And just like that, it’s Labor Day weekend. Many of our summer friends have gone, or are leaving this weekend. (Goodbye Rachel, Mike, Amy, and John!) Remember that September is the month that we all get to enjoy the Island, and that even though Chilmark Chocolates is closed until Sept. 19, everything else is still open. Go to the Cliffs and get dinner at the Aquinnah Shop or Cliffhangers, have lunch at the Orange Peel Bakery Café, celebrate the tourists leaving by treating yourself to the experience of eating at the Outermost Inn. Go shopping at any of the stores at the Cliffs and be able to find parking. Enjoy driving around in your perfectly fine average car, and not be bothered by the sight of so many luxury automobiles filled with drivers on their phones. Go ahead, you’ve earned it.
The official word on the sulphurous, sewagey smell that has permeated the town in recent weeks is that due to the high rains we experienced over the spring and summer, the wetlands on Oxcart Road are overfull and producing more of the bacteria that produce the smell. As of this writing it was not clear if further investigation and/or action were going to be taken.
Summer programming has finished at the library, but they will have their regularly scheduled programming this week. Story Time on Thursday at 3:30 pm, and Saturday at 10:30 am, Kids’ Craft on Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm and this Tuesday from 4 to 5 pm, you can get a henna tattoo. Call the library to book a slot at 508-645-2314.
Joan LeLacheur will host an Open Studio at her home studio, 42 Old South Rd., this Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. Joanie makes beautiful wampum jewelry, and it’s worth the drive down Old South Road to check it out. If you have questions, or cannot make it but are interested in seeing Joanie’s work, contact her at joanlela57@gmail.com.
Sophia Welch and Kyle Colter’s baby has a name! It’s Ocie Verna Colter — welcome to Aquinnah, Ocie. Happy birthday to Clyde Smith, whose birthday is Sept. 2, and to Kuhpay Vanderhoop, who celebrates on the first day of school, Sept. 3, and to Emerson Mahoney, who celebrates on Sept. 4. Tuesday is the first day of school; I check in with as many parents as I can every year to see what grades their kids are going into, and I’m always blown away by how fast everyone is growing up. I remember many of these kids as babies and toddlers. Kuhpay Vanderhoop will be starting first grade with his cousin, Lyle Vanderhoop; Kuhpay’s brother William will be in second grade, along with Clovis Smith, Lewis Moore, and Novella Vanderhoop. Ivan Vanderhoop (Lyle’s older brother) will be in third grade, as will Isaac Vanderhoop and Erick Moore; Maysie Vanderhoop will be starting fourth grade, and her brother, Brian, will be in fifth grade. Claus Smith and Hunter Broderick will be starting sixth grade and moving over to the West Tisbury School. Rodeo Purves-Langer and Hayden Higgins will be in seventh grade; Yossi Monahan will be in eighth grade, as will Olive and Violet MacPhail, and Noah Manning (at Falmouth Academy). Clyde Smith will be starting high school, as will Putu Crowell; Latham Higgins will be a sophomore; Menasha Leport will be a junior at boarding school, and Fynn Monahan a junior, and Riley Cameron a senior. This is not every kid in town, by any means, but it gives you an idea of the vibrant group of young people we have in our town. Good luck to all of them! School is not easy for everyone, nor is growing up. It seems like no time at all for us, but forever for the kids.