“I wanted you to know Aunt Prudy passed away yesterday morning,” was the message from Tara Whiting-Wells.
Prudy and I had just seen one another. It feels impossible that she isn’t still just around the corner, that we won’t run into each other around town, that she won’t be telling me something funny, her eyes sparkling in anticipation of my reaction. The Whiting family is planning to celebrate her memory with a gathering at the Ag Hall on Friday, July 26, from 4 to 6 pm.
I also learned that Hunter Moorman died at the end of June. Hunter earned my eternal gratitude for his commitment to our West Tisbury library; he worked so hard to raise money for the addition, and to set up the Endowment Fund. He was an active library patron. It was always a treat to run into him there.
The Friends of the West Tisbury Free Public Library, their official name, has added an extra day to the 2024 book sale. It opens next Wednesday, July 24, at 9 am, in a tent in the West Tisbury school parking lot. The book sale is, for me, and many people I know, the event of the summer. Books, puzzles, CDs, audiobooks, all organized and waiting, treasures to be found. The sale goes from 9 am to 3 pm every day. Books will be half-price on Sunday, and free on Monday, July 29.
Other events at the library include: a jazz concert on Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 pm (you can sit and relax after being on your feet at the book sale). Kids are invited to make upcycled beach trash art sculptures on Friday at 3 pm. There will be a talk and demonstration by members of the M.V. Bonsai Club on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm, and a book talk at 3:30 pm by Tom Dresser and Richard Lewis Taylor to introduce their newest book, “Black Homeownership on Martha’s Vineyard; A History.” The Climate Book Club will meet on the porch at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.
When Joan Thomas comes to town, she stays in her old neighborhood, Carl’s Way, in Linda Hearn’s guesthouse. One of the annual events is lunch at Farm Neck: Linda, Joan, Debbie Magnuson, and me. We went last Saturday in a drenching downpour, ran from the house to the car to the restaurant, then repeated it all on the return journey. Glad for the rain and glad to be with old friends.
We always have a good time together. While we may look like proper ladies of a certain age from the outside, we still get to be giggly girls whenever we choose. Farm Neck has such a pretty restaurant, and it’s quiet enough to be able to have a conversation without screaming across the table. I especially love hearing old stories about West Tisbury, the Magnuson and Merry families, and other memories of growing up here in the 1950s.
Debbie’s best friend from childhood is Lamie Reynolds Ziegenhorn. She lives in Maryland now, but comes to visit her son and Debbie and other old friends, and go to the Farmers Market. She will be arriving this week.
For everyone who waited with Mike and me to find out about Abby’s surgery, she doesn’t have cancer. Thanks for loving her, too.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.
