Town Column : West Tisbury
By Hermine Hull
Published: July 9, 2009
Haying is taking place in fields all across town, a sign of mid-summer. Sunny dry days came just in time.
Just in time, too, the sun made this past weekend the most perfect Fourth of July weather in memory. Janice Haynes and Jeremiah Brown's annual party was great food and great fun. Cars lined Old County Road as friends and neighbors arrived, their best potluck dishes in hand. Many had been to the Edgartown parade, filled with news of floats, pageantry, and ice cream.
The cemetery and Veteran's Monument were bedecked with new flags set out by Brian Athearn and his sons, Hunter and Emmett. So were porches around town. The police station sported red, white, and blue bunting. Orange daylilies, a ubiquitous yet iconic roadside decoration, are at the height of their bloom.
Paul Caruso joined his wife, Laura (Hearn), and daughter, Morgan, for the weekend, arriving in time to help them and Glenn and Linda Hearn at Saturday's Farmers Market. This coming weekend, the Hearn's will have Linda's cousin, Meg Hanley, with them.
Bill and Marge Ritchie were guests of Bill and Betty Haynes over the holiday weekend. With them was their dog, Geraldine, who immediately felt enough at home to guard the Haynes's house from anyone venturing up their driveway. Bill and Bill grew up together in Oak Bluffs, best friends since they were three months old. They have remained so to this day.
Last week's rain failed to daunt Patricia Howell and Ken Croke, here for a week with Patricia's mother, Shirley Howell. They enjoyed the downtime from their busy lives in upstate New York: reading, taking walks between raindrops, visiting friends on Alley's front porch. A day trip to Mystic, Conn., was planned for the end of the week when the weather obliged and the sun came out.
Marian Winsryg has been here visiting her sister, Marsha, and Paul Karasik. Marian lives in Venice, Calif., and teaches art at Santa Monica College. Both artists, the sisters were going sketching together and taking long walks.
Harriet Bernstein expects "a gathering of writers" as she, her brother Edgar, niece Gabrielle, and nephew Max, from New York City all share that form of art. Joining them is Alexander Weinstein, writing professor at the University of Indiana.
Jared Macdonald and his fiancée, Elise Godfrey, spent a few days with Jared's parents, Don and Betsy Macdonald. They relaxed and visited friends, a respite from Jared's studies at New England Tech. He will graduate in March; then he and Elise will be married next August. The Macdonald's expect their son Chris (former West Tisbury fireman now living in Bellingham, Wash.) with wife, Emily, and children, Cooper and Daphne, in September. Betsy said, "It is just wonderful to see our kids any chance we can."
