Town Column : West Tisbury
By Hermine Hull
Published: April 9, 2009
What a busy week this has been with people arriving around town to open houses and have a taste of Martha's Vineyard in early spring. Alley's and Cronig's have been packed. All the garden centers opened with Palm Sunday festivities, bright displays of crocuses and forsythia, piled up bags of compost and mulch. Despite being scoured by windblown sand along the beaches, everyone was happy to be there. Children have grown a year older and so have we.
Mike and I were fortunate to spend some time with the Murphys and Barrons while they were in residence on Music Street. Sarah Murphy and Greg Barron arrived from London with three of their children, Billy, Stephanie, and Catherine. Ted Murphy and Ann DuCharme, and their children, Teddy and Julia, came from Cincinnati, via Florida. They, along with Ann's siblings from across the country, just appeared at the door of their Florida condo to surprise their parents, Linda and Robert DuCharme of Newfane, Vt., who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Needless to say, it was quite a surprise. Everyone left Martha's Vineyard Monday morning, heading to Boston to visit Ted Barron, a freshman at Harvard, and to see the Red Sox play the Rays on Wednesday. The Barrons will visit Greg's parents in Jupiter, Fla., before returning to London.
Staff, Friends, and trustees of the library, along with personal friends surprised board chairman Linda Hearn with lunch at the library last Thursday in honor of her birthday. Linda thought we were meeting to take her exhibit down. She arrived with boxes and bubble wrap, walked toward the art display, and found well-wishers yelling "Surprise" and a festive table laden with flowers and food. I think she was pleased.
We did take Linda's photographs down on Saturday afternoon. Melissa Breese has hung a selection of artwork from the Martha's Vineyard Art Association's permanent collection. They will be on display through April.
Surprise party number two was on Sunday, another birthday celebration, this one for Debbie Magnuson. Debbie had planned to spend the afternoon working in her garden, and complained all the way down the road as her husband, Erik, insisted they have chili for lunch with their daughter, Sarah Dexter. As soon as she saw all the cars, Debbie knew something was up, although now that I'm thinking about it, she was pretty dressed up for someone planning to work in her garden. Maybe she suspected.
Sarah organized a great party. Everything was beautiful that sunny afternoon overlooking the pond. The company and food were wonderful and everyone had a good time, not least the guest of honor.
Happy birthday to both Linda and Debbie, to Prudy Whiting, whose birthday is April 13, and to Joanne Scott on April 15. May your year be filled with good surprises.
Steve Klebs is teaching a series of computer classes for intermediates beginning April 18 at the library. The classes, at 9 am, will run for four consecutive Saturday mornings and are free. Call the library to sign up: 508-693-3366.
