contains 52 articles and could run two nights. Items expected to generate considerable controversy are the annual budget, whether to authorize a bond of $5 million to renovate the town hall, and community preservation proposals.
Election warden Muriel Bye reports that all will be ready in the public safety building (opposite Conroy’s Apothecary) to receive voters on Thursday. The election will be held from noon till 8 p.m. She expects a large turnout this year with two contests and a ballot question. The race for selectman is between incumbent Glen Hearn and challenger Richard Knabel. Another contest is for two library trustee seats. Incumbents Hermine Hull and Linda Hearn face a challenge from Cynthia Riggs and Greg Orcutt. A question also will be on the ballot asking you to exclude from the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2 the $5million it will cost to renovate town hall.
A large crowd gathered at Cleaveland House on Edgartown Road last Thursday night to chat informally with all of the candidates seeking political office this year. Mark Wright and Ed Rogers provided outstanding musical entertainment throughout the evening. Late in the evening Cynthia Riggs provided 100-year-old sheet music and the musicians had a swell time playing it. It was truly an outstanding evening.
Leslei Monast of Waldron’s Bottom Road will be hosting a small gathering of friends next Thursday to help celebrate her husband’s 61st birthday. Congratulations, Will, you can now apply for an AARP credit card and receive a senior discount card from the council on aging!
Elizabeth Cecil of New Lane returned to her home on Wednesday after a week in Rockport, Me., on business.
Animal control officer Joan Jenkinson reminds you that tomorrow the rabies clinic will be held at the MSPCA headquarters in Edgartown from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Staff from the Vineyard Vet Clinic will be on hand from 10 to 11 a.m., Caring for Animals from 11 a.m. till noon and Animal Health Care from noon till 1 p.m. All of this activity will be held at the MSPCA. There is a suggested donation of $15 per animal.
Elaine Pace reports that the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society will present its spring concert for Islanders at the Old Whaling Church tomorrow night, Saturday, April 5. The concert, titled The Phantom Violin, features works by Schubert, Beethoven and others. To see the complete program go to mvcms.org and click on Spring Concert. Artistic director Dee Stevens has returned from Los Angeles to put together another concert. She hopes you will support her with an appreciative audience. The fee is $15 at the door. A reception will follow.
Mary Lu Keep of South Vine reports that the Island Community Chorus is hard at work preparing for their concert at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts Center on April 13.
Cherrilla Brown reports that you will soon be able to buy a chance to help Camp Safe Haven and also win a quilt. Cherrilla, her daughter Coco, Janet Belain and Rhonda Bacus worked hard to create a very untraditional patchwork quilt of blues and purples over the winter. You may buy a chance to winit for $1 starting Monday at Alley’s Store. This is the second year they have done this and last year nearly $1,000 was donated to the camp.
Harriet Bernstein of Edgartown Road reports that she has returned from a month’s vacation in California. She ended up in Berkeley where she kept meeting people with links to theIsland. She concluded that Berkeley is like the Vineyard with a little shot of a city injected into itsarm. She attended the following; a Russian Ballet company performance, a new movie and ate great Japanese food, and mos t of all had a great time.
Richard and Toni Cohen of Edgartown Road returned home last week from a five-week vacation in Cambodia and Vietnam. Their daughter accompanied them for the first two weeks. They enjoyed Ankor Wat in Cambodia and delivered school supplies to the Vineyard School. Toni reports that they found it an incredible adventure and they enjoyed it very much.
Phyllis Meras of Music street arrived home from a 10-day working vacation in Puerto Rico last Thursday. She reports that she had a wonderful time.
Chantale Legare, of Elias Lane and the Parent Teachers Organization, reports that next Friday, April 11 from 7 till 9 p.m. they are sponsoring a community dance with Johnny Hoy & the Bluefish over at the agricultural hall. There will be delicious desserts and beverages on hand. For more information on ticket prices, call her at 508-696-3007.
Gloria Sylva, over at the school, reports that there will be noon dismissal of students on Tuesday and Thursday of next week and Wednesday of the following week. This is necessary to accommodate parent-teacher conferences that will be held on those days.
On April 15, 1954, Fred Melchior, manager of the Airport Luncheonette, opened the Skyline Restaurant to the public. It was the newest eating place on the Island with a panoramic view of the airport. A large dining room and a kitchen were constructed on the second floor of the former Navy Administration building that originally housed the flight operations for the wartime airbase. Fred classifies the new place as a “white tablecloth dinning area” and he will be serving complete and a la carte dinners. In the summer it will be open from noon till 11 p.m. daily and will be open for private parties or fraternal meetings on a year-round basis. The dining room will be readily expandable or contractible by means of specially constructed corrugated plastic sliding partitions made by the Reinforced Plastics Corporation. Bonnar Atwood’s Harmony Shop was in charge of the restaurant’s interior decorations. Both of those businesses are located at the airport.
Happy birthday to Emma Gorenberg today; Larry Greenburg, Clint Merrill and Mike Michalski tomorrow; Donna Paulnock and Luanne Johnson on Sunday; Mary Keenan, Nancy Cole and Lori Ionnitiu on Monday; Joe Cataloni, Heilli Soikkeli and Bob Woodruff on Tuesday; Joan Huston, Mary-Louise Williams and Rebecca Cohen on Wednesday; and Rosemarie DeSorcy, Stacy Gouldrup, and Shelia Franklin on Thursday. Belated birthday wishes to Kailyn Hart.
Well, that is all of the social news for this edition. If you have any news you would like to share, please call or e-mail me. Have a great week.
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