Town Column : Tisbury
By Kay Mayhew
Published: June 18, 2009
The Class of 2009 is now on its way. Each and every one of these graduates are leaving with heaps of praise and good will. They have enjoyed a glorious beginning so we remind them that we want to know how they are doing in the future. We all like to keep track of the local kids.
Barbara and Alan Fortes have sent news of their son, Alan Fortes Jr., a member of the MVRHS class of 2007 who joined the United States Coast Guard in December of 2008 after completing a year at Springfield College. A local boy, he served on the Tisbury Fire Department for a season. He’s currently stationed in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., and plans to pursue a career as a Boatswain’s Mate. The Boatswain’s Mates are officers-in-charge of patrol boats and small shore units, including search and rescue stations and aids to navigation teams. This is a local boy to be proud of. In the future, he hopes perhaps to advance to a rough water coxswain.
Congratulations to Eilene M. Wegge, daughter of Marie Meyer-Barton of Vineyard Haven and Lawrence Wegge of Rockland. Eilene recently received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. Eilene will soon begin working for CVS Pharmacy in Orleans. Part of her training included a rotation in the pharmacy at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Cape Cod Hospital. Now a resident of Dorchester and Provincetown, Eilene has a younger brother who is very proud of her achievement. Matthew Barton is in fifth grade at the Tisbury School.
Gretchen Lange Collins celebrated her 50th anniversary of graduation from Harvard and Radcliffe. She thought it was wonderful being in a group all born in 1937, 1938, and 1939. She was at Symphony Hall to hear Chris Botti. She said that Wynton Marsalis jazzed up the Commencement at which he received an honorary doctorate. She also commented that “it was a blast” and recommends you don’t miss your own 50th out of college, wherever it was.
Lynne Benson has just returned from North Carolina. She went for the graduation of her granddaughter Alexandra Schneider from the fifth grade. Lynne proudly reports that the class made a quilt for the school, with each student making a block. You should also know that The Heath Hen Yarn & Quilt Shop is now open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.
You must sign up at the library ahead of time to take part in these next two cooking classes. You are invited to learn how to make Indian dishes with experienced caterers Priya and Uma Datta next Wednesday evening at 7. Bring a rolling pin.
A program on Thai history and Thai cooking will be presented this Saturday at 2 pm by Cholthanee Koerojna. This is part of a celebration of Thai Royalty Day on Martha’s Vineyard. On Sunday two plaques will be placed on West Chop to honor visits here by Thailand’s longest reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Or maybe you would rather buy bread. Saturday morning at 9 am begins the annual bread and bake sale of the Vineyard Committee on Hunger under the Linden Tree, next to the Capawock Theatre. This year all the money will go to the home depicted in the film “Saving Emmanuel.” The young man in the story was too old to benefit from the care offered in this haven for street children in Nairobi, Kenya. Saturday’s bake sale can help many others.
