Tisbury

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Calling all children: Did you know the chipmunks are back and stranded on an island? See this G-rated film on Tuesday from 3:30 to 5 pm at the Vineyard Haven Library. Then next Thursday from 3:30 to 5:15 pm at the library youngsters age 8 and up can watch the reporter Tintin and Captain Haddock set off on an adventure to find lost treasure. Rated PG. Popcorn is provided at both shows.

Those lovely Bradford pear trees have been blooming gloriously all week. I think of these as our own special “cherry'”blossoms.

My husband and I have just returned from a pleasant week enjoying the sunshine with our granddaughters from Virginia. We met them in Connecticut and kept each other entertained while their mother was telecommuting. We had a day at the Dinosaur State Park and the girls petted a python. I did not! Rory is six and had a week off from school where she is in first grade. She is delighting in her Spanish immersion class where she has all her morning schooling in Spanish and afternoon classwork in English. Fiona has just turned five and is looking forward to kindergarten next fall. They were given a nearly perfect snakeskin, complete with eye covers, recently shed by another python. I don’t recall spring breaks like that when I was a child.

The trip was a good test of our ability to handle our new Suburu. It seems a little strange to sit high in an SUV after years of riding low in a Chevy Malibu.

Jean Dupon is making the first floor of his building into an inviting place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I hope he will decide to move Le Grenier, his fine restaurant, down to the first floor.

Congratulations to David Seidman, son of Bethany and Dan Seidman. After graduation from the Martha’s Vineyard High School next month, David plans to study information security and forensics at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Vineyard Conservation Society wants you to pick your favorite beach and then pick up any trash you find there. The Earth Day Beach Clean-up is a week from Saturday, on April 21. From 10 am to 12 noon, there will be volunteers with bags, gloves, and free raffle tickets waiting for you. Meet at the landings for Lake Street or Lagoon Pond, the Tashmoo opening, Owen Park, Hines Point, Mink Meadow, and along the harbor from the SSA to Packers. At noon join the VCS for refreshments at Tisbury Wharf Company. Questions? Ask Penny at pthrush@vineyard.net.

Herds of turkeys are pestering Tisbury neighborhoods again. They always hang around if you supply food, they don’t care if it’s bread or birdseed. They are birds, after all.

We have learned that they are worse than the Energizer Bunny – they keep on coming back. They prefer to roost in shaded trees with open space in front. That is because they need open areas for their crash landings. They can barely fly up to the tree branches so they love to use rooftops as launch pads. And they flap so hard you may think it is a helicopter as they go up. Sometimes they miss. It took several years for one of our azalea bushes to recover after a fat tom turkey landed in the midst of it.

Years ago my sister-in-law chased the pack with her flash camera. She really wanted pictures. The upside was that they at least stayed away for a few days.

Enjoy the spring lobster rolls on Sunday at Grace Church. This is your last chance until the summer. The tasty treats will be sold from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. For large orders, call 508-693-0332.

John Hough, Jr., is the author of “Seen the Glory,” a novel about the battle of Gettysburg. As a fundraiser for the West Tisbury Library, he will be at the State Road Restaurant at 5:30 pm next Tuesday. For reservations, call 508-693-3489.

Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out today to Jerry Tilton. Tomorrow wish the best to Debbie Eggers and Allan M. Davey. Ann Lee will have her special day on Sunday. Happy birthday to a couple of very special people, Jack Rizza and Fran Griffin Gould. They celebrate on Monday. Ann Maley will be partying on Tuesday. Wednesday belongs to Rozetta Hughes.

Heard on Main Street: One lesson I learned from the Easter bunny: keep your paws off of other people’s jelly beans.